Do you think the drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18?

Bells.:

I think that the drinking age in America, among other places, should be the same as it is in France. And by that, I mean... whatever theirs is. >_>

Anyway, they drink from an early age, which means they get used to it and learn to be responsible around alcohol and they don't make such a fuss of drinking, and therefore, they don't go overboard.

The drinking age in France is 18...

Bardot.:

Bells.:

I think that the drinking age in America, among other places, should be the same as it is in France. And by that, I mean... whatever theirs is. >_>

Anyway, they drink from an early age, which means they get used to it and learn to be responsible around alcohol and they don't make such a fuss of drinking, and therefore, they don't go overboard.

The drinking age in France is 18...

:think: Hmm, well I think I got my facts in a knot then. I was led to believe that you have to be sixteen in order to buy wine and beer, yet 18 to buy spirits. Or something along those lines. >_>

What I really meant was, I think, that the children in France are given wine and such daily, and this teaches them about alcohol, if only a little.

^I think that used to be the case, but their laws have changed recently I think. You have to be 18 to buy alcohol over there, including beer and wine.

I think what you're trying to get at is that it's a cultural thing, and children are educated more about alcohol. Although, giving children alcohol daily doesn't seem like an amazing tactic for teaching them about alcohol. We don't give children drugs to teach them about drugs and we don't make kids have sex to teach them about sex.

Somewhat extreme comparisons, but I believe you can educate a child on alcohol without spoon feeding it to them.

It's 18 in Australia. I think that's young enough. But we can drive at the same time, so I wish it was changed to 21.

Elliott Preston:

It's 18 in Australia. I think that's young enough. But we can drive at the same time, so I wish it was changed to 21.

Why? Because of drinking and driving? You can drink and drive at any age.

Yeh, but then they can learn to drive without the drinking. [Not that that stops anyone...]

They learn to drive without the drinking in America yet it still doesn't stop a lot of people which is one of the arguements of lowering the age to 21. They drive from 15/16 in some states.

Elliott Preston:

Yeh, but then they can learn to drive without the drinking. [Not that that stops anyone...]

It's not like you do your driving lessons pissed up, however.
You're not lliterally doing both at the same time. Just because you can go out at the weekend and buy a bottle of wine doesn't mean you'll smash up your car on Wednesday. I mean, I could have started driving when I was 17, I didn't because I don't want to and I hate cars. But now I'm 18 and I can drink. I tend not to do that either but we'll ignore that. So now I'm old enough to drink is it somehow a problem if I want to drive, too?

^I was never suggesting that, please don't tell me something I already know.

Elliott Preston:

^I was never suggesting that, please don't tell me something I already know.

At the risk of sounding facetious, I can't read your mind, I don't know what you know ,so some repetition is inevitable. What exactly were you suggesting, then? You seemed to think it was necessary to separate the drinking age from the driving age which I don't believe to be the case, which was the basis of my argument.

Bloodraine:

Elliott Preston:

^I was never suggesting that, please don't tell me something I already know.

At the risk of sounding facetious, I can't read your mind, I don't know what you know ,so some repetition is inevitable. What exactly were you suggesting, then? You seemed to think it was necessary to separate the drinking age from the driving age which I don't believe to be the case, which was the basis of my argument.

I'm just saying that the drinking age and driving age should be kept separate, it shouldn't be changed. People start learning to drive from 16 [or 16 and a half depending on what state you're in Australia] then can start drinking and voting at 18. I think the drinking age should be changed to 21. I know people don't drink or drive [Or they shouldn't at least].

But you said 'It's 18 in Australia. I think that's young enough. But we can drive at the same time, so I wish it was changed to 21'. 18 isn't the same as 16, so which is it? There's already a decent gap so I don't know what you're objecting to.

No, I mean 18 is when they're on their P's they're not allowed to have any alcohol in their system at all at 18. So that's what I meant.

Incidentally, it is far more likely for a male aged between 17 and 24 to be caught drink driving than any other group.

*shrugs*

The End of Time.:

Incidentally, it is far more likely for a male aged between 17 and 24 to be caught drink driving than any other group.

*shrugs*

Which country are we talking about here?

I still don't think lowring the drinking age is going to increase drunk drivers, people are going to do it anyway.

I'm from Australia, and the drinking age here is 18. I don't mind that. Though I think 21 is a bit better, because 24 years of age is the average time at which our livers are fully developed, so it would be able to deal with all the alcohol in people's systems much more efficiently.

time and space.:

I'm from Australia, and the drinking age here is 18. I don't mind that. Though I think 21 is a bit better, because 24 years of age is the average time at which our livers are fully developed, so it would be able to deal with all the alcohol in people's systems much more efficiently.

But that won't stop people underage getting hold of alcohol and ruining their livers anyway.

Mrs Carpetlegs:

time and space.:

I'm from Australia, and the drinking age here is 18. I don't mind that. Though I think 21 is a bit better, because 24 years of age is the average time at which our livers are fully developed, so it would be able to deal with all the alcohol in people's systems much more efficiently.

But that won't stop people underage getting hold of alcohol and ruining their livers anyway.

It won't.
But it's not like every teenager in the world starts drinking when they're underage.

time and space.:

Mrs Carpetlegs:

time and space.:

I'm from Australia, and the drinking age here is 18. I don't mind that. Though I think 21 is a bit better, because 24 years of age is the average time at which our livers are fully developed, so it would be able to deal with all the alcohol in people's systems much more efficiently.

But that won't stop people underage getting hold of alcohol and ruining their livers anyway.

It won't.
But it's not like every teenager in the world starts drinking when they're underage.

Personally I don't know anyone who has waited until eighteen to have their first drink.

Mrs Carpetlegs:

Personally I don't know anyone who has waited until eighteen to have their first drink.

I waited until I was 19...