Should the drinking age be lowered to 18?
by 
CrazySexyTrill
ANSWERS: 100
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Yes b/c 18 is an age where a person supposed to be entering adulthood and should be able to do LEGALLY what adults do. Also college freshmans aren't able to drink and I really don't have a supporting statement for that other than it's not fair, lol.
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yes if you can lose your life for a country you at 18 you should be allowed to have a beer
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no. most 21 year olds don't exercise enough responsible behavior when drinking, why would letting 18 yr olds be better? According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 17,013 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes (an average of one almost every half-hour) in 2003. These deaths constituted approximately 40 percent of the 42,642 total traffic fatalities. Also in 2003, 25 percent of 15- to 20-year-old drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking; 19 percent were intoxicated. As read on driversed.com
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I completely agree with this answer, if you are in the armed forces I think if you are old enough to serve & protect your country, you should be able to drink in a somewhat contolled setting though.
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I think that there should be two drinking ages. 18 and 21. 18 should be for beer and wine and 21 should be for hard liquor.
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I think so yes. In the UK where I live, the legal drinking age is 18 and 21 seems a bit too harsh. All the other things you can do at 21, join the armed forces, get married, have kids yet you can't have a drink?
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First off, I am 23 years old. I do feel that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. If you have fight and die for your country, you should be able to drink when your 18. You can gamble, vote, and get married at 18 years old, so you should be able to drink at 18.
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No it should be upped to 25. 21 year olds are way too irresponsible. Plus if it were upped to 25 I would save a lot of money, because I wouldn't be allowed to go to the bar anymore.
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Well, actually we don't really have a drinking age. To back this up I know many kids still in high school that drink all the time, have parties, etc.. and no one does anything about it, not even the local authorities. I even know some kids in the 7th grade that drink. That would put them at like 15 years of age.
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I'm in the UK and think the age should be raised to 21 and be just a strictly enforced over here as it is the US.
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No, because the rate of teenage drunk driving fatalities will dramatically increase. Some teenagers drink illegally, but making it legal will open Pandora's Box.
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No...21 is fine...
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Uh, no!
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I think it should be 19 or 20. It will decrease the amount of wasted time the police spend on dealing with teens drinking, and they will spend more time on the big crimes.
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I think it should be abolished entirely. Restricting a thing has NEVER successfully made enough of the public stop using it. Especially when you're talking about teenagers. I also believe cannabis, cocaine, and all other street drugs should be made legal. AND available. Then those who would OD anyway would, and everyone else would get the message and stay away from them. Harsh, I know, but effective.
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its 18 in our country, its proving to be a nightmare, kids as young as 16 ( because they look 18, or get false ID's) are so stoney arsed drunk they end up in a total mess, very ill, admitted to hospital, raped, druged, fighting, drinking and causing accident,s I wish they would raise the age limit again, 18 is too young, but also because it seems to allow the even younger to get on board.
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it should be 18.if you are classed as an adult by law at 18 and allowed to vote at that age you should be able to drink at 18.21 is to long to wait so there will just be more trouble and violence because people will still manange to get hold of it no matter what age.
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Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing it raised to about 25 or 30. Then you really would have a chance to eliminate teenage drinking.
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In Australia the drinking age has always (well, as far as I know anyways) been 18. We don't have much of a binge drinking problem, from what I see (I'm 17). Generally only on 18 birthday parties is where people get totally trashed. It doesn't seem as bad here as it does in America, but I've never been there, so I can't be sure.
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My native state (California) and my adopted state (Nevada) always had the drinking age at 21. I lived in places with lower ages and saw all kinds of trouble. American young people have a lot more freedom than they do in other parts of the world. I say no.
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Yes it should be 18, if someone who is 18 can go and fight for our country, when they come back after a year or so, THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE A BEER!!! It doesnt make any sense. 18 sounds fine to me.
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I don't know if the drinking age should be lowered, but I do believe that drinking, voting, buying a gun, and joining the military should all be allowed at the same age, whether it's 18, 21, or whatever. If you're old enough to buy a weapon, kill people for money, and help decide who your leaders will be, you should be able to decide what you put into your own body.
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Nope! If I had my way, it would be raised to 25! Sorry, that is just how I feel!
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No, 21 is fine.
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Yeah I think so. Here it is 18, and I don't see a problem with it. If you can vote, and go to fight for your country, i think you should be allowed to have a few drinks.
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The drinking age should be RAISED to 70...in opposition to the old white guys' illegalization of marijuana. They can't have their cognac until we can have our fucking weed.
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I am reading this question at www.answerbag.co.uk, but I must assume this is an American question ? In the UK we can drink at 18, or even at 16 in a restaurant. See this: http://www.essex.police.uk/offbeat/o_wu_11.php
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I know that its something around there in europe, so when europeans come here they cant drink for a couple of years again legally. Anyway, how many college under 21 really dont drink anyway?
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No I think in European Countries they should raise the age.They are debating the fact in the UK.
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NO WAY! think about it.. people in college are already looking towards there older friends to buy them liquor and beer.. what about highschool? if the drinking age is lowered to 18, 14 year olds will start looking at their older peers for the same thing.. and then what if people aren't satisfied with it being lowered to 18 and they want it even lower? this is stupid. either keep it at 21 or put it higher.
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Yes i do. Because they let 18 year olds do everything else, so why not drink?
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I think the draft age should match the drinking age-21. Also, a person is considered an adult (legally) @ 18 years - which I consider young.
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No. By the military arguement, which is very arbitrary, one could say it should be 35, the age to run for president. Or maybe 25, the age to run for senator. The age to join the military and age to drink are two seperate issues, and should be kept that way. In my never to be humble opinion, the drinking age should stay the same, and the age to join the military should be lowered to 16. Anybody think that the drinking age then should be 16? Really, the age to enlist should be 16 if you have no more use for high school.
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No. I remember when it was 18 in New Jersey years ago, It didn't work out too well becasue DUI's and accidents increased. Many times, high schools seniors were spending time at the local bars. I don't think it's a good idea to go back there.
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The drinking age is 18 for where I live, and I dont see a problem with it, as drinking here seems to be more accepted than in other places, like we have bars on college and university campus'.
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Im 18 and personally i dont think it would be a good idea to change the drinking age...only because the level of maturity is alot different when you are 21. I know 18 year olds already drink illegaly but think about it if it was legal there would be alot more alcohol poisonings and alot more drunk drivers.
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I dont think that it is a good idea, but still kids are going to drink at 18 law or not.
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No WAY! And I don't think you should serve in the military until you're an adult, either!!!!
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I think that it should be the same as the age you can enter the military without parental consent. They should at least lower it for anyone with a military I.D. If you can die for your country you should be able to have a drink.
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it works in most countries, in the UK it's 18 and the margority of alcohol related crimes are done by men over 21 and those under and usaly done by under 18's. at 18 you can be married since 16, drive a car, join the army , run the country, pay tax. so why not drink?
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Yeah, because then I wouldn't have to wait another year. I pay taxes, so I should be able to do what I want as long as I'm not hurting anyone. Period.
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I live in australia and our drinking age is 18 and to be honest it is better. we all know 18 year olds in the states will be drinking anyway and it really makes the 18 year olds more adult like being able to go down the the pub with their elders and have a good time. often people say no drinking age is the best because that way kids have always grown up with the option to drink and its not like a certain age they get of age and have to abuse it because they have been able to their whole life. but i believe 21 is a bit ridiculous. they are going to be drinking by 18 anyway
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I think we should bring back prohibition...
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it doesn't matter. if the underage want to drink, they will.
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I live in Canada and depending which Province you are in the drinking age is either 18 or 19. Yes I believe they should lower it. They are going to drink regardless. Make it legal and they won't have to sneak around and get into trouble.
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I think so-- because in America, a person's first drinking experience is often supervised by other drunk college kids-- instead of by parents and family, perhaps at an 18th birthday party or something where the parents are keeping an eye on things, not letting the kid drink the third drink until the first two have hit, stopping him/her before it's out of hand (but will still have a hangover in the morning to teach a lesson). I drank underage, with family, and then when I drank underage (or of legal age) with friends, I was smart about it. My two cents.
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Yes I do, I was a baby at even 21. Takes time for maturity and to drink well yes I think 21.
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I think that the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18. If you are old enough to die for your country then you should be allowed to drink. Legalized drinking age has little to do with drunk driving statistics. In European countries people drink at a much younger age than Americans but the accident rate is not greater. And yes...I'm over 21.
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i would make it lower than the driving age so accidents decrease when kids learn how easy it is to crash on a bicycle before they get in a car
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here in australia it's already 18.. we are having a major problem with the goverment and putting up alcohol taxes instead of increasing the age.. its making it dangerous because kids are going for spirits now instead of premixes.. they lose count of what they have had to drink and end up in hospital.. its scary.. i was one of those people who ended up in hospital.. i couldnt keep track of how much i had.. instead of 5 cruisers i had half a bottle of straight smirnoff.
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Everytime this question is asked, I say it should go up a year.
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Because kids in America have to wait so many years to legally ingest that 'forbidden fruit', they are rarely raised how to drink properly. Instead of learning to savor or appreciate various characteristics... it's all about going out into the forest or going over to a friend's place and binge drinking all they can before they get caught. the higher drinking age also doesn't permit kids as much opportunity to properly see how much they can consume before they become a danger to themselves or others. There should be no minimum age, take away alcohol's mystique and suddenly it won't be such an act of rebellion to drink.
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No friggin' way!!! But I DO think that if you are active in the armed forces that you should damn well be able to drink. So sue me!!
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No. That was tried in our state and alcohol related traffic accidents and death rate went up with the younger people over representated. It was later changed and is now back to 21.
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S T U P I D !!!! Our kids get themselves into enough trouble at 18 WITHOUT 18 being the legal limit! Shelly
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I agree since at 18 you can *Smoke *Vote *Die for your country *View and star in pornography
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Here in the UK you can drink legally seeing as at 18 years old your are an adult:-)
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Not good!
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I don't drink, never have, never will, but I think the current age restriction is ludicrous. By 18 you can drive, you can vote, you can marry, you can move out on your own, you can enlist in the military, you can even own your own business, all without parental consent, but you can't consume alcohol. It's complete and total BS. It needs to be lowered to 18.
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well its 18 here in ireland, but im guessing americans drink when there 18 anyways, so they should
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I don't think it really matters either way. Most 18 year olds have friends 21 and over who get booze for them anyway.
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bad idea alcohol causes enough trouble without increasing the access of teenagers
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You youguns are not responsible enough. Hell now you are not even mature to yake care of yourself till you are 30 or so. mr Bill
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It's 18 here in the UK, and I think thats still a little old. Maybe (just a thought) of we were less strict on young people drinking, they might not do it as much. Teenagers do things to rebel. It like reverse psychology.
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if you can die in a war at 18 you should be able to drink... that being said, I think that there might be short term issues...
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What? You would allow people to drink when they are just barely old enough to vote, get married, go to war, and start using credit? I think drinking might just be a little over their heads...
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I like the old Irish rule. 'You can start drinkning when you can see over the bar.' I think that kids drink, because they are not supposed to. If you allow them to drink, most of them won't drink as much. But there will always be the stupid people (15 or 45) that will drink too much. - Blessed Be
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Well, when I was younger I would have said "Hell yes!!!" But now, I am more hesitant. I started drinking long before I was 21. I think there would have to be a lot of restrictions to the law... And I would prefer it if it was still 21+ at the bars (a.k.a you can buy liquor and consume it at 18 but you can't do it at a bar) ...reason being is I want to know that all the people I am flirting with are AT LEAST 21. Heh.
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yes it should. At 18, you are considered a full adult and have the ability to enter legal contracts, join the military, go to jail rather than juvenile hall, marry, have children as your responsibility, adopt children, etc. So why can't you drink? Not everybody acts like an adult at 18, but you're still considered one. If you do dumb things while under the influence, you get punished as an adult. So why have all these rights but you are unable to drink? Why should you fight for a country but not be able to drink to our national anthem, which has the same tune as a drinking song?
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It is 18.
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No way! I think it should be hired to say 50.
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I think it should be lowered to 18 with a HS Diploma....without the diploma you would have to wait until 21 (just a thought)
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Yes it should. In a legal manner the younger peoples behavior would be in line. There are probably very few young people between 18 and 21 that do not have drinks and it is socially acceptable in most cases. Once it becomes socially acceptable and it's against the law where do these young people start to draw the line when it's acceptable to break the law and when not to. At 18 you can lay your life down for your country so if you want to have a drink bottoms up!
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i wanted it to be 18 to drink, but i don't really care anymore now that i'm old enough! lol
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Its 18 here in Australia, but they are cosidering making the drinking age 21 because there are just too many incidents with people between the ages of 18 and 21.
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No, we should have prohibition come back. Damn kids drinking and driving and making babies, passing on the stupid.
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yes, so i can sit in the bar area to eat instead of waiting 20-40min for regular dining.
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it's 18 here in the uk and after spending time in the states, i'd definately say we've got a bigger younger drink problem then there. so no, keep your youth innocent for longer
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I'm 18 i think the drinking age should stay where its at if it was lowered too many stupid kids would die and you'd be putting kids below 18 at risk cause right now friends by me alcohol so if it was lowered 18 year olds would be buying it for 17, 16, and 15 year olds
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The legal drinking age is 18 here, and a lot of the younger ones who drink (yes, I was once included in this group) don't know what social drinking is and usually end up consuming far more than 'should be' socially acceptable. This can often lead to problems. One of the factors, I believe, is that when you are first allowed to drink legally you tend to disregard the other laws pertaining to alcohol. You're allowed to drink, so who cares if there is supposedly a limit on how much you are allowed to be served? The bartending staff certainly doesn't! (<-- Not always true, but it usually is). Of course even though some people may be more mature by the age of 21, I don't think it would make a major difference. For most people, once the shackles are loosened, the freedom feels the same.
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No, The number of drunk driving incidents dropped when they raised the age to 21. I don't think we need it to rise again.
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No.
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yes and no i think they mite b able to handle them selfs .......
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It's amusing that the post WW2 baby boomers had the drinking age lowered to 18 for them & then had it raised as their children matured.
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No. No way. 21 year olds can not drink and act responsible. 18 would be terible.
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if they lower the drinking age to 18, then they must legalize marijuana while their at it. FU*CK the GORVERNMENT. they dont know sh*t. They want to allow alcohol more accesible for everyone, even though its the leading cause of deaths, destruction, marriage faliure, suicides, yet they cant legalize marijuana, which has caused NO deaths?
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Old enough to serve old enough to be served. Drinking age was 18 for 3.2 beer here in Colorado before 1986. Then they changed it. While in the service it was 18 for service members on base.
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Police should be getting drunks off the road. instead they're busy passing out underage drinking tickets. Ambulances might be called for possible alcohol poisonings if the underage drinkers didn't have to worry about going to jail. Lives could be saved.
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if your old enough to vote and serve your country your old enough to drink.
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In most countries such as: Puerto Rico, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and many others the drinking age is 18 and I think it should be 18 every where else too, 18 is considered becoming an adult so why cant you do adult stuff (drinking) when your 18 =|
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... here in Quebec, the legal age for alcohol is 18 ... ... I feel 18 is the right age, but I would not object if it was raised to 21 ... I would not even care if it were made illegal again, since I am personally against alcohol consumption ... but since there are so many who do consume alcohol, I feel the right age age to legally consume alcohol is 18 years of age.
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It has always been 18 in Ireland. While many people abuse alcohol it is worse to see young people e.g. 12-18 year olds destroy themselves with it. The key is alcohol awareness and more education. Young people are more responsible when armed with knowledge. I think you should legalise alcohol for under 21's. Also if you look at Mediterranean countries Spain and Portugal or even France and Italy the drinking age is 16 and in any case children of any age are allowed to drink with their parents.This is part of their culture, therefore they don't abuse alcohol. It has been seen that young people in these countries are less likely to develop alcoholism.
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FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK yaaaaaaaaaaaaa but really it doesnt matter because underage can get ahold of alchohal anywaysssssssssssss ha fuckersssssssssssssssssssssss
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I am 18 and i think it would be sweet if they lowered the drinking age. I live in Wisconsin and everybody drinks in high school anyway.
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Yes the purchase and consumption of Beer and Wine ONLY should be allowed to adults age 18 and over. Also the granting of full driving priviledge should be raised to 18 years of age. The purchase and consumption of hard liquor should remain 21 years of age.
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no i think that it should be banned all together and pot legalized
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here in ireland the drinking age is 18, in wan way its bad cuz going in to clubs you got kids bout 16 years of age that can get away with been 18, and you cant really have a good night with them falling bout the place and thinking there all that,
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Maybe if some younger kids feel what a massive hangover feels like, they might not ever drink again... I started drinking at 18. I wound up hung over many, many times. I very nearly wound up with alcohol poisoning from overdoing it with hard liquor. Guess what? I stuck with beer from then on, and only on three occasions did I have more than two beers per day. I never drove drunk, I never even left my apartment drunk. I learned how to drink responsibly the hard way. I know, not every kid at that age is smart, but... For the few that are, that lesson wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing... I think if they drop the drinking age to 18, the first drink should be legally required to be Wild Irish Rose... Give 'em the hangover from hell, and then see if they are still gung-ho about getting schnockered...
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Yes. If you are old enough to be in the armed forces, you are old enough to drink
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No way! That's just more time for a person to become dependent on alcohol.
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