[KillerGremlin]

Originally Posted by gekko

So nothing about kids drinking has anything to do with this being the first time they're away from parental control? There was a study a while back where most Americans considered an "adult" to be someone 25 or older, and I completely agree.

That's a good point, and I think it can go both ways. Throughout your entire post you treat alcohol like something that people need to abuse, and that is part of the complex social problem with alcohol. Why can't someone just enjoy a beer, I know I do. Should I have to wait till I am 25 to enjoy a beer?

Originally Posted by gekko

Personally, I think the mix of being away from home for the first time without having any responsibility is the perfect mix for partying, and partying brings alcohol. College kids will drink illegally, so I don't see how somehow legalizing it will get it out of their system faster. Same amount of problems, only they don't need to go through extra channels to get it.

I think if we lowered the drinking age we would possibly change our social outlook on alcohol. Maybe kids would drink socially with their parents at an early age and learn their limits and pick up some responsibility on the way to college. This way they don't drive to frat parties or stay under the radar or exploit the fact that they are at college and they can drink because their parents aren't there.

Originally Posted by gekko

However, going back to the 25 year old being an adult mentality, I do believe the only way to stop college drinking, if it's such a problem, is to raise the drinking age to 25. Most people will be three years out of college by the time they can legally drink, and then you don't need to worry about all the immaturity being combined with alcohol, and it would be much, much easier to bust underage drinking.

The statistics are a pretty good indication that having a drinking age of 21 isn't stopping people who are 18, 16, or even 14 from drinking. Call me skeptical but people will still get alcohol if the drinking age is 25. And, all those cornfield campuses go out of there way to not bust kids from drinking. There's nothing to do in a field on weekends, except drink. Colleges know this. Frat life has become a social norm amongst colleges in America, and I would assuem elsewhere. This is a deeply rooted social issue and in many ways casts a negative light on people who don't necessarily want to binge drink but just want to enjoy alcohol.

Originally Posted by gekko

That said, being 23 I will not give up scotch and beer for 2 years, but I have watched many Marine buddies become alcoholics, and then came back to college at 22 to watch many young 18 year olds not be all too smart when it comes to drinking... specifically driving.

I'm all about upping the penalty on drunk driving. I think if you are driving drunk you should be tried for attempted murder, because that's what it is; it's like firing bullets into a forest, you may luck out and not hit anybody, or you might kill someone.

Originally Posted by gekko

If you ask me, leave the drinking age where it's at, and allow college kids to get plastered and get alcohol poisoning. I don't care if someone drinks until they are passed out on the floor puking... as long as it's not my house. I think the much bigger problem is the ones who drink and drive, and that includes much more than college kids.

This all goes back to the social mysticism around alcohol. With the parents gone kids go crazy! Nothing like getting wasted. I can think of very few freshman including myself who did not go over their limit some point during fresman year.

Originally Posted by gekko

It's pretty sad when 1 in 8 people in Minnesota has been convicted of a DWI. I never liked the current system, 0.08%. Oh, but that changes per person, so no one can be sure. I went to a beer festival not that long ago, and they did the smartest thing I've ever seen: Free breathalyzers as you leave. So you thought you were sober, blew 0.1%, the honest man (or woman) can return to the festival, enjoy some music and grab a brat, and wait it out. I think breathalyzers should be available to all, so the people drinking and driving are deliberately doing it, and the honest person who feels like having a drink or two at the bar before going home isn't intentionally breaking the law and endangering the lives of others. If that's such a problem, then why not make it illegal to drink and drive? Force DDs, cab rides, and buses, at least then people don't have to chance it, and again, it doesn't make people want to drive to the bar, thinking they'll be good to drive home.

That's my 2 cents, but you didn't give me the option of raising the drinking age, so I didn't vote.

Breathalizers are a good idea. Again, I completely agree that driving drunk should carry larger penalties.



Anyway, the bottom line is that alcohol is a drink. Just like soda, just like water, just like coffee. And, in moderation it is not a bad thing. Red wine has been shown to have health advantages, beer tastes good, and hard liquor can be enjoyed...yes, enjoyed, without getting drunk. If we could somehow remove the mysticism surrounding alcohol and remind people that you don't have to drink to get drunk to enjoy alcohol, maybe more people would drink responsibly. I think at the end of the day the people who want to abuse alcohol are going to abuse alcohol. And, I think a lot of people who are free from their parents get lost in the herd and end up going over their limits or making poor choices.

And yeah, I'm 20 and I want to be able to enjoy a beer. Not a shitty watered down beer...but a delcious, craft brewed beer. Something I can drink during a football game or with a meal. But that's too much to ask for in America.