Drinking Age Debate - Albuquerque, NM

[Daniel in Hobbs]

Old enough to serve in the military, old enough to drink whatever you please...

[ZIAmouth585]

18 is old enough to vote, old enough to serve in the military and old enough to be treated as an adult in criminal court. So why not old enough to drink. In most countries around the world the drinking age is 18 or in many cases lower. In most European countries its 16. On the issue of alcohol, America is more in line with Sharia Law.

[WorkingStiff]

Not really, au contrario, Sharia law doesnt allow alcohol period.

And in Europe, you drink, you drive, you go to jail for a very long time. In other words, in Europa, you really do "lose" unlike here in the land of "Give my hito another chance because he is not really a bad person".

So if you want to be like Europe and have a lower drinking age, fine. Then adopt Europe's strict laws and enforcement and put real teeth in drinking laws.

[Michael Rodriguez]

21 is barely enough

[Hagar]

We have enough DWI now w/o increasing the number of drinkers.

[ZIAmouth585]

WorkingStiff wrote:

Not really, au contrario, Sharia law doesnt allow alcohol period.
And in Europe, you drink, you drive, you go to jail for a very long time. In other words, in Europa, you really do "lose" unlike here in the land of "Give my hito another chance because he is not really a bad person".
So if you want to be like Europe and have a lower drinking age, fine. Then adopt Europe's strict laws and enforcement and put real teeth in drinking laws.

There are a lot of people in America who would like to see a "dry" America.

In Europe you can't drive until your eighteen plus it requires a professional instructor, no mom and pop teaching. Bottomline is a license is a difficult and costly process so it has value unlike in America where your only skill is passing a dumb or dumber written test and parallel parking.

Very little drunk driving enforcement really. I never ever saw a checkpoint specifically looking for drunks. Europeans like to use electronic means to control speed (yep, red light and speed cameras). Only country I ever saw lots of police visibility was in Croatia.

You are right though, if caught, European laws are harsh. Given all the alternatives there is no excuse. I know when I lived in Germany, blood alcohol testing was not optional if alcohol is suspected. Force can be used to extract a sample and as any GI who has lived in Germany can tell you, you never, ever resist arrest. The German Polizei will beat you to a pulp for doing so.

[WorkingStiff]

ZIAmouth585 wrote:

<quoted text>
There are a lot of people in America who would like to see a "dry" America.
In Europe you can't drive until your eighteen plus it requires a professional instructor, no mom and pop teaching. Bottomline is a license is a difficult and costly process so it has value unlike in America where your only skill is passing a dumb or dumber written test and parallel parking.
Very little drunk driving enforcement really. I never ever saw a checkpoint specifically looking for drunks. Europeans like to use electronic means to control speed (yep, red light and speed cameras). Only country I ever saw lots of police visibility was in Croatia.
You are right though, if caught, European laws are harsh. Given all the alternatives there is no excuse. I know when I lived in Germany, blood alcohol testing was not optional if alcohol is suspected. Force can be used to extract a sample and as any GI who has lived in Germany can tell you, you never, ever resist arrest. The German Polizei will beat you to a pulp for doing so.

Agree with you on all your points. And well, I can tell you that many many many Europeans love their alcohol and I too love my beer and Jack Daniel with coke (the soft drink of course) so I'm not for any type of prohibition.

But Europeans have a different outlook on this and if caught are loathed and labled as morons. There is alot of peer pressure there to not drink and drive - unlike here. Croatia is very strict I hear, I could be wrong but I thought they have a zero limit policy and many Euro countries dont even use alcohol detectors - if they smell it on you then its off to jail.

[Just left of right]

WorkingStiff wrote:

<quoted text>
Agree with you on all your points. And well, I can tell you that many many many Europeans love their alcohol and I too love my beer and Jack Daniel with coke (the soft drink of course) so I'm not for any type of prohibition.
But Europeans have a different outlook on this and if caught are loathed and labled as morons. There is alot of peer pressure there to not drink and drive - unlike here. Croatia is very strict I hear, I could be wrong but I thought they have a zero limit policy and many Euro countries dont even use alcohol detectors - if they smell it on you then its off to jail.

Ha, you must be my long lost twin. Everyone knows I luvs my beer but you're the only person I know, besides me, that likes JD & Coke lol!

[Knightkore]

Personally I think the drinking age should be raised to 25 at least...but that's me.

[WorkingStiff]

Just left of right wrote:

<quoted text>
Ha, you must be my long lost twin. Everyone knows I luvs my beer but you're the only person I know, besides me, that likes JD & Coke lol!

I prefer it better than crown, JB or any of the other more expensive ones.

[Bluntly Spoken]

Just left of right wrote:

<quoted text>
Ha, you must be my long lost twin. Everyone knows I luvs my beer but you're the only person I know, besides me, that likes JD & Coke lol!

Don't drink any carbonated stuff, beer, soda or whatever and seldom drink hard stuff.

Now if you offer me a Pina Colada AND if it is made right I will not refuse it!

Best ones I know of are made by Kimberly at Route 66 Casino Thunder Road bar and grill.

[walterfm]

Do away with the drinking age entirely. If my 11 year old wants to get drunk, fine. Maybe after crashing his bike a few times he'll get it out of his system, before he's got control of a vehicle that could hurt someone else.

[Fred ABQ]

If you're old enough to go to war and kill someone, you are also old enough to drink alcohol, whether the law says so or not.

[Bluntly Spoken]

Fred ABQ wrote:

If you're old enough to go to war and kill someone, you are also old enough to drink alcohol, whether the law says so or not.

Explain your senseless answer?

There is NO DRAFT, those who want to join any branch of the military are volunteers, and agree to abide by the military rules, if sent to a war zone that is part of what their job requires, so your reasoning of old enough to get killed, old enough to drink is out the front door.

Were you drunk when you wrote that?

Why not also say old enough to ride a bicycle old enough to ride a motorcycle or drive a car?

[CornDogz]

Daniel in Hobbs wrote:

Old enough to serve in the military, old enough to drink whatever you please...

Although when I reflect upon how irresponsible I was @ 18 and in the military at the time, I agree. And as long as they are subject to the same punishment as those over 21, gitrdun!

[Mo Rum]

If you can sign a contract @ 18 you *should* be able to handle yourself already.

[Bluntly Spoken]

Mo Rum wrote:

If you can sign a contract @ 18 you *should* be able to handle yourself already.

Not every state or business allows 18 year olds to sign contracts so there goes your post out the door.

[Knightkore]

Okay lets try something different...why not lower the drinking age to babies. Forget milk...let them get hooked on Miller Lite right away.

[Bluntly Spoken]

Knightmare wrote:

Okay lets try something different...why not lower the drinking age to babies. Forget milk...let them get hooked on Miller Lite right away.

If you think about this for a few moments those females who do drugs and/or drink as addicts when they get pregnant are in a fact feeding their babies alcohol and or drugs.

And it has been proven that those babies as they grow up are more prone to becoming alcoholics or drug users since it is in their system.

[Life nowhere is cheap]

Knightmare wrote:

Personally I think the drinking age should be raised to 25 at least...but that's me.

I so So So Agree with you even age 30 would be better