Deep Thought

Filed in National by on August 24, 2008

The legal age for drinking beer or wine in a bar or at home should be 18.

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Jason330 is a deep cover double agent working for the GOP. Don't tell anybody.

Comments (24)

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  1. Call It says:
    August 24, 2008 at 2:02 pm

    Yes.

  2. delawaredem says:
    August 24, 2008 at 2:42 pm

    No.

  3. Graniaclewbay says:
    August 24, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    HELL, NO!!! I’ve got 3 teens. Beer pong is the big game right now. I am a NAZI when it comes to the abuse of alcohol. So many teens have been picked up lately, so many are buying beer and liquor illegally for the teens and so many car crashes have taken place. From what I see and hear, these kids will never be able to drink socially… they are learning binge and doing binge. It’s really sad that the education on alcohol abuse is laughed at…

  4. Call It says:
    August 24, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    Well teach them responsible drinking instead of being a “Nazi” when it comes to drinking and maybe your three teens won’t be the poster children for going wild when they get to college. Many college presidents, like the president of Ohio State want it reduced for that very reason. 18 year-olds are going to drink, it is just a matter of if you want them doing it mischievously or responsibly.

  5. M.Opaliski says:
    August 24, 2008 at 2:55 pm

    The long time and arbitrary double standard …

    There is a broadly accepted and defined age when you’re no longer considered to be a minor, it’s 18. At this point you’re considered to be an adult for all legal intents and purposes . You can vote (albeit you’re also able to vote in a Presidential Primary at 17 in Delaware if you’ll be 18 for the General Election), be held liable for contracts that you enter in to, serve your country in the Armed Forces, be tried and sentenced as an adult for crimes committed, purchase tobacco products, et al, yet you’re deemed unable to consume alcohol. It’s arbitrary, and no matter what reasons you (generally speaking) can come up with to make you feel better about it that doesn’t change the fact that it’s arbitrary.

    Leave emotions out of it if at all possible, like with most serious issues that have a broad scope there simply isn’t room for them …

    There’s no amount of experience or data that you (generally speaking) can present that will change the fact that this issue is cut and dry, legally, it doesn’t bleed and it doesn’t breathe, hell it’s not even subject to debate that once you have reached the age of 18 you are in fact considered an adult. As such, a double standard either exists or it doesn’t and in this case it most certainly does.

  6. Jason330 says:
    August 24, 2008 at 2:56 pm

    The current system promotes abuse. 21 is just stupid puritanist BS.

  7. Mike Matthews says:
    August 24, 2008 at 3:23 pm

    It works in Europe. Something tells me we’re not too far off the evolutionary ladder from them. Short answer: Yes.

  8. pandora says:
    August 24, 2008 at 3:45 pm

    Let them drink at 18. Alcohol was never a big deal in my house, subsequently when I went to college and everyone else (especially Catholic school girls) went completely insane I wasn’t that interested. If I wanted a glass of wine I could have it at home.

    But , then again, I guess prohibition worked soooo well.

  9. Rebecca says:
    August 24, 2008 at 3:59 pm

    Yes. Last year I hosted an exchange student from Switzerland. She was 18 and could not believe that she couldn’t have a glass of wine when we went out to dinner. In most of the world wine and beer are food and children are taught to enjoy and savor them — not binge on them.

    And call me a hippy, but I still believe that if you are old enough to serve in the military you are old enough to order a drink.

    Of course, drinking and driving is an absolute go to jail, do not pass Go or collect $200. And lose your license.

  10. Joanne Christian says:
    August 24, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    I remember when we did lower to 18–and Jersey was the destination for not just the 18 yo, but also the 16yo who could pass. God bless those PA. drivers’ licenses back then–all paper–no picture. I am very torn w/ this one. Mother says NO WAY–let em sneak around like we did..which is adds to the “instead of the mall list”..but the concrete, binding adult piece does pull me to age 18. I have thought about 21 everywhere, but military installations…the argument we used “old enough to be drafted, but can’t get a draft”..so 18 there…and then I think, how about raise adulthood to 21 for everything, since what the heck America is only delaying adult responsibility anyway w/ all these “kept” kids/young adults who still suck off their parents’ enabling and generous support. Sure would put the credit card industry in a spin!!! Maybe help save them from themselves…It certainly up for debate….but I know I’m not real comfortable knowing a high school sophomore ( I say that because of delayed school entry/then fail a year), can full well come to school having ordered a Bloody Mary w/ their Egg McMuffin.
    AaH–split the difference…all rights at age 20!!!

    P.S. Does PA have photo ID licenses now?
    Hef–It’s your daughter being picked up pre-prom w/ Mad Dog on ice in the back…you OK with that? Or are you sending her out the door w/ Blue Nun?

  11. Truth Teller says:
    August 24, 2008 at 4:28 pm

    I had beer or a glass of wine every sunday at dinner ever since I could remember i say around 4 years old

  12. delaware's most underappreciated writer says:
    August 24, 2008 at 4:57 pm

    I have 3 teen age girls and I say yes too. How many country’s in Europe and the rest of the world already allow drinking at that age?

    we are so backwards as a country.

    I get to have a sip every sunday at church, but not in my own home with my kids if I want?

  13. mike w. says:
    August 24, 2008 at 5:15 pm

    See comment #6. Jason said it perfectly.

  14. Steve Newton says:
    August 24, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    yes; arbitrary age of drinking, age of consent laws are inherently ridiculous

    otherwise how do you manage to teach your children responsibility while they are still around

  15. liberalgeek says:
    August 24, 2008 at 5:57 pm

    So… I agree, but should we suggest a law that would allow it in Delaware and forfeit the highway funds?

    I say sweeten the deal with a .05 BAC limit.

    I didn’t have a drink in high school. I had my first drink when I backpacked through Europe at 18. I held out until I was 20 before I had a drink in the US. I just got to the point of “WTF?”

  16. Steve Newton says:
    August 24, 2008 at 6:24 pm

    I say forbid the Federal practice of legislative blackmail to get states to do what the Feds want but don’t have constitutional or other legal authority to force them to do.

  17. Joanne Christian says:
    August 24, 2008 at 6:29 pm

    Oh there you are Geek…So when in Rome….

    Got you a souvenir in Providence……but without an outing I just don’t know how you will ever get it….

  18. jason330 says:
    August 24, 2008 at 6:29 pm

    I agree with Steve Newton as his comment regards highway funds.

  19. Joe Cass says:
    August 24, 2008 at 7:27 pm

    Old enough for armed service, old enough for bar service

  20. G Rex says:
    August 24, 2008 at 8:46 pm

    Modest proposal: If UD students, for example, were allowed to drink in Main Street bars – a controlled environment, if you will – rather than drinking competitively off campus, maybe fewer of them would be hit by trains on the way home.

  21. mike w. says:
    August 24, 2008 at 9:38 pm

    RE: Steve’s comment #16.

    I would be elated if that were to actually happen.

  22. liberalgeek says:
    August 24, 2008 at 9:57 pm

    Joanne – perhaps I’ll just show up at a board meeting and play the part of an enraged parent. That would be fun.

  23. Joanne Christian says:
    August 24, 2008 at 10:07 pm

    But I won’t be able to tell which enraged parent you are in the crowd!!!

  24. david says:
    August 24, 2008 at 11:18 pm

    Alcohol is not the only thing we make you wait until older that 18 to purchase. Handguns are another example. Should we lower the age on them too?

    I agree with Steve on the 10th amendment issue.

    I like your compromise, but let’s work it. 18 for wine coolers and beer. 21 for the rest except wine when given by the legal guardian, only which would be unregulated. Then we actually prosecute the parents and others who give alcohol to other people’s children with heavy fines and community service. Prison if it causes someone to die or have sever repercussions.

    Don’t interfere with how I raise my children and I won’t interfere on how you raise yours.

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