The Daily Campus

The only, and I mean only problem with lowering the drinking age is there would probably be a quick spurt in deaths from drunk driving accidents by young people who are now allowed to drink but aren't ready for it because the current laws baby them and don't encourage responsible drinking. MADD would then take this as proof that the drinking age should be 21 (or their real goal of prohibition. Theoretically, I think the drinking age should be 16 and the driving age should be 18.

Do we love drinking so much that you don't care about the thousands of lives lost or destroyed every year because of drinking related crimes? When will we realize that this ancient culture of drinking for fun should be modernized? There is nothing "responsible" about drinking, if we truly want to be responsible let's take responsibility for all the lives destroyed by drinking. Stop drinking NOW and contribute to the cleaning of this society, once and for all, from this filthy culture.

MADD often cites a statistic that showed an increase in drunk driving deaths when the drinking age was first lowered to 18 in the 70's. Drunk driving-related deaths are currently at their lowest levels in years. This is not due to an increased drinking age, but rather to stricter penalties and a change in the nation's attitude about drunk driving. If you really want to cut further back on DUIs and drunk driving related fatalities, put money into better public transportation.

How about looking north to Canada where the drinking age is 19, and even 18 in Quebec? There is not a horrorscape of killed 19 year olds on the highways.

Or consider this: 21 to buy alcohol in the stores, but 19 to get into a bar where, hopefully, people can be monitored. A pipe dream, true, but at least a bartender can determine if someone is too drunk to function.

Im 19, and I have to manage work, college, bills/taxes, and the rest of my life. I like to have a beer after work or during a sporting event. I don't know why that is such a bad thing, I mean isn't that what everyone who opposes lowering the drinking age did when they were younger? This issue isn't truly about saving lives it is about the natural appeal of thinking you are "better" than people who are younger than you. I know drunk driving is wrong, I have friends who have died because of it, and I certainly want as few people making that unintelligent decision as possible. That isn't the point here though (although if you want to count lives count the number of people who die because they overdrank and noone called an ambulance for fear of getting poeple in trouble). The true point is at the age of 18 people are asked to make far larger choices than should I have a beer tonight. Laws are not around to save as many lives as possible, they are around to keep society functioning in the way that the majority thinks is accurate and fiar. If you want to save lives ban all driving, you will save over 42 thousand lives a year, go ahead and argue against saving 42,000 lives a year. Oh wait, that law is still crazy even though it saves lives you say? Anyways im rambling, I guess the point is that drinking really isn't that large of a decision, and it shouldn't be withheld for as long as possible due to fear that a few people could make a stupid decision. Think of the majority of the poeple who won't make that stupid decision, yet are still being punished.