What do you think the pros and cons of lowering the legal drinking age to 18 are?

Question

Every decision has it's pros and cons, and this one is no different. What do you think are the positives and negatives of having the legal drinking age lowered from 21 to 18?

And in case you were wondering, as far as if the age should actually be lowered, I'm neutral. I personally don't care either way, but that's just me.

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Answer 1

I personally don't see any pros in this for one a lot of 21yr olds are still not responsible enough to drink so whats to say an 18yr old is responsible enough to drink. I do agree with allowing a active duty member returning from the middle east to have a few drinks why not he or she had a lot of responsibility out there they deserve a cold one.

Answer 2

There needs to be a single standard for adulthood.

You can face a criminal trial as an adult even if you're only 14.

You can vote, sign a contract, or be drafted and sent off to war when you're 18.

But you can't buy a beer or own a handgun until you're 21.

So which is it??? Are you an adult at 14, 18 or 21?

I think that 18 year olds should be considered adults in each and every way. If an 18 year-old gets drunk and shoots somebody with his handgun, then he can be tried as an adult!

Answer 3

There s no pro to this question.

18 year olds are immature and the only result will be MORE drunk kids driving and dying.

Answer 4

I think 18-20 year olds with valid military id's - should be allowed to drink. However, I think everyone else 18-20 should have to wait, and furthermore, 21 really isn't mature enough for most people.  

Answer 5

The only time an eighteen year old should be able to legally drink is if he or she is in the military.  If they are old enough to die for their country then they are old enough to drink a beer, in my opinion.  The con is that I have yet to meet an eighteen year old who can drink responsibly.  There are very few twenty one year olds that do.

Answer 6

Due to the toxic effects of alcohol on the teenage brain and the greater number of traffic accidents caused by teen drunk drivers, I see no pros to lowering the drinking age to 18.

The benefits to keeping the drinking age higher are better brain development for the teens that might not drink as much if it remains illegal & less auto accidents by teens. The lives saved and injuries prevented for themselves and others by not allowing 18 year olds to drink and subsequently cause more auto accidents is reason enough to keep teen drinking illegal.

Do all teens who could legally drink also drive after drinking? No, but enough of them do, even when it's illegal, that it would only be worse if it were legal.