Hello ATRL! Welcome to the Official Great Debate thread. Here is the thread where we can debate issues, be it political, social, or just interesting topics. This is also to place to post in cases where you might have made an individual thread for a generic topic, such as "Red vs. Blue".

Using the thread:
This thread will function like SYG/Random Thoughts, instead of having a rotating topic. When making a post starting a topic, please bold and color red your post. For Example. Also, to make things clearer, please try when possible to quote the post you are responding to, since multiple conversations will be happening at once.

Mod Rules: Here are the rules for this thread that the mods will firmly enforce
- No Smilies
- No funny gifs or images
- All posts must be at least one sentence long.
- No-cosigning
- All regular ATRL rules will apply

So feel free to post a topic and get started. Also, if someone with ART design skills could help me improve the OP, that'd be great, please PM me. Thanks!

So how about I start it off.

Do you think the drinking age should be lowered in the US to 18 years-old? I say NO.

Only for military keep it at 21 for everyone else.

Bump

Of course it should be. All studies show that in countries where the drinking age is lower there's less drunk driving, less alcohol-related deaths/accidents, etc. The high drinking age also pins young kids with dumb charges that stay on their record for this silly rule. The US is very behind socially and economically so I'm not surprised it's as high as 21 here (an arbitrary number anyway).

Except the fact that 4 of my friends died coming home from Canada where it's 19 because they were drunk. I don't know about these statistics because here you drive drunk you are driving for 20-30 miles in some cases. Maybe in other countries the drivers are not traveling as far.

The closet bar that anyone would go to around my town is a good 10 mile drive. it's over 20 miles to get to the city.

Your post must at least be a sentence long, sis

It's so stupid that in some states you are able to drive a car at 14 under supervision however you're not allowed to drink until you are 21, where is the logic in that?

I think alcohol is inherently more dangerous than driving a car tbh. At least your judgement isn't impaired when driving.

Using one personal experience to justify your position ain't cutting it. Whatever the age is there will be drunk driving. So it changes none of that.

If you want to stop drunk driving people should look to technology and not useless laws. For example, there's tech that would make cars not start when you put your finger over the ignition (it tests blood alcohol level) and having more car pool opportunities for bar hoppers. These are irl innovations that would stop that - not a lame law punishing kids with nonsense like MIPs (which stay on records for years and haunt these kids well into adulthood).

Germany seems to be doing fine with a 16 years drinking age.

True. Underage drinking at an age like 14 can lead to alcoholism later in life and can be very harmful!

Show the receipts for your statistics about drunk driving and accidents in other countries. The age should stay 21. If it were 18, the roads in the U.S. would be even more dangerous. If kids are drinking underage and stupid enough to get caught, then they deserve the consequences (especially if they're drinking underage and driving). And who would willingly buy a car that limits when they can and can't use it?

I'd rather raise the age for other things. 18 is still so young. So much changes between 18 and 21. I say this as someone who is 26 but still has not drank alcohol. I don't see a point.

In an ideal world, I'd want it taxed as well. Put that money towards education.

Never?! It's good stuff as long as you can drink in moderation. Unfortunately, some people don't know when to stop.

Nope, don't see a point. It looks and smells gross. I'm fine with cider for special occasions and I drink other stuff at home (gatorade, milk, etc.). But it was never in my home as a child either, and none of my friends drink either. So it's not really in my life at all.

But yeah, some people need to realize their limits.

I can use this experience because had they not be legally allowed to drink in Canada at 19 they would not have been drunk off their asses driving down the wrong side of the highway. Maybe at 21 they would have been more mature like when we went out we had a designated driver.

When you are 21 you are no longer a kid, you are an adult, so the lame laws as you call them, that punish kids, are probably saving kids from being run over. Yes these laws are very punishing as they should be and yes people are still stupid enough to get behind the wheel drunk.

Technology is one way to go but it would take decades to get it implemented in a meaningful way and it would have to be very non intrusive or no one would be here for it. Ignition interlock devices are already used today for people that have DUI's but they are breath based bulky devices you have to blow in to. The touch based devices you are talking about are at least a decade away from production vehicles. You might see them crop up in high end cars as an option sooner. I know the auto industry and they don't just toss stuff like this in to a car. It's more likely they will be forced in to it.

I don't know if I honestly feel like 18 is all that young for everyone. Sure, many people aren't mature until later, but others are mature earlier and I don't like the idea of placing strict, explicit numbers as thresholds for "maturity."

Maturity is a state of being, not a life style though. But like Katie said, your thought process from when you're 18 to when you're 21 or even from when you're 21 to 25 is radically different.

Yes please, I love alcohol, and I want my children to be able to enjoy alcohol legally as soon as they turn 18. It's been an integral part of my high school/college experiences.

well considering the huge amount of people who drink when they're 18 anyway, i don't think it makes that much of a difference