# Lower the Drinking Age? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 2, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341 "2010-09-02T02:52:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341/141 "2010-09-15T04:00:17Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > > [@Mozart1220](#): > > > > let kids graduate at least before hounding them about military service. > > Should colleges let kids graduate high school before trying to recruit them into their university? > > _ **Colleges don’t ask kids to risk their lives.** _ > > Not all kids go to college or the military after high school. Some go directly into full time work. Should employers be banned from trying to lure prospective young employees before they graduate high school? > > \*\*\*Employers don’t ask kids to risk their lives. \*\*\* > Should the opposite sex be prohibited from suggesting marriage before graduating? > > _ **Marraiges do not…oh forget it** _ > Should religious sects be banned from suggesting a life in the priesthood before students graduate high school? > > _ **DEFINITELY!!** _ > Sorry, but high school juniors and seniors should be thinking about adulthood, and the military may or may not be part of that adulthood. The armed services have just as much right to talk to them as any other entity. Just saying no and walking away (or telling them not to call again and hanging up the phone) is simple and effective. _**Nice try. But if you have to be 21 to drink, you should have to be 21 to die for political gain (see Iraq)**_ ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341/142 "2010-09-15T04:18:45Z")
> [@Mozart1220](#): > > _**Nice try. But if you have to be 21 to drink, you should have to be 21 to die for political gain (see Iraq)**_ Which is a great argument for lowering the drinking age. > [@Mozart1220](#): > > _**Nice try. But if you have to be 21 to drink, you should have to be 21 to die for political gain (see Iraq)**_ Which is a great argument for lowering the drinking age. It would be an even better argument if there was a draft. There isn’t. > [@Mozart1220](#): > > _**Nice try. But if you have to be 21 to drink, you should have to be 21 to die for political gain (see Iraq)**_ Do you contend that those under 21 should not be allowed to be police officers? That’s a government job (voluntary to take) that also may result in conflict and death. ---
**Author:** ![EVERYNAMEISTAKEN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@EVERYNAMEISTAKEN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EVERYNAMEISTAKEN)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341/143 "2010-09-15T04:57:38Z")
I think ALL age restrictions should be abolished completely. But I’m a radicalist. ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341/144 "2010-09-15T05:03:27Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > > [@Mozart1220](#): > > > > _**Nice try. But if you have to be 21 to drink, you should have to be 21 to die for political gain (see Iraq)**_ > > Which is a great argument for lowering the drinking age. > > Which is a great argument for lowering the drinking age. > It would be an even better argument if there was a draft. > > There isn’t. > > > [@Mozart1220](#): > > > > _**Nice try. But if you have to be 21 to drink, you should have to be 21 to die for political gain (see Iraq)**_ > > Do you contend that those under 21 should not be allowed to be police officers? That’s a government job (voluntary to take) that also may result in conflict and death. Yes. If 18 is too young to drink, it should be too young for all adult type decisions. If you are allowed to die for your country, you should be able to drink in it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341/145 "2010-09-15T05:10:16Z")
Unless it’s changed in recent years, 17-year-olds can enter the armed forces with parental permission. So should the age be lowered to 17? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341/146 "2010-09-15T05:32:39Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Unless it’s changed in recent years, 17-year-olds can enter the armed forces with parental permission. So should the age be lowered to 17? If you read through this thread you’ll see that my first argument is with who sets the drinking age over what it actually is. I don’t believe Uncle Sham should (or has authority to, even under economic duress) set the age that people can possess/consume alcohol. I believe the legal authority belongs to each individual state. Any age, 5, 10, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 95, or even a dry state, belongs to the individual states as a decision. If a state, via it’s state legislature, or under referendum, votes to allow 17 year olds to drink/possess alcohol, I say, so be it. In some states underagers can drink while in the custody of their parents. That’s how it is here in Wisconsin. I support this law and opposed those who were trying to change it. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341/147 "2010-09-15T06:05:15Z")
> [@Mozart1220](#): > > Yes. If 18 is too young to drink, it should be too young for all adult type decisions. If you are allowed to die for your country, you should be able to drink in it. I’m not following you here. Then you do or do not believe in lowering the drinking age? What about voting, marriage, buying a house, fucking, having kids, entering into a contract, renting a car, possessing a handgun, buying a rifle, owning a car, etc., etc.. Your fears that your stepson isn’t grown up enough to make these decisions are not valid arguments against letting him make them. I have 3 kids all of who are in their mid-late 20’s now. We all have these fears when our children are entering adulthood. But raising the cut off point to when they actually become “adults” does not help out children do so. It actually hurts them. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341/148 "2010-09-15T15:57:51Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@kunilou](#): > > > > That bit of logic was flawed, and it remains flawed. The right to vote does not equate with the right to get drunk, otherwise the 21st Amendment wouldn’t have returned the power to states to regulate alcohol. > > > > Looking back on it, I now see that my mistake was supporting a lower voting age, rather than a higher age for the draft. > > It does, I think. What it did was say 18yo are full Citizens. Thus IMHO they should have all the rights of all citizens. Again, would it be OK to say Amerinds or Women can’t drink? Age is a property all people share, and it changes. Being an Amerind or a Woman is usually immutable. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341/149 "2010-09-15T16:25:19Z")
> [@Mozart1220](#): > > I admit to not reading every post, but I think that instead of lowering the drinking age, they should raise the smoking age, AND the age at which one can enter the military to 21. > > I have a stepson about ready to graduate High School. He’s got his college all picked out and paid for (medical settlement) and we get at least one call a night from military recruiters, not to mention they hang out at the school, which I think is WRONG. > > Before anyone says anything, I support the military 100%, but let kids graduate at least before hounding them about military service. Don’t want to hijack, but most kids do not have a medical settlement to pay for college with. It makes perfect sense to recruit high school students, if nothing else then as a way to pay for college. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341/150 "2010-09-16T03:53:12Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > > Unless it’s changed in recent years, 17-year-olds can enter the armed forces with parental permission. So should the age be lowered to 17? > > If you read through this thread you’ll see that my first argument is with who sets the drinking age over what it actually is. > > I don’t believe Uncle Sham should (or has authority to, even under economic duress) set the age that people can possess/consume alcohol. I believe the legal authority belongs to each individual state. Any age, 5, 10, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 95, or even a dry state, belongs to the individual states as a decision. If a state, via it’s state legislature, or under referendum, votes to allow 17 year olds to drink/possess alcohol, I say, so be it. > > In some states underagers can drink while in the custody of their parents. That’s how it is here in Wisconsin. I support this law and opposed those who were trying to change it. I was actually addressing that to **Mozart** and others saying they could die for their country at 18 etc, but fair enough. I can say, though, that I tend not to pay much attention at all to those who refer to the government as Uncle Sham. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-the-drinking-age/552341.md?page=7)