The Debate On Lowering The Drinking Age

[chillinwill]

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(CBS) Last fall, a group of over 100 college presidents - including the heads of Dartmouth, Virginia Tech and Duke - signed a declaration stating that the 21-year-old drinking age is not working, and fireworks went off.

But the college presidents got what they wanted: a national debate about the drinking age.

When the age was raised to 21 in the mid-1980s, the goal was to reduce highway fatalities. But everyone knows that the 21 age limit hasn't stopped minors from drinking.

And now some experts believe it's actually contributing to an increase in extreme drinking.

This is what the former president of Middlebury College in Vermont, John McCardell, believes and it's why he started the movement dedicated to lowering the age back to 18. It may seem counterintuitive, but he argues that lowering the age will make kids safer.

Also, see Exclusive: Drinking on Campus

Exclusive: Drinking Games

To check it out, rate it or add comments, visit The Debate On Lowering The Drinking Age
The comments you make there will appear in the posts below.

[Greenport]

I think one should need to be 21 to drink unless with a responsible guardian. If there is somebody responsible who is making sure that these people aren't going to the extremes, then having a few drinks when you're under 21 years should not be a big deal. But it must be done in moderation - when one is over 21 they are more apt to moderate on their own, but before that point there is a higher risk of them overdoing it and causing trouble unless someone is there to limit the amount they can drink.

[Pickpoke]

i think the drinking age is fine where its at..alcohol can be an evil thing if taken out of control, and the harder it is for teens to get it the better. An in all honesty if your 18 and cannot obtain alcohol its pretty evident you don't need it..But i do think it would be smart to lower the comsumtion age to 18, but leave purchasing at 21.

[Tony Williams]

Over here in the U.K. you can buy and drink at 18. SWIM can go out with his friends on a saturday night and have a few drinks, maybe even get a little drunk from time to time. I am not sure what SWIM would do if the drinking age was 21, he would either drink non-alcoholic (bleh) or drink at home which ruins some of the fun. The important thing is SWIM knows his limits and is careful and educated on this so he wont get ****ed up all the time.

Kids around here drink at 13-16 alot, I see young kids asking people to go buy them a bottle of cider or something.

I don't think it should be lowered or highered. If the drinking age is lowered then more people are introduced to drinking but if it's highered people at that age who already drink will still do so.

[RadioHead]

Underage drinking laws are a joke where i come from.

SWIM was first drunk at 14, sounds pretty badass i know lol

[dutch-marshal]

that does not sound badass... allot of people did when they were to young...
and SWIm thinks it's still better then having people have 100% acces to it...

[phillylocal]

Lots of people take the position that lowering the drinking age in the USA, to comparable levels in europe will solve problems of binge drinking by teenagers.

I wholeheartedly disagree because of American culture. American culture is one of overindulgence--this can be seen from the gigantic SUV's we drive (or desire to drive) to the Super Size value meals available at McDonalds...lowering the drinking age won't solve our problems, we need to solve our cultural problems.

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