Editorial: Proposed beer law would harm local liquor stores

That's one of the classic arguments against lowering the drinking age, and a big reason why many states had different ages for beer and other alcohol. Yet for some reason, the vast majority of countries have legal drinking ages ranging from 16-19 and somehow the wheels don't fall off. I wouldn't exactly carve it in stone that the drinking age won't change either. There's a growing movement propelled largely at the university admistrative level nationally to lower the drinking age. Furthermore, the Federal Minimum Drinking Age Act is up for renewal this year. While its renewal is likely, there should at least be a spirited debate around it. If the federal law does get repealed, I have a feeling the debate would rage on at our state capitol, regardless of how ceareal malt beverages are currently classified.

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• Posted by em1 on February 11, 2009 at 11:21 a.m.
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Editorial: Proposed beer law would harm local liquor stores

They allow it in many other states, and somehow the "mom and pop" liquor shops still survive.... Hell, in FL you can buy wine and beer at grocery stores, and in MO you can buy liquor in grocery stores.

The mixer arguement holds no weight, either, as no one mixes stuff with the beer the gas stations would be selling. Mixers go with liquor for the most part.

Petition the state Senate to allow liquor stores to sell mixers either way.

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• Posted by cath0830 on February 10, 2009 at 7:48 p.m.
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Editorial: Proposed beer law would harm local liquor stores

First, just stick to one argument.

I’ll address the drinking age. It’s never going to change, get over it. Besides, how many 18 year olds really have that much trouble getting their hands on alcohol? What happens when we lower the drinking age to 18? Then it becomes that much easier for a 15 year old to obtain alcohol. Can we at least agree that 15 year olds shouldn’t be drinking?

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• Posted by Abita on February 11, 2009 at 10:04 a.m.
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Editorial: Proposed beer law would harm local liquor stores

I have never understood the whole age thing. I mean just who is it that decides at what age someone should be permitted to do something? (I think the statutory rape law is stupid.) Does something magical happen when the clock ticks over at midnight and you are no longer seventeen but eighteen? If you read Dickens there is a chapter, David Copperfield, I think, where the ten year boy is headed for boarding school and stops for lunch and a beer. I have read that children who grow up seeing parents drink a glass of wine or beer with dinner and then stop are far less likely to become heavy drinkers than those who are raised to think of it as a "sin" and therefore only drink with the aim of getting drunk. The mom and pop liquor stores can deal with it, as the mom and pop grocery stores have. Let the market place decide.

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• Posted by irishswearingen on February 11, 2009 at 11:23 a.m.
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Editorial: Proposed beer law would harm local liquor stores

You are right that other countries have lower drinking ages, and they do alright. I’m betting it’s not as smooth sailing as people like to think using that argument. Our papers just don’t carry the news of young drinking problems in Europe.

Europe also has much more public transportation. Far too many 18 year olds drink and drive irresponsibly. My own unscientific observations suggest my friends, as we have gotten older and wiser to the ripe age of 23, call cabs and walk far more often than we once did. At 16, I wouldn’t (and sometimes didn’t) think twice about drinking and driving.

I agree that it’s hard to draw a line. Everyone is different and some 18 year olds can drink responsibly while some 30 year olds can’t. The simple truth is though that many more 18 year olds are still dealing with hormonal imbalances, still unaware of the dramatic consequences alcohol can have if abused and still not capable of making sound decisions even when not inebriated. These problems are not completely irradiated at 21, but they do occur less often and thus the age protects everyone involved.

This “movement” of college admins wanting the drinking age lowered was nothing more than a chance to get out of liability for underage drinking going on at their universities. It was handily dismissed months ago as rubbish. Trust me, outside colleges and high school cafeterias, no one is clamoring for lowering the drinking age. Politicians know this and thus will never lower it.

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• Posted by Abita on February 11, 2009 at 3:14 p.m.
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Editorial: Proposed beer law would harm local liquor stores

Interesting how this has spun off into a drinking age debate... I think it's also noteworthy that the US has some of the lowest legal driving ages anywhere. If I were looking for an answer to the drunk driving problem as a function of age, I would probably look at who is driving vice who is drinking. Don't know if that would fix anything, but I think I'm more comfortable with the idea of a 16 year old drinking than a 16 year old driving. I think a few states have started looking down that road (California I think is one), I doubt the landscape will change much with respect to the drinking age though. Regardless of where the drinking age is, I think we as a society could get a lot more bang for the buck by imposing much stricter penalties (prison time and extreme fines) on convicted drunk drivers, which is a practice much more common overseas. Given the fact that about 70% of drunk drivers in fatal crashes are over 21, I would argue much more work is needed there.

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• Posted by em1 on February 11, 2009 at 4:20 p.m.
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Editorial: Proposed beer law would harm local liquor stores

em1, bravo on bringing an alternate solution to the table. I'd have to agree that I'd rather be driving next to a 21 year old and drinking with a 16 year old. Though if 16 year olds were hanging out in the bar I frequent, I'd probably stop frequenting.

Biggest problem I see is that European countries can get away with the higher driving age because of better public transportation. The birth rate in the U.S. is also higher than in Europe. Families with multiple children rely on older siblings’ ability to drive younger ones to soccer practice and debate competitions. We are just a driving nation.

As for 70% of fatal drunk driving accidents involving victims 21 and older, that stat is misleading. There are far, far more people older than 21 to be drinking and driving than there are younger than 21. In fact, that statistic almost argues the opposite point. That’s saying roughly all the people 16-20 account for 30 percent of deaths while everyone 21-death account for 70 percent. It seems like the numbers should be skewed far more toward the second demographic than just 70 percent.

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• Posted by Abita on February 11, 2009 at 4:40 p.m.
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