Augusta, Ga. – If an 18-year-old can join the Army and buy cigarettes, are they not mature enough to drink? This is just one of the many arguments of a new movement, the Amethyst Initiative, being posed to lawmakers in regards to lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18.
Not everyone agrees with the policies of the initiative. Organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving say this could lead to more fatal crashes.
Dr. Allison Foley, sociology professor at Augusta State University, says changing the age will not stop the dangerous behavior of binge drinking entirely, because students are exposed to a party culture both on and off campus.
“The problem is bigger than just age and alcohol,” says Dr. Foley. “I don’t think the current laws ought to change without making a commitment to using the resources once devoted to policing these youth to address issues that apply equally to adult alcohol users — that of drinking responsibly and staying off the roads.”
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “the number of deaths from alcohol poisoning of college-age people in 2005 was almost double what it was six years before.” And most of those deaths occurred during the weekend.
For additional information on this topic or to arrange an interview with Dr. Allison Foley, contact Danielle Harris, media relations specialist, in ASU’s Office of Public Relations and Publications at 706-667-4821.
Popularity: 100% [?]
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:15 am
whether they change it or not .
underage drinkers will find a way to get their hands on the alcohol .
they should be educated earlier so that they have better skills to cope with the liquor .
some just do it for the thrill to be “bad”, to go againts the rules and be a rebel. if they are actually allowed to do it maybe they wont abuse they power and make wiser decisions . but then again that is a maybe cuz not everyone thinks alike.
November 5th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I do believe that if someone can join the military at 17, then they should be allowed to vote, smoke, and drink… to an extent.
In other cultures where the drinking age is much lower, there are much lower percentages of DUI’s, alcohol related illness, and alcohol related death. This is partly because these cultures take greater responsibility with their children and drinking. It is an aspect of their social culture, not a way to “cut loose.” In many countries, there is no legal drinking age for beer or wine, but there are standards regarding hard liquor. Sometimes there is a social tradition that the young are given “watered down” drinks. In the countries I know of, the legal age for liquor or liquor based drinks is between 18 and 20. Consider it as an introduction to drinking, if you will.
I’ve been to beer gardens in Germany and seen families come together to drink on a weekend afternoon. I’ve been to beer halls and watched middle school children come in with their bookbags and drink a beer and eat a meal while they did their homework. I never saw any children, teenagers, or young adults stumbling around on the streets and acting the fool the way many people do on First Friday in Augusta.
So, I would support lowering the drinking age on wine and beer. I would hope that families would teach their children to drink responsibly and it be accepted as normal before that happened though. To make it taboo and illegal is to make it more appealing and therefore to encourage it to be abused, at least that’s the case with the U.S., similar to our “War on Drugs.” To advertise it as exciting, “mood enhancing”, or any of the other marketing tricks and hype we Americans are exposed to, rather than just treating it as another ordinary part of our lives only adds to the problem.
The idea being that if it was less taboo, it would be less appealing. If it wasn’t “rebellious” or “the way to party” as a teenager, then it might not be abused as much. If teenagers were introduced to legal beer or wine before liquor, then they might adjust better and choose to drink less potent drinks, especially if it meant risking legal problems. If it was taught in the family, along with everything else suggested here, then we might not have as many reckless drinkers out there.
There is also the interesting corollary between marijuana and alcohol. The gist of it being that when marijuana is legally available, people tend to choose marijuana over alcohol and are less a danger to themselves and others. This is also mainly part of the culture it is found in. People adapt to the world around them and naturally strive to find the most harmonious solution possible. When certain things are banned or hard to come by, they are desired more. When they are introduced late in life or through illegal activity, they tend to be consumed in greater quantity and strength.
Just my two cents and not by any means completely true in every walk of life.
December 4th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
So a lot of people think that their bad because their drinking illegally but your not really bad if everyone is doing it. Yeah, you have fun but that’s it. Your not proving anything if it’s something that everyone else does. You don’t get an award for it, except maybe getting MIP or spending the night in jail. I think it would be very unwise to lower the drinking age to 18.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:52 am
this was an amazing read! I really enjoyed the pros for lowering the drinking age because I agree with that
January 26th, 2009 at 8:20 am
i agree with lowering the drinking age
February 4th, 2009 at 7:02 am
will anyone be kind to send me essay on mimimum drinking age
February 17th, 2009 at 10:00 am
i don’t really agree with lowering the drinking age. just like now the age is 21 and everyone wants to lower it to 18, then what everyone will wanted to lower it to 16. its a never ending process. i don’t really think that 18 year olds can handle drinking properly. just because your 18 can mean you can live on your own doesn’t mean you do it. no you still live with your parents and eat there food. i think this whole bill is stupid and really doesn’t have a point. just because your 18 and wanna drink doesn’t mean you should pass a bill on it.
February 24th, 2009 at 6:32 am
I think that the government would be crazy to lower the drinking age because we already have enough car crashs and we dont need any more. do you people know what im saying. i hope you do!! RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:34 pm
ok so suppose we do lower the drinking sge to 18 has it passed through all of you that teens at the age of 18 are still quite reckless? it’s possible that they could buy alcohol for teens even younger the 16. America has built walls around the teenagers of today and the teenagers don’t want to be surrounded by this wall so they do things stupid things because they like to defy the rules act like they aren’t there so what in the world makes you think that lowering the drinking age will make these kids any more responsible?? I understand what people mean when they say “teenagers should be able to drink because they can join the military” ok well some kids aren’t like the teenagers that go into the military alot of them to the opposite like end p in jail why? oh maybe because of under age drinking and i know you might be thinking “ok so lets lower the drinking age” how about no. because they just aren’t mature enough i know theres some out there that might argue this but face the facts its just not true and some people might say “other countries are doing it” ok, so we should hop on the cool train and lower our drinking age just to get, oh more credibility? well that’s a stupid answer i’d rather not end up like France where the town drunk is a 14-year-old
March 8th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
okay where in france have you seen 14 year old drunk?? if anything the French are much more responsible about drinking.
March 31st, 2009 at 9:19 am
I think the drinking age should be lowered to 18. It will result in less people breaking the lawss.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:19 am
I think that the drinking age should not be lowered. That will just give teens all the more reasons to abuse alcohol. Also, it will increase alcohol-related incidents among high school students.
Oh and by the way, hm: Takes one to know one.
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Wow, you guys, this is really immature. You guys realize that if the drinking age is lowered, there will be so many more problems. Take Europe, for example. Compared to American teenagers, drinking rates among teenagers are higher in every European country except Turkey. You guys, seriously. Think about this for awhile. There are endless cons to this issue and not enough pros. So you’re a legal citizen at 18. But just because you have the right to vote, drive, be in the army, etc. doesn’t mean you are responsible enough to drink obsessively. Anyone and everyone can become alcohol-dependent, and there’s already enough people out there anyway.
[Posted by an Underage, Non-Drinker.]
April 20th, 2009 at 8:46 am
i think that lowering the drinking age to 18 is a great idea. Some people say that if the drinking age got changed to 18 then 18 year olds would buy it for thear younger friends in high school, i say that if we wont it we can get it with out the help of the law allready from people older than 21 or from low income gas stations that dont cair how old you are only that they are making a sale
April 20th, 2009 at 8:50 am
i think that lowering the drinking age to 18 is a great idea. Some people say that if the drinking age got changed to 18, then 18 year olds would buy it for thear younger friends in high school. I say that if we wont it we can get it with out the help of the law allready, from people older than 21 or from low income gas stations that dont cair how old you are only that they are making a sale!!!!!!!!!!!
April 25th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
To the people who refuse to see intellect in the goodness of this bill. Just like the times when “everybody” was up and yelling about the change of leaded gas to unleaded, and the change of letting blacks into the “white” bathrooms, and the change of gas powered cars to electric (..hmm wait, that hasn’t happened yet..), ya’ll will soon see the light behind lowering the drinking age or the majority will just have a bigger voice then you do.
The cons to lower the drinking age that I have heard so far and my rebuttals.
Mariah:
“Wow, you guys, this is really immature. You guys realize that if the drinking age is lowered, there will be so many more problems. Take Europe, for example. Compared to American teenagers, drinking rates among teenagers are higher in every European country except Turkey.”
-Duh. Generally with a drinking age that allows teenagers to drink, typically means the rate of drinking among the teenage population is higher.
Melissa:
“i don’t really agree with lowering the drinking age. just like now the age is 21 and everyone wants to lower it to 18, then what everyone will wanted to lower it to 16. its a never ending process.”
-Dumbass. (Excuse my french (oh I bet that guy Peter who’s seen drunk 14 yr. old in France liked that one)) Why would they lower it to 16? Later, they would just abolish the law completely. That or the United States wouldn’t exist anymore, because if we keep at this rate of stupidity in not even being responsible enough for our offspring, then we deserve to be wiped out. Oh the irony if it would be by alcohol.
” i don’t really think that 18 year olds can handle drinking properly.”
Melissa, don’t you mean you don’t think YOU can handle your 18 yr. old to drink properly. Better parenting would make your 18 yr. old more responsible.
Well that’s about it. There aren’t many arguments coming from the people not on the “cool train”. Bring some well thought out ones because the arguments for legalizing alcohol at age 18 is alot stronger thus far. If you don’t agree, read over the comments one more time, starting with Tom B.
September 24th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
I absolutely agree with Jose. When I read what Mariah said, I automatically stopped and read it out loud to the person that is in the room with me. If something is legal in one country, and not in the other, I’m sure the country that it is legal in will have higher rates! But thats a rate of teenagers consuming alcohol, not abusing it. Oh and to the statement about not being mature enough to drink obsessively… Is anyone ever old enough to drink obsessively? I thought the point of this was so that teenagers wouldn’t drink obsessively, because they do with the laws we have now. As for it being in the hands of people under the age of 16, well fyi it already is! I am 17 and have been around people who have had access to alcohol since before they were 12.
September 25th, 2009 at 6:37 am
18 year olds? wreckless.. yet we still let them vote, go to war, and sit on a jury.. i defenly
September 25th, 2009 at 6:39 am
definitely feel that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. our US government, gives 18 year olds the responsibility of voting, and going to war, and to sit on a jury. i believe that there are 18 year old, adults i might add, that are responsible enough to be able to handle this privilage responsibliy.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:34 am
I think we should lower the drinking age because I swear everyone of my friends in school drinks. No matter what their told, what the law sats, what their parents believe, their all going to do what they want to do. It’s no different when you go to college, in my opinion it gets worse because we have freedom from parents and authority but we still know what is right and wrong but we trust ourselves and know what our body can and cannot handle. Being in college is mostly in our minds about the friends, bars, parties, and yeah in the back of our minds some school. We can’t fully be and adult and have our freedom if we still have the barrier of not being 21 yet, it’s not fair because we can’t have the “legal” fun freedom that everyone else can.
October 1st, 2009 at 12:43 pm
BLLLAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGHHH!!!!!!!!!!
October 12th, 2009 at 10:38 am
I had the unique experience to be at ASU back in 1986 as a freshman. Then it was called Augusta College and just like all other 18 year old teens I was looking forward to my college experience. I was in the unlucky half of my high school graduating class that was not grand-fathered when the drinking age went from 18 to 21. Strangely all my friends in my class that were just a few months older were able to drink. The topic of drinking age was as important one to my class and was constantly talked about. The clear cut age marker separated most of my group into the haves and the have nots. Back then drinking was still an expected rite of passage that came with adulthood and I felt robbed. I can tell you with honesty that I support going back to the drinking age being 18. Now as a high school administrator working with teens every day, I see that most 18 year old students are still learning to make good decisions. My argument is like many others, if an 18 year old can already make so many other legal life altering decisions (drive a car, marry, go into debt, smoke, choose a college, have sex, and enter into the military) then alcohol is not the big boogie man we were told it was. I have seen both sides of this argument as my underage college friends drove drunk and put their lives (and others) at risk. In my opinion, I still feel denying a 18, 19 or 20 year old the opportunity to act responsibly does not lessen the impact of teen drinking. I believe keeping the drinking age at 21 continues to disenfranchise our young adults and promotes a type of lost years mentality. It seems a generation of adults have been denied their right to be fully empowered and for good or bad wear the yoke of adulthood. In the end, denying a right to any adult culturally shrugs of their viability as citizens.
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
i think younge adult that are 18 should have the right to drink. they have all other rights why sholdnt they be able to drink. people over the age of 21 drink and drive just the same as underage people.and if you learn about drinking at a younger age you would be less likely to drink as an adult. causing less birth defects to unborn children while a mother is pregnante
November 4th, 2009 at 6:58 am
If the drinking age is lowered it will have some problems. Not everything works perfect. However other countries that have a lower drinking age have more mature teenagers who take responsiblity because of the fact that they are entrusted to make decisions. When you tell someone they’re not allowed to do something what’s the natural reaction of most people? They want to do whatever it is that they’re not allowed to do more. Since it’s somethiong that they’re not suppose to do, when it presents itself in a situation people are more likely to over do then make a smart decision and know when to stop. Also with a lower derinking age comes more education about what happens if you drink to much or drink and drive. More people who have this opportunity open to them know more about the consequences and how to prevent them from happening. Sure there will always be the large handful of people who make this idea look terrible but that happens with everything that is established. Not everyopne does what they’re suppose to all the time. So why let a single group of people have such a contraversial effect on a subject that can futher help younger people?
November 11th, 2009 at 11:33 am
this is cool i want to drink right know
November 17th, 2009 at 2:58 am
It’s sad that the guy above me is a college student. Just look at the poor grammar.
November 30th, 2009 at 7:57 am
When many states lowered their drinking age [to 18] in the 1970s, alcohol-related highway deaths rose. If we abandon the 21-year drinking age, we can expect to forfeit a lot of lives, both young and old.
When drunk, young people may do things which cause longer term problems, such as having unprotected sex.
If 18-year-olds are allowed legal access to alcohol, younger teens will have a greater opportunity to obtain it illegally from older peers