Should the alcohol drinking age be increased or decreased?

I've seen arguments positive of it being decreased.. Bur yet I've seen good points for it being increased too.
This is a pretty good argument I've heard against it.
''Do the current laws involving the age at which adults can start drinking really make sense? There are many reasons why the government changed the legal drinking age to 21, but has this actually caused a decrease in the amount of alcohol consumed by persons between 18 and 21? Alcohol related crime and traffic accidents have gone down in recent years, but the source of this drop may not simply have to do with raising the drinking age, as the government would like you to believe. There is a theory in psychology called the Reactance Theory, which disagrees with the idea that by making more restrictive laws, drinking will slow down.''
What is your opinion and do you have any good arguments for/against lowering or raising the drink age?

 

Raising the legal age verifiably lowered the deaths by DUI

 

kinda think it should be decreased to 18 because that's the legal age you become an adult in the US

 

21 is fine. I mean...

also

that didn't work so well 90 years ago did it

 

Make no age parents choice

 

Depending on where you are that's how it works.

For example, board game night at the cottage, the kids (of course who are at least like 15), are allowed a beer or two. (Law permits this)

"
It is not illegal:
-For someone over 18 to buy a child over 16 beer, wine or cider if they are eating a table meal together in licensed premises.
-For a child aged five to 16 to drink alcohol at home or on other private premises.
"

This is for the UK, but it is very similar for other nations as well.

Having parents allow it makes more sense, as they'll know the tolerance of the child/person, as it varies from person to person.

 

I really have no issue with the 21 years of age rule. That being said, the vast majority of 18-20 year olds are already drinking regardless. This is due to them being in college / the workforce where situations in which they may drink are very common. So, If we were to break down the percentage of people in that she bracket that break that law I would assume it to be a majority (useless rule).

On different note, I got sure support allowing military members the age of 18 to drink. Like let's be real, if you can put up with the hell of training and out your life on the line I do not see why they should not be able to (I am sure many do regardless but from a legal standpoint).

 

Show me where in the constitution and where it bans and unbans airplanes. Trying to take away american's guns, alchohol, or marijuana is like trying to boil gasoline. Yeah it might work but it's likely to blow up in your (the government's) face

 

Why would a prohibition work any better than it did the last time we tried it?

 

I was clubbing at 16 didn’t stop me being a model citizen.

 

Can confirm drinking a full bottle of listerene at 14 isn't harmful though so the "decrease" votes might be on to something

 

The main motivations to make alcohol illegal was that the majority of men would go out drinking and there was a very high rate of domestic violence, so the temperance movement worked their asses to get it illegal to combat this, and instead it became highly profitable. I agree with the temperance movement's ambitions, but in practice it won't work. Alcohol is embedded in western society and institutions will simply pop up to fill the deficiency caused by abolition. Also, the groups that will then make the alcohol themselves won't have to follow any government health regulations. You won't know what you're drinking, and that's very dangerous.

I do agree that making alcohol illegal would decrease usage at least some, but the domestic violence numbers won't change. The difference in alcohol-related accidents will only slightly change. There's both addiction and a cultural need to consume alcohol in social settings as well as to "let a load off" and it's been advertised for decades in this way, we would have to change the culture surrounding it. Just think, half of college kids aren't legally allowed to have/drink alcohol, yet this is where alcohol is most prevalent.

I personally think they might as well lower the age to 18, because we shouldn't be giving kids criminal records for things society is pressuring them to do. In this way it's good to look at cigarettes as an example, they were widespread across high schools even though high school kids couldn't legally have them. With DARE intercepting the culture from a young age, there's been a drastic drop in the use of cigarettes in millennials & Gen X. Now if you smoke, nobody wants to be around you. The same must be done for alcohol, if you're someone who drinks to get drunk or is otherwise irresponsible when drinking, nobody will want to be around you. Nobody will invite you out. It will no longer be cool to get drunk every weekend, rather it will be seen as irresponsible and childish.

 

Im 17 and I wana drink till dawn xD

 

obviously any reasonable parent won't let their 14 year old child get drunk. You can't get drunk off of 1 beer. there's going to be someone like ' i can get drunk off of one beer' idc

you're wayyyy to immature to be 17 lmao

 

this is a quite large statement. Any proof as to why poorer/less educated families would be less reasonable then better off families? Less education or poverty does not mean they lack common sense.

 

Is this the case in European countries with drinking laws that reflect the given example? I was under the impression countries like england had significantly less issues with alcohol.

 

Drugs are illegal yet there's a huge industry around creating and selling them. It just makes the market tougher.
On meep for example, I sell duping machine kits. It's 100% illegal, and that makes it all the more profitable. There's less competition, and you're paying more so it's worth the risk of me selling them and paying my guy who's set up to take the blame. Making it illegal has nothing to do with whether or not they're sold, just with who sells them, and the cost

 

The difference that I noticed is that I know a lot more rich(er) people using drugs than poor. I know you were aimong for the opposite but im not.

This is not completely true. The cigarette price in Ireland is now 11 Euro ($13.66) (£9.83). Yet I still know people who are addicted to cigarettes that do not care about the price and will do anything to get their fix. Even if they buy more than 1 packet of said item a day. This can be said for anything addictive really. Drugs, Alcohol, Cigarettes, even things like coffee. When you make something illegal, you just inflate the blackmarket for said item. When something goes on the blackmarket you have no idea what is in it. And yes there could be the argument that you don't know what's in cigarettes, alcohol etc. You especially don't know what's in blackmarket items because the FDA doesn't support, because well, it's illegal. Increasing the price can also inflate the blackmarket for said item.

 

Let us all get hammered tbh

 

18 is perfect.