Underage drinking should be abolished?

Underage drinking should be abolished because no matter what the government does to prevent under 16s/18s/21s (depending on where you live) buy alcohol, there are always ways for a person to obtain alcohol if he wants it. In fact, even though alcohol is banned on my school premises and that we are too young to have it, the majority of people in my social circles still manage to get their hands on alcohol. Since people can get their hands on it, then by making it legal, then people who are underage who struggle with alcohol addiction and have problems feel less stressed when opening up about their problems. I also have a lot of friends who drink while being underage, just because they like to be rebellious. By making it legal then it would take away the adrenaline rush of breaking the law. Also, it would also lower crime rates because I have friends who steal alcohol from seven eleven stores instead of buying them, because they're not allowed to =\

If not, do you think the minimum age should be lowered?

What are your views?

 

There are reasons why underage drinking is illegal.
It stunts your growth, you're too young to make decisions and such.. I'm not an expert on this topic so somebody please back me up.

Even though kids and teenagers may be able to get their hands on alcohol, it's not the case for everybody. It keeps the most of them out of trouble.

We can't abolish this system just because underage people can get their hands on alcohol.
There are other illegal substances that people still can get their hands on like narcotics, weapons and etc..

 

Absolutely not, removing the obstacle that now makes it difficult to get a hold of alcohol means every kid can go in and buy it. Not knowing their limits etc buying as much as they can and ended up in A&E or worse.

 

Then should the minimum age be lowered to, say, 14?

 

bad idea. yeah some kids can get their hands on alcohol anyways...but if you completely abolish the law then EVERY kid can get their hands on alcohol. bad

 

drinking age is 21 all across the united states as far as i know and i honestly feel that is the proper age to use it. I drank underage for quite a while and can whole heartedly say it got me into more trouble than ANYTHING i have done.. and i messed with alottt of illegal things. The truth of the matter is underage drinking will ALWAYS exist and maybe we should have more strenuous laws on those providing the alcohol for the minors in question. Alcohol is a very destructive terrible thing if abused.. you dont see any homeless potheads begging for change yet thousands upon thousands of homeless drunks roam the streets. The statistics speak for themselves, drinking age being lower than 18 is just OUTRAGEOUS alcohol is such a destructive force children should legally have nothing to do with it. Anyone arguing for lowering the age is just a underage kid wanting booze, i got my DUI at 18 and it was too young to be messing with alcohol i feel.

 

The lowest age I'd say would be appropriate for drinking is 18, but 21 isn't too bad either. Despite people complaining, it's really for a good cause. When you are 18, you most would be graduating high school and into reality so you can then make the decision if you want alcohol in your life or not. Still it's like with anything else. Cannabis is illegal yet, there are dealers in your own high school that sell it and it's obtainable not very easily, but if you know "people" that knows people then it's gets easy like buying candy. A law won't prevent anything from being supplied. The only way would be if people stopped making it or the demand decreases so supply will decrease as well. Kids with alcohol is a bad, bad combination I agree but you know how it is. In their minds though it's a "great way to have fun". Hell I even heard a 14 year old "alcoholic" once which really surprises me how the hell he can become one lol.

Most teens get alcohol from family members and friends without them noticing it, or actually they give alcohol to the teens themselves if they ask. I was at a supposedly teen cannabis party once and there were around 5-10 people in their 20-30's there drinking with the teens, even smoking some pot lol.


Whether or not lowering the age won't do anything good and plus it would be a bad idea anyways. The thing I hate more than anything with alcohol is drinking while driving as that's the biggest issue with alcohol and clearly can be avoidable with basic measures and self-conscience training. Just can't think when you are drunk so it's like a repeated cycle over and over. The accidents and death of drinking and driving just kills me inside. Some idiot almost hit me once while he was drunk so really it does hit close to home with this issue.

Yeah, teens handle alcohol irresponsibly (no offense but it's the truth), but in reality not only teens follow this trend as countless adults have proven they can't handle alcohol themselves either.

 

That's like selling you should legalize crack because you can get it. Crack is highly addictive and very dangerous just as alcohol is. Your logic doesn't add up. 18 is a reasonable age, but 21 is the better age because by then most people have been out in the 'world' and have the experiences of life to help them properly decide.

 

Although it is impossible to stop underage drinking, it IS possible to prevent it. I think the system right now works pretty well because it makes alcohol inaccessible to minors on their own. Although they can still obtain alcohol through other methods, it is often harder to get their hands on than drugs are, yet a large portion of minors don't use drugs.

I think part of the solution lies in educating young people about the risks associated with alcohol, and getting rid of the false perception among youth that alcohol is not nearly as dangerous to consume as illicit drugs are. Many people think alcohol is OK to use because there is a social norm surrounding it, because it is legal and is sold in stores, and because of the pressure they feel from their peers that encourages them to drink. If we worked harder to expose the real dangers and consequences that come from consuming alcohol, I think it would help cut down the amount of young people drinking alcohol.

But regardless, underage drinking laws should always be enforced.

 

Since this isn't SFA I'll keep my response short & sweet.

No, absolutely not. Your justification is that there are already a lot of dumb-asses that are ruining their lives by bringing alcohol to school? Really? I like the rule because when those dumb-asses finally get caught (Whether it be by school officials, or better yet the police), then they usually get what they deserve. I think if anything they should charge more DUI juvenile suspects as adults and stop letting these idiots off with community service.

How would abolishing the underage drinking restriction fix any of that. Explain.

 

The biggest problem that's created with under-age drinking is the fact that since people can't legally drink, they're doing it in more-private places rather than bars and such. If something is to happen, there's quite a fuss on whether to call cops, potential trouble, losing their license, etc. If the age was lowered to something - such as 18 - there could be more open drinking, and hopefully have some problems adverted. Still, there are pros and cons of lowing the age. Having an age for drinking is still vital due to the affects alcohol has on someone's body. The age should not be abolished in any way, only potentially lowered.

Also, 21 is not the minimum drinking age across the U.S. While that is the law laid out for the land, a multitude of states (around 30) have laws where other ages (such as 18) can drink as long as they have parental permission and are on private residence.

 

Alcohol creates many different problems, it is a gateway for abuse of other substances as well. So it would be unpractical to abolish the current laws.

 

Then what if the age was lowered? Thanks for informing me that the minimum age is 21 across some states. I didn't know it was so high!

 

thank god where i live legal age is 18.

what i think would work would be that in order to purchase alcohol, you need to have a highschool diplomal. in your wallet you could have a card identifying that you have graduated from highschool.

for those who don't get a highschool diploma, they can get a GED and then be allowed to drink.

it'd stop all the bums who drop out and become alcoholics, not to mention it'd inspire a lot more people to graduate highschool.

 

Its good as it is right now...if they ever made it for low ages it will make them not afraid of drinking ...will be a mess

 

Definitely not. Sure, there are ways for minors to obtain alcohol but if underage drinking was allowed it would mean anyone can obtain alcohol whenever. This would be terrible as society as a whole would decline and become drunkards. Not a good look and we wouldn't get anything done either.

 

Although I do agree that drinking should be legal at age 18, your argument for it is ludicrous. Just because something can't be enforced, doesn't mean it should then just be thrown out. If everyone stole, or everyone did some other crime, I doubt it would be a good idea just to make that legal. The thing that should be done is teaching responsible drinking from age 16/17 onward. If teenagers learn that responsible drinking is OK, and how to control yourself, we would find less drunk driving accidents/alcohol poisoning deaths in highschoolers/ college aged.

 

You can smoke at 18, join the military, so why can't you drink?

 

This isn't the SFA section. And the logic is just terrible.