mentalfloss.com — Presidents of some of the country?s biggest colleges and universities have come out in support of the Amethyst Initiative, which is pushing a proposal to reconsider the national drinking age of 21. The group contends that the current policy hasn?t actually deterred alcohol abuse among college-age students; instead, it?s forced these young people
Aug 26, 2008 View in Crawl 4
brokencircleAug 26, 2008
The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act, [23 U.S.C. ? 158] was enacted as a method of social control, it still allows a person to drink in private regardless of age. If alcohol really did have devastating effects on a person's body ages 17-20 then Europeans would not completely trounce Americans in the fitness and health department.Also on a side note: Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, the man who proposed NMDAA bill firmly believed that masturbation was bad for a person's mental and physical health.
limeparrotAug 26, 2008
Exactly.
groovechamp30Aug 27, 2008
In belgium we went out to bars aged 12...
zippy757Aug 28, 2008
to quote JFORSYTH89 ...."Scary stuff. It's amazing how easily you can be involved in a collision just because of other people's stupidity. It only takes one person to cause a crash"How ironic that you recognize stupidity, and it's random impact of your life, yet you are ok and defend the stupidity and randomness of senseless deaths due to driving and driving,,,,
migitmdAug 29, 2008
Um, Penndot raised the age from which you can get a drivers permit from 16 to 18. My brother barely made it in time when he was 16 (he had his birthday 6 months prior to the raise)
ggnicteeSep 3, 2008
:) I didn't say any of that was a good idea. That's just the history behind the 18 vote thing. I didn't say "being a head of a household makes you magically smart" that was the historical theory behind the age. And yes saying "men" instead of "people" is sexist. But unfortunately our history is full of sexism. 18 was traditionally when men moved out (women were "married off" (read that sold by their fathers) younger but their age wasn't considered originally, hence they remain unmentioned in my post). That's why it's at that age. Unfortunately our nation lagged behind the rest of the developed world giving women equal rights. And even now the pay rate difference isn't fixed, so we have some ways to go. If you'd like studies hit up the dana institute. Good stuff on the brain (and just generally interesting all over). And I think 'look it up yourself' counts because quoting "studies" on the internet is ...people quote a lot of things on the internet. I would hope you would always look it up yourself at a reputable source instead of believing everything you read in comments. Anyway, you're welcome to think the drinking age should be changed, I just wanted to provide the history of why it's where it is. No sexism intended.
leesoongSep 3, 2008
And more illegal drivers and more road kills...
mooneypilote16Feb 8, 2009
No one is claiming that the law absolutely prevents those under 21 from ever having a drink, but it certainly reduces it because it is illegal and forces them to work harder to obtain it. Also, anyone who provides the alcohol is breaking the law and risks prosecution.
eegzMar 7, 2009
oops, replied to the wrong thread, philhatesyou I completely and very stongly agree with what you are saying (and by solve problems i meant allowing young people to drink but somehow deterring them from driving while drunk)