# Should we lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 19, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587 "2004-11-19T00:51:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/1 "2004-11-19T00:51:47Z")
After reading through [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287320) I realized again just how weird it is that the drinking age is 21, whereas you can do everything else at 18. Why is it that way? Did people back in the seventies (which is when the legal age was raised, I believe) really think that an extra three years makes a difference? Does anyone here think they make a difference? The current age just seems so arbitrary. Why not make the legal smoking age 21, or the driving age? To me, there seems to be no point to giving an 18-year-old all other rights, including the right to vote, the right to buy property, the right to run for certain public offices, the right to enlist in the military–and just deny them this one little thing. I’d especially be interested in hearing from people who think we should retain the current drinking age. What is it about alcohol that makes it taboo for 18-year-olds? Again, why not raise the smoking and driving ages, too? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/2 "2004-11-19T01:01:09Z")
Hey, no argument from me. My daughter’s getting married next May, when she’ll still technically be 20, and her fiance’s family is all gung-ho to serve alcohol at the reception, but she, the lifelong CheapPerson, doesn’t wanna pay for liquor she’s not going to be allowed to consume herself. Much tension. She can vote, join the Army, buy a house, get married, at 18, why not drink? I don’t get it either. Blame America’s fanatically “Temperance” past, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/3 "2004-11-19T01:06:23Z")
Sure. It’d save the college kids a lot of trouble, and bring in more bar income at colleges (like they need any more) :-p ---
**Author:** ![TWOTfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@TWOTfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWOTfan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/4 "2004-11-19T01:21:32Z")
First, you can’t buy a handgun until age 21… Second, I would more favor seeing the drinking age raised to 28. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/5 "2004-11-19T01:26:20Z")
> [@TWOTfan](#): > > First, you can’t buy a handgun until age 21… > > Second, I would more favor seeing the drinking age raised to 28. Hm, didn’t know that about handguns. And why raise it to 28? (We are in GD after all.) ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/6 "2004-11-19T01:26:56Z")
I think the drinking age should be lowered. I think we need to make drinking less of an issue and focus our disapproval on drinking irresponsibly. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/7 "2004-11-19T01:27:58Z")
It was raised in the mid 80’s- '85, I believe. The purpose was to ostensibly curb teens drinking and driving. Pressure was put on all states to raise the age or lose highway funding. I always thought it would have made more sense to raise the _driving_ age and keep the drinking age where it was. It’s harder for a kid to get hold of a car than to get hold of a beer. I’m for lowering it. It might sound cliche but it’s more than a little irrational to say that a person is old enough to die in a war but not buy a beer. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/8 "2004-11-19T01:28:20Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > I’d especially be interested in hearing from people who think we should retain the current drinking age. What is it about alcohol that makes it taboo for 18-year-olds? Again, why not raise the smoking and driving ages, too? I think the rational used was the high incedence of drinking/driving accidents of the under 21 demographic. And it was motivated by a federal mandate that states don’t get highway funds if they don’t set the drinking age at 21. It was 18 most places when I was growing up. Any age you set ends up being arbitrary. I don’t see a good reason to not set it at 18, since that is age of majority in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/9 "2004-11-19T02:04:18Z")
You can’t gamble at a casino until age 21 either. In Las Vegas, at least. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/10 "2004-11-19T02:10:39Z")
I don’t really care if the age is 18 or 21. I just think it ought to be one or the other for _everything_. It seems to me absurd to the point of insanity that an 18-year old is considered a full, legal adult, able to enter into contracts, vote in national elections, hold public office… but cannot be trusted to drink alcoholic beverages. Either make 18 the age of majority, or 21. No exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/11 "2004-11-19T02:17:36Z")
The problem with all the valid arguments for lowering the drinking age to 18 (Or lower) in the US is that it was tried. As a part of the same movement that got the voting age lowered to 18, the drinking age across the US was lowered to 18, or even just under that in the early to mid 70’s. The problem is that the generations that had that lowered drinking age in effect went to great lengths to get it raised again. I don’t believe that highway deaths skyrocketed, but they did rise, and what was worse, drunken driving accidents involving 18-21 year old drivers were a very visible part of that rise. Additionally, after the Federal mandate that **Diogenes** mentioned started raising the drinking ages again there was a decrease in drunk driving deaths by the same age group. So, while there are rights for the affected age group involved, and legitimate rights, too, there is also a real public safety issue, too. Without changing the driving age at the same time, I don’t think it would be possible to lower the drinking age again. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/12 "2004-11-19T03:24:47Z")
Eighteen year olds do not vote so there is no motivation for politicians to lower the drinking age. They can look like they are pro-moral values while shipping these same young people off to die in Iraq and it dosen’t cost them anything. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/13 "2004-11-19T03:37:47Z")
> [@Duck Duck Goose](#): > > she’ll still technically be 20, and her fiance’s family is all gung-ho to serve alcohol at the reception, but she, the lifelong CheapPerson, doesn’t wanna pay for liquor she’s not going to be allowed to consume herself Who’s going to tell her she can’t drink? I 10000% guarantee you that a hired bartender is not going to card her. I’ve been to **a lot** of functions with hired bartenders (weddings, company picnics, company xmas parties, etc) both before and after I turned 21, and I’ve **never** seen anyone get carded. They tend to follow Mexican drinking laws: if you can reach the counter, you can buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/14 "2004-11-19T03:45:12Z")
I wish they’d put it at 18 just for the college kids - they can’t legally drink in bars (and round about August here they start carding _everybody_, including a few nights ago my dear mother, who is in her sixties) so they drink at parties and in dorm rooms where I think it’s a lot less safe, both in terms of date rape and because a professional bartender will eventually cut you off. I think there would be less of an alcohol poisoning problem if the kids were drinking in bars more and at parties less. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/15 "2004-11-19T04:13:15Z")
## I wish they would just get rid of the drinking age. Alcohol is part of life and Americans should stop ignoring that reality. Making alcohol a privilege of adulthood just gives adolescents that much more incentive to pursue it. Acting like a grown up is an important part of growing up. The age limit gives alcohol cachet while at the same time restraining parents from exposing their kids to it in a controlled environment. If responsible alcohol consumption for kids were permitted I’m sure it would decrease irresponsible consumption. You don’t see thousands of French kids dying from drunk driving or alcohol poisoning every prom and graduation season. Of course, they drive a lot less than us too. Another thing for us to work on. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/16 "2004-11-19T06:10:42Z")
I’m more or less in favor of changing the “age of consent” for everything (marriage, sex, gambling, drinking, driving, holding public office, getting drafted, etc, etc, etc) to 18, just so there’s some coherency in the legal system. The current mechanisms just seem so jury rigged and arbitrary that I think that as long as it’s going to be arbitrary, we might as well make it the same arbitrary age. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/17 "2004-11-19T07:51:56Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I don’t really care if the age is 18 or 21. I just think it ought to be one or the other for _everything_. > > It seems to me absurd to the point of insanity that an 18-year old is considered a full, legal adult, able to enter into contracts, vote in national elections, hold public office… but cannot be trusted to drink alcoholic beverages. > > Either make 18 the age of majority, or 21. No exceptions. A lot more people are killed by drunk drivers than by voters (at least directly). ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/18 "2004-11-19T07:52:14Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > Alcohol is part of life and Americans should stop ignoring that reality. I’m all for lowering the drinking age, but this is a bad argument for it. Alcohol is only “part of life” if you want it to be. I haven’t drank since 1997 and as far as I know, I’ve been living all that time. And yeah … what **Netbrian** said. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/19 "2004-11-19T08:38:17Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > ## I wish they would just get rid of the drinking age. Alcohol is part of life and Americans should stop ignoring that reality. Making alcohol a privilege of adulthood just gives adolescents that much more incentive to pursue it. Acting like a grown up is an important part of growing up. The age limit gives alcohol cachet while at the same time restraining parents from exposing their kids to it in a controlled environment. If responsible alcohol consumption for kids were permitted I’m sure it would decrease irresponsible consumption. You don’t see thousands of French kids dying from drunk driving or alcohol poisoning every prom and graduation season. Of course, they drive a lot less than us too. Another thing for us to work on. I’ll never give much credence to the idea that “making it for adults just makes kids want to do it more.” Yeah, that might influence them drinking as teens that one first time. But as someone who actually grew up and drank I did it for one simple reason, being drunk is fun, getting drunk is fun, period. It’s just that simple, the reasons I drank then are the same reasons I drink now. I drink less now, but that’s because I’m old and I get tired much easier, not because I feel that drinking isn’t “cool” because I’ve been allowed to drink for so long. ---
**Author:** ![wonder9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c57346/32.png) [@wonder9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder9)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587/20 "2004-11-19T10:16:05Z")
IMNA…qualified individual of any variety, but aren’t there compelling biological arguements against drinking before the age of 25? There’s a guy at Duke University, Dr. Scott Swartzwelder, who has been studying the effects of a variety of drugs on adolescents and he says that the human brain is affected quite differently by alcohol at younger ages. So this should be reframed as an argument around chemistry, not around personal responsiblity issues, i.e., driving, voting, fighting, and marriage. See following cites for more info… > **[What Are the Risks of Substance Use?](https://www.verywellmind.com/substance-use-4014640)** > > Substance abuse can be defined as a pattern of harmful use of any substance for mood-altering purposes. Learn more about the types of commonly misused drugs. AND… ```php High levels of drinking among adolescents are particularly troubling given recent evidence that, in contrast to long-held assumptions, a tremendous amount of structural and functional brain development takes place during the teenage years (Geidd et al., 1999; for review see Spear, 2000;2002). Evidence is accruing that alcohol, and perhaps other drugs, impact brain function and behavior differently during adolescence than during adulthood. Further, preliminary data suggest that adolescents might be more vulnerable than adults to impairments following repeated alcohol exposure ``` [http://www.duke.edu/~amwhite/Adolescence/](http://www.duke.edu/~amwhite/Adolescence/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-lower-the-legal-drinking-age-from-21-to-18/275587.md?page=2)