Is 21 the legal age to BUY alcohol in America or to CONSUME it? Personally I think the drinking age in America is way too high. In Britain it's 16 and I think that's perfectly reasonable; however, I do think that 13/14 year-olds should be able to drink but no more than 1 or 2 units on special occasions like Christmas, under parental supervision. That might seem like a very lenient stance compared to most of you but if you let teenagers have sips of it when they're younger and enjoy it responsibly then you minimise the chance of abusing it.





Prohibition was introduced in America before. It was a total failure. People made their own alcohol, speakeasies were doing a roaring trade, no-one could control illegal imports from the Canadian/Mexican borders and policemen and judges were being bribed like never before so the law never got enforced. Therefore, I doubt any country would ever considering this again.

It wont make much of a difference anyways even if the age bar is lowered for drinking coz most of the young people are smart enough these days to get a way around. However on a second thought I think that the age bar should be lowered legally as thats the best the authorities can do to deter the youth from drinking. People would never stop drinking even if you make it costlier or whatever, still if you keep a check on the age limit atleast you are trying to convey the message that drinking is harmful for health. Personally I dont believe or rather dont want to believe the last line that I wrote.

Go ahead and leave it. (US)
To ban it is like, getting rid of freedoms. (I guess)
I think it's fine the way it is,
but I think police should be more strict on those who are underage and drinking.
And maybe if an person of age abuses this, they sould be restricted from buying it (like it says on their driver's license that they can't buy anymore, etc.)

you no what we should do- banish drinking dont do no good for you and will never ever do anything that will help you just damage your livers and eeventually kill oyu fool!

They tried this already, in Canada and the US at least; people who wanted to drink just got it illegally and the law itself only lasted about ten years. If there was a referendum on whether or not to ban drinking, I have no doubts that it would be a landslide for "No". Casual drinking is a huge part of western societies, whether that's a good thing or not, and most adults won't be giving it up. The only reason the prohibition law passed in the first place was because of gross misinformation spread by groups like the WCTU.

Besides, if we ban drinking because it is bad for you, do we ban anything else that's unhealthy? That'd be an awful long list. IMO, your personal health is your own responsibility, not the government's, and I don't feel the need to give up things I can enjoy responsibly in moderation just because other people can't. I like chocolate, soda pop, hair dye and cosmetics, cell phone, TV, internet and everything else that is supposedly going to kill me one day.

I feel like it should be lowered to 18. It used to be 18. You can vote at 18. You can die for your country at 18. You are legally considered an adult. Why can't they drink? I just don't understand it. It doesn't affect me anymore as I'll be 21 in a few months but I just don't see what the huge difference in 3 years is. I guess I don't have a real problem with it being 21.....but it's not like that stops anyone. I know i've been out drinking since i was 16 and the 21 year old thing didn't stop anybody.

So lower it. I know it's not going to happen. They just actually raised the tobacco ages in my county from 18 to 19. WTF is the difference in one year? Also....it's not really accomplishing anything anyways. Lower the age.