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Baving
22-12-2005, 12:36 PM
Should The Legal Drinking Age Be Increased To 21?

The topic on whether the drinking age in the UK should be raised to 21 has been questioned by many politicians due to the fact of 'Binge Drinking'. The government are saying that the problem with 'Binge Drinking' is getting worse and that it needs to be sorted quickly. The fact of the excessive crime due to alcohol related intake is also getting worse.


Quoted from BBC News
Last year there was a total of 52,205 alcohol related crimes that were reported to police in the UK

That figure has nearly doubled from 10 years ago. The government are saying that this is to much and that action should be taken. They believe that the route of the problem is 'Binge Drinking'.

Binge Drinking is costing the government billions of pounds each year.

Originally posted by the BBC
Britain's binge drinking culture is costing the country £20 billion a year, according to a government report.
This amount of money could be spent on better things such as education and the national health service.

If you look at other countires such as the United States that have a drinking age of 21, they do not have such a problem. So could raising the age of drinking in the UK to 21 help combat the problem of 'Binge Drinking'?

This brings up the question for the debate: -


Should The Legal Drinking Age In The Uk Be Increased To 21?

Rules
Please do not post pointless comments such as 'I agree' or 'I don't agree'. You must explain your points and try to back them up with evidence. All other forum and debate rules apply. Thanks

Baving
31-12-2005, 02:39 PM
topic bump.

djotto1991
31-12-2005, 02:58 PM
Well in my opinion drinking should be banned it does no one no good what so ever But the country would come to travesty if it was banned because Owners of pubs would go bankrupt owners of offlicences too you have to put it into presepective i think you should have to have a licence before being able to drink and drinking age should be 23

Wizzdom
31-12-2005, 02:59 PM
there is no need, it wont stop people drinking....lol

Brody
31-12-2005, 03:00 PM
not really i dont think once u r 18 u should be able to make ur own choice if u wana waste ur money gettin drunk and waste ur life away thats there choice

Concentric
31-12-2005, 03:11 PM
Well in my opinion drinking should be banned it does no one no good what so ever But the country would come to travesty if it was banned because Owners of pubs would go bankrupt owners of offlicences too you have to put it into presepective i think you should have to have a licence before being able to drink and drinking age should be 23
I do think that there are too many younger children/teenagers drinking alcohol and it can't be good for them, however i absolutely disagree with banning it completely. Many adults drink alcohol responsibly and they shouldn't be punished for the actions of the foolish. I do think that late night clubs and pubs are the main focus of the problem and so i think that is the area that needs to be looked at most carefully if we wish to tackle binge drinking.

holo-jonny
31-12-2005, 03:15 PM
not really.20,maybe.

Concentric - Admin
Please do not post in a debate unless you are going to make a comment of more than a few words. It is against the debating section rules to post without supporting your points with reasoning or statistics.

DMB-Hosting
31-12-2005, 04:23 PM
I think 18 is suitable you start work at 16/17 so you start to take your own responibilitys, so i diagree

Rosie
31-12-2005, 05:40 PM
There is no point people are still gonna go out and get out there face.

Sank
31-12-2005, 06:07 PM
No way, lower it please.

Its not going to stop anyone..

Rosie
31-12-2005, 06:19 PM
No way, lower it please.

Its not going to stop anyone..
Uh yeah if anything it should be lowered cause if you think about it you can get married at 16? and not have any alcohol at your wedding and blahh.

Tash.
31-12-2005, 07:07 PM
No it should stay at 18. The law expects us to take responsibility for a crime at the age of 10. To take a job from 16, get married and a lot more. Why shouldn't we be allowed to drink at 18? Those who do end up causing trouble at 18 years of age arent likely to mature that much in 2 years anyway, therefore just keep it as it is. We already can't buy alcohol in most shops until 21 - which is ridiculous because its likely to cause less harm if u consume it away from busy clubs + pubs.

Ree
31-12-2005, 07:08 PM
NOOOOOOOOOOOO
It should be lowered. :]

Edit by Baving (Super Moderator) - Please try and back up pointes with evidence / reasons.

Science
31-12-2005, 07:18 PM
Well did you know:
A 1 Year Old Child Is Allowed To Drink In Its Home If The Parent Says Yes? Also Your Allowed To Smoke.... So Really There Is No Point In Lowering The Age Limit. Infact Increasing it Will Probs Have A Negative Effect As People Mostly Do The Opposite..

Rou
31-12-2005, 08:52 PM
No increasing the age limit to 21 will incourage more children to go out and drink

Rosie
31-12-2005, 11:06 PM
I thinks you should be aloud to smoke cause like parents think its worse than drinking well why is it smoking is at age 16 and drinking 18 its pure wrong!

BLuweesH
31-12-2005, 11:34 PM
Well did you know:
A 1 Year Old Child Is Allowed To Drink In Its Home If The Parent Says Yes? Also Your Allowed To Smoke.... So Really There Is No Point In Lowering The Age Limit. Infact Increasing it Will Probs Have A Negative Effect As People Mostly Do The Opposite..


Not true. You're allowed to smoke, but not allowed to purchase them if you're 18. But you gotta be 18 to drink, as if a 1 year old would drink anyway or a parent would feed them alcohol. But you gotta be 18.

So? People drink it anyway. If people binge drink and the age limit is 18 and over, what's 21 gonna do to stop it? It's only a number. Rather than trying to fear youths by law enforcements, they should fear them by crackdowns. That way even though they might want to binge drink, they would at least would contemplate over the risk, maybe even penalties should increase.

Science
31-12-2005, 11:36 PM
its true though, if a 1 year old's parents allow the child to drink, it can... Check the U.K Goverment In Drinking Laws..

GommeInc
01-01-2006, 02:08 AM
Something I noticed at Tesco's the other day was that the age for buying alcoholic drinks has gone up. It is now 21 rather than 18 which I think it used to be.

8Freak8
01-01-2006, 10:39 AM
I think it is the UK's culture that makes people binge drink, not the legal age.

Although, at 18 it is very easy for teenagers with 18+ year old brothers and sisters to get alcohol. If the age was raised to 21, not so many underage teens would have a brother or sister old enough to by alcohol for them.

And the guy is wrong above. If you give alcohol to a child under 5 it can be considered child abuse (just thought I should point that out before you have kids mate ;)). I think your right about smoking. It is illegal for the shops to sell it to udner 16 but not illegal for an under 16 to smoke normal ciggarettes.

Also, Gomme you are wrong too. Most big shops have been advised by the police to ask for ID if you look under 21. The idea is that a 17 year old might look 18, so they would get sold alcohol illegally. But it is unlikely that a 17 year old will look 21, so they look to see if you look 21, then if you only look like a 20 year old they ask for ID to see if you are over 18. I think that is quite a good way to do it. The signs about it in Tesco is so that people don't get offended when they get asked for ID and they are like "WTH I'M 20 YEARS OLD!!" :d.


The law

Under 5 - It is illegal to give an alcoholic drink to a child under 5 except in certain circumstances e.g under medical supervision.

Under 14 - A person under 14 can't go into a bar or pub unless the pub has a 'children's certificate'. If it doesn't they can only go into parts othat aren't licensed where alcohol is either sold but not drunk (e.g a sales point away from the pub), OR drunk but not sold (e.g a beer garden or family room).

14 or 15 - 14 and 15 year olds can go anywhere in a pub but can't drink alcohol.

16 or 17 - 16 and 17 year olds can buy (or be bought) beer or cider so long as it's bought to eat with a meal, but not in a bar (i.e only in a place specifically set aside for meals).

Under 18 - Except for 16 and 17 year olds having a meal in a pub, it's against the law for anyone under 18 to buy alcohol in a pub, off-licence or supermarket. It's also illegal to buy alcohol in a pub for someone who's not 18.

Anyone over 18 can buy and drink alcohol legally in licensed premises in Britain.


The law

It's illegal for shopkeepers to sell tobacco or tobacco products to anyone under 16.

FrozenWhisper
01-01-2006, 11:15 AM
I don't really think theres any point raising the age limit. Now that it's 18 you still see underage people drinking, so whats raising it going to do? Make kids think it's oh so grown up to drink too much.

Dupion
01-01-2006, 01:10 PM
I think that this is a bad idea simply due to a load of reasons that I could think of from the top of my mind. For example, 18 is a suitable age to drink alcohol as you can easily control yourself. Also, if the aage limit is increased it isn't exactly going to stop people that are 18 from drinking, people even younger than 18 may be drinking. Finally, colcluding my view could be that shops could loose profit if they are not selling the alcohol.

Hecho
01-01-2006, 01:12 PM
Should The Legal Drinking Age Be Increased To 21?


The topic on whether the drinking age in the UK should be raised to 21 has been questioned by many politicians due to the fact of 'Binge Drinking'. The government are saying that the problem with 'Binge Drinking' is getting worse and that it needs to be sorted quickly. The fact of the excessive crime due to alcohol related intake is also getting worse.



That figure has nearly doubled from 10 years ago. The government are saying that this is to much and that action should be taken. They believe that the route of the problem is 'Binge Drinking'.

Binge Drinking is costing the government billions of pounds each year.

This amount of money could be spent on better things such as education and the national health service.

If you look at other countires such as the United States that have a drinking age of 21, they do not have such a problem. So could raising the age of drinking in the UK to 21 help combat the problem of 'Binge Drinking'?

This brings up the question for the debate: -



Should The Legal Drinking Age In The Uk Be Increased To 21?


Rules
Please do not post pointless comments such as 'I agree' or 'I don't agree'. You must explain your points and try to back them up with evidence. All other forum and debate rules apply. Thanks

Are You Smoking Summit, No Way the Drinking Age in america is 21 And it ****s. And alot of Pubs Would Lose Out As Its Usually The 18 Age That Lot OF People Drink At

Laura.
01-01-2006, 06:48 PM
In my opinion i dont think it should be changed to 21.

I think this because in my opinion it will make more teenagers drink trying to act "o yeah I broke the law so I'm cool".

When you hit the age of 18, you are officially an adult. You can gamble, buy house, and other things that you can do at 16. If they also did raise the age, adults that are 18,19 and 20 will be annoyed because my brother drinks alcohol, and can handle it every Saturday night, hes only 19.So, for him to be legally allowed to drink he would have to wait 2 years. Most people can handle there drink. Theres only maybe 3/10 who can't, and have to take it to an extra level.

When having a meal in a restaurant/bar if you are 14, your are allowed to order one alcoholic drink with your meal. If they changed the age to 21 to drink normally, would that mean they would have to raise the age to 17. Stupid.

Alcohol sellers would have to check for ID even more now because; people can normally tell if someone is over 18, but they checked still checked if they looked under 21. Does this also mean if you were 27 and you looked young for your age, they'd ask for ID, after you said you were 27.

Sly
01-01-2006, 07:01 PM
It is still easy to get hold of Alcohol at the Age of 15. My mate, he looks like he is 30 Years old and he is 14. He can buy Beer and alcohol but he has a baby face. The shop owners just sell it to him beause he has a Bread and alot of chest hair. If they ask for more ID then the Age limi shouldn't be a bother.

sexy_gal13
01-01-2006, 07:14 PM
i think it shouldnt b cause its not goin to be fair on the 18 19 20 year olds now and like its goin to make a diff ppl can just get fake id's cant they cause theyr easy 2 get hold off or just wear stuff that makes them look older so wats the point ?

Bef
01-01-2006, 07:38 PM
Well actually 18 is just the legal age to BUY alcohol. The legal drinking age is 5. Sounds silly but yep... Also 16/17 year olds can drink with there meals.
So, anyone from 5 onwards can drink in there own home... which is pretty odd. I think that that should be raised to say 14. Some pubs and clubs only serve 21 and overs, it depends what sort of a cliental they are aiming at... I think that the law is quite good... I mean, it keeps people from drinking in the streets and home. I think that people drink more when they are in the own home as there is less for them to do...
Raising the age will just cause more crime. It wont stop drinking, it will just make people have to drink elsewhere, teenagers grow up so fast now. Its the way of todays world. We have lost our innocence, and theres no way of changing that.
I mean, you can get married, have children, smoke, drive, own your own home, get a job etc before you can legally drink in a pub properly. Isn't that enough. Most 18 year olds are mature enough to handle there drink... Plus, what would Uni be like without alcohol... Bloody boring thats what!
Anyway, im ranting a bit. All in all, i think the age is right... If it was raised to 21, it would just cause more crime and problems and maybe kids would be more likely to turn to drugs... If the punishment of serving alcohol to 18 year olds was to be the same as drug dealing then it destroys the point. Alcohol is not dangerous. People are.

Luayminator
01-01-2006, 09:09 PM
Drinking is useless anyway.. rather than immature teenagers over drinking leave it to older more mature 21 year olds.

Baving
02-01-2006, 10:55 AM
Alot of shops and restaurents around where I live have now raised the drinking abnd buying of alcohol to the age of 21. They are following the governments new '21 Rules' as it is known.

There is a pub in the town where I live and they wont let anyone buy alcohol if they are under 21. Around this pub there use to be a very bad binge drinking problem but since the new age rule it has settled down alot.

ilovejordan
02-01-2006, 11:49 AM
No i dont think it should be increased till 21. America have the limit to 21 but if we're going to follow in their footsteps they also allow people to have guns. If it was increased it wouldn't stop many people
For Example my brothers 16 and he's drinking now dnno where he gets it from but he does. At the age of 18 you are classed as an adult and i think if it was hired it would make you feel like a child again. I think if people binge drink they should have a ban slapped on them and if they drink within that time they go to jail. So in conclusion no i dont think it should

KickerFliper
02-01-2006, 01:37 PM
I think we should do a Turkey and change it to 14, then there would be alot less teenagers thinking there 'Bad' Or 'Hard' By drinking.
Or we can do a France (Not all of it Just around the middle) and have no legal age!

Pulchritudinous
02-01-2006, 01:53 PM
The legal drinking age is fine, it just needs more enforcement, such as fines for teenagers drinking in public.
I've seen people succesfully asking adults to buy drink for them outside bottle shops, however, it is illegal to buy alcohol for a minor, but obviously there isn't enough enforcement.
Increasing the drinking age will cause more problems, you'll only get more kids thinking they are so solid because they are rebelling against a law.
So I say, keep it at 18 to be fair, but just a little more enforcement.

KCMac
02-01-2006, 01:55 PM
The legal drinking age is fine, it just needs more enforcement, such as fines for teenagers drinking in public.
I've seen people succesfully asking adults to buy drink for them outside bottle shops, however, it is illegal to buy alcohol for a minor, but obviously there isn't enough enforcement.
Increasing the drinking age will cause more problems, you'll only get more kids thinking they are so solid because they are rebelling against a law.
So I say, keep it at 18 to be fair, but just a little more enforcement.

I coudlnt agree more.

Edit by Baving (Super Moderator) - Please do not post short comments like 'I agree' - Try to use reasons and evidence to back up points.

GoldenMerc
02-01-2006, 03:00 PM
no i dont think it should but on the other hand it would help booze britain and little 13 year olds drinking.

NekkLe
02-01-2006, 05:23 PM
I'll also agree that the legal age is fine, increasing the age limit won't have a massive effect on binge drinking and drinking below the legal age.
You'll still get teenagers drinking, no matter what age, people do buy drinks for teenagers but if they'd had any sense, they would know what there doing.
The amount of teenagers with fake ID's is quite high I think. The majority of my freinds have one and i've seen and heard others with one. There needs to stonger laws that help to back the whole campaign agaisnt under age drinking.

RedStratocas
02-01-2006, 05:43 PM
Our drinking age in america used to be 18, now its 21. We had a discussion on it in english class, and our teacher told us why it was raised, and it actually makes a lot of sense.

1. Its a lot easier for a 14-15 year old to pass as an 18 year old. Have you ever seen a 14 year old that could pass as 18? I have a few times. An 18 year old can pass as a 21 year old, but then that just makes their age what the limit used to be.

2. 18 year olds are in high school. 18 year olds also throw a lot of parties in high school. They invite basicly everyone. Everyone meaning young kids. Thus the young kids can get the alcohal. I dont hear of high school kids getting invited to 21 year olds' parties.

Im not saying it should be raised for you guys, Im just saying there were reasons when we raised ours, and some make sense.

Pawf
02-01-2006, 07:27 PM
Let's ask ourselves a few questions:
1) Who here drinks alcohol at home (legal)? I'm guessing a vast amount of people. It's easily accessable [sp?] for anyone:
Stealing from parents - do your parents keep alcohol in the cupboard?
2) Who here drinks outside of home under 18 (illegal)? I'm guessing a lot:
Getting older people to buy it - used to do it all the time, just offer them the change and they will do it.
Going to dodgey shops - many of these around, they will still sell alcohol to minors no matter what the age is.

What I am getting at is raising the drinking age won't do anything to help our health, we will continue to drink in private (parties or at home) without needing a liscense.

Raising the drinking age will, however, cut down drink related crime significantly as the "yobs" that fight and vandalise whilst drunk are mainly in their late teens. This will, undoubtedly, cause a lack of income for pubs making the tax on alcohol go up (another deterant to put young people off drinking)

All in all I think that the drinking age should be raised to 21 because by doing so we have nothing to loose. People will still drink at home no matter what the legal age to buy it is but public drinking will become safer and less crime will occur due to it

sexy_gal13
02-01-2006, 08:50 PM
Let's ask ourselves a few questions:
1) Who here drinks alcohol at home (legal)? I'm guessing a vast amount of people. It's easily accessable [sp?] for anyone:
Stealing from parents - do your parents keep alcohol in the cupboard?
2) Who here drinks outside of home under 18 (illegal)? I'm guessing a lot:
Getting older people to buy it - used to do it all the time, just offer them the change and they will do it.
Going to dodgey shops - many of these around, they will still sell alcohol to minors no matter what the age is.

What I am getting at is raising the drinking age won't do anything to help our health, we will continue to drink in private (parties or at home) without needing a liscense.

Raising the drinking age will, however, cut down drink related crime significantly as the "yobs" that fight and vandalise whilst drunk are mainly in their late teens. This will, undoubtedly, cause a lack of income for pubs making the tax on alcohol go up (another deterant to put young people off drinking)

All in all I think that the drinking age should be raised to 21 because by doing so we have nothing to loose. People will still drink at home no matter what the legal age to buy it is but public drinking will become safer and less crime will occur due to it

how will it become safer people will do it more because they think it will be even more cooler cause they are so under age and i know from exprence its not a prettty site wen ya unde age mates r drunk so i think it will just be easier if it stayed them same then everybody is happy and there isnt more youngsters drinkin because they r bein cool cause they r brakin the law

StripedTiger
02-01-2006, 09:30 PM
Well i think the age to buy drinks in a puc should be raised up and the age of buying drink from shops. but i also think that if you are with a parent you should be able to drink from the age of 14 / 15

Pulchritudinous
03-01-2006, 07:37 AM
1. Its a lot easier for a 14-15 year old to pass as an 18 year old. Have you ever seen a 14 year old that could pass as 18? I have a few times. An 18 year old can pass as a 21 year old, but then that just makes their age what the limit used to be.



True, I'm 14, yet one of my mates was really tall, so when my friends were going to have a party or something, he just grew his facial hair and he was able to get served alcohol.

Um, I'm pondering now, perhaps 21 is more idealistic, if your still at school and allowed to drink, you can't be getting the most out of education when your having hangovers and parties.

Bef
03-01-2006, 08:04 AM
Well actually 18 is just the legal age to BUY alcohol. The legal drinking age is 5. Sounds silly but yep... Also 16/17 year olds can drink with there meals.
So, anyone from 5 onwards can drink in there own home... which is pretty odd. I think that that should be raised to say 14. Some pubs and clubs only serve 21 and overs, it depends what sort of a cliental they are aiming at... I think that the law is quite good... I mean, it keeps people from drinking in the streets and home. I think that people drink more when they are in the own home as there is less for them to do...
Raising the age will just cause more crime. It wont stop drinking, it will just make people have to drink elsewhere, teenagers grow up so fast now. Its the way of todays world. We have lost our innocence, and theres no way of changing that.
I mean, you can get married, have children, smoke, drive, own your own home, get a job etc before you can legally drink in a pub properly. Isn't that enough. Most 18 year olds are mature enough to handle there drink... Plus, what would Uni be like without alcohol... Bloody boring thats what!
Anyway, im ranting a bit. All in all, i think the age is right... If it was raised to 21, it would just cause more crime and problems and maybe kids would be more likely to turn to drugs... If the punishment of serving alcohol to 18 year olds was to be the same as drug dealing then it destroys the point. Alcohol is not dangerous. People are.

I would like to add that i believe the most sensible thing to do would to crack down on drinking in the streets. It seems that most of the um less mature under age drinkers just go find some lane, down a bottle of vodka and then cause mayham... If you are in a controlled enviorment like a pub or club then theres people to keep things under control... Plus, it costs a hell of a lot more to go drinking in a pub then it does to nip down the offlicence and get a half bottle of vodge...
So that kind of cuts down on binge drinking. I believe most binge drinking goes on in the streets.

JT-Fan
03-01-2006, 12:20 PM
Should the Legal drinking age be increased?
No.


There are many reasons why the legal drinking age should be increased but to me I have one reason why it shouldn't be. That one reason is the cause of why so many teenagers drink.
"What you can't have you want."
The whole idea to the majority of teenagers who choose to drink is to be "cool." By drinking they are rebelling against law's, rebelling against what they have been told not to do. So if they think that drinking is cool because they are not allowd, then if we lower the age limit the whole "thrill" factor of drinking would be lessened.
With alcohol available to them it would not be so "cool" to drink, because it's possible for everyone to. Therefore with the "cool-factor" being lower they would listen to the health problems.
So overall NO it should not be increased, with teenagers being able to get what they want they will realise the novelty will wear off.

Xegena
04-01-2006, 12:44 AM
:D
Well actually 18 is just the legal age to BUY alcohol. The legal drinking age is 5. Sounds silly but yep... Also 16/17 year olds can drink with there meals.
So, anyone from 5 onwards can drink in there own home... which is pretty odd. I think that that should be raised to say 14. Some pubs and clubs only serve 21 and overs, it depends what sort of a cliental they are aiming at... I think that the law is quite good... I mean, it keeps people from drinking in the streets and home. I think that people drink more when they are in the own home as there is less for them to do...
Raising the age will just cause more crime. It wont stop drinking, it will just make people have to drink elsewhere, teenagers grow up so fast now. Its the way of todays world. We have lost our innocence, and theres no way of changing that.
I mean, you can get married, have children, smoke, drive, own your own home, get a job etc before you can legally drink in a pub properly. Isn't that enough. Most 18 year olds are mature enough to handle there drink... Plus, what would Uni be like without alcohol... Bloody boring thats what!
Anyway, im ranting a bit. All in all, i think the age is right... If it was raised to 21, it would just cause more crime and problems and maybe kids would be more likely to turn to drugs... If the punishment of serving alcohol to 18 year olds was to be the same as drug dealing then it destroys the point. Alcohol is not dangerous. People are.

:( I was going to post the bit in red however. I agree it should not be raised as 18 is the age at which you become a legal adult. There are countrys like the Dominican republic were not only is drinking alcohol legal but drink driving is. And they dont have as many problems as us now many people may think thats because they have terrible poverty but the fact is that only the countryside is in terrible poverty the rest is actually just average people like you or me and yet there is not as many accidents. This prooves that alcohol isnt the problem its the irresponsibleness of the people who drink it. I was also going to rant on about the 5 year old thin but it has already been done to perfection :D .

Mentor
04-01-2006, 03:26 AM
Theres little reason, and isnt going to happen.
The goevemnts aim is to creat Eupoean style drinking not start banning it or rasing its age barryer. This is quite obvios seeing as they already implented the 24 hour drinking laws "/
People drink when the 12, and the legal age is 18, rase it to 21, there still gona be drinking at 12, So it realy makes no difference, other than getting a few pub owners and alchol retailers in trouble.
Alchol related crime is NOT costing the goverment, since the tax rased threw the selling of alchol far outweghs the cost of the damage. This is of cause from a purely finantal point of view, rather than valueing things such as peoples life that can be lost in drink driving accidents.

I dont belive rasing the age will solve anything, its more likely to cause more problems, as well as damageing the echonemy, in respect of clubs that target the groups and make there living of the alchol consuming, no alchol chances are these places will loose out majorty, as the alchol sale is where the majorty of there money is made, the govement will also loose money becuse theres no tax cash. It wont stop drinking driveing, as drinking dirven is an offence initself, so what diffence dose it make if they cant drink legaly, as the dirnk driveing offence would have a much higher level of prosicute than underage drinking, which rairly results in a prosutoion or even a trial "/

Plus, The Uk more aless puts the age someone becomes an adult at 18, it means they are now seen as responable enogh to look after there own affairs, and all protctive laws used for the youths are removed, they can get credit cards, watch any movie, and drink.
Rasing the dirnking age would just creat a dubble standard and erroed this view point, to keep the balence othing things would requre rasing to the higher age range, this would cost the goverment alot, and **** of one hell of alot of people. So is compleat stupidty to do, and probly would not be done.

On a slightly offtopic view point. Drinking i think is ok at 18, but WHY is smokeing allowed at 16? Should smokeing not also be rased to 18, as i belive its kinda a double standard, why are the set at diffent times to be allowed, both are harmful? i belive smokleing should probly be rased to 18 to.

In summary.
Drinking stay at 18 becuse, Its the commonly accepted age of adulthood, Rasing it would not effect people drinking it, Rasing it would go agaist current goverment policy, It would not reduce alchol related crime.

HUGECOOL
05-01-2006, 08:34 PM
Oh, wow. Spell check please.

Well, I'm from America and the current drinking age is 21. I really wouldn't see a difference since most of my friends are drinkers and under 21. o_O

Even if someone who was underage could afford to purchase alcoholic beverages with their own money, it would make no difference when they're on the evening news because they killed someone due to their intoxication.
Even though 21+ year olds are also capable of causing said crimes, it won't really give the government a good image when cases of "young adults who drown themselves in liquor and cause problems" are heard.

The legal driving age in UK is 18 (I think) and it won't help that the drinking age is 18 as well. I wrote a small story thing here. o_O

It could be someone's 18th birthday and they've been a good person their entire lives. Parents decide to give them a car as a birthday present so the 18 y/o decides to go driving with friends. But wait, they can buy liquor now as well. They drink and decide to drive again. The alcohol begins to thin the blood and blur the vision. They crash into a car of a family of four. No survivors.

The generation we live in is not a smart one and it won't help if they're willing to risk someone else's life just to have a good time.

Mentor
05-01-2006, 08:40 PM
[COLOR="Black"]Oh, wow. Spell check please.
Im dislexic my spellings terrible "/


The legal driving age in UK is 18 (I think) and it won't help that the drinking age is 18 as well. I wrote a small story thing here. o_O

It could be someone's 18th birthday and they've been a good person their entire lives. Parents decide to give them a car as a birthday present so the 18 y/o decides to go driving with friends. But wait, they can buy liquor now as well. They drink and decide to drive again. The alcohol begins to thin the blood and blur the vision. They crash into a car of a family of four. No survivors.

The generation we live in is not a smart one and it won't help if they're willing to risk someone else's life just to have a good time.


But the point you made previos to this undermines it. A person celibrating there 21st birthday could also be driving, also buy alchol. And as its the first time leglay the same encoagement to get drunk is there, they already have a car, and would be more likly to be driving around so same likly hood of the same event happening, at 21 as 18, or indeed any age. Athogh thats only if the person invoilved were stupid enogh. Since only a very stupid 18 year old would do that, just as a very stupiud 21 year old, 30 year old 50 year old etc would do that? The age realy makes little diffence, and the age set dosnt realy effect who would go drinking anyway, "/

nvrspk4
06-01-2006, 01:34 AM
I don't see any benefits at all of people being allowed to drink at a lower age. Yet I do see many benefits, as baving has stated in his post, to making the drinking age higher. I think it would also be productive to move the age to 23 if it was allowed, it may not be necessary but could be useful. By 23 most are out of college and fending for themselves and responsible for their actions. Yes many may contend that one is responsible for one's actions at 18 or 21 but who ends up paying the fine? Probably your parents. Also you would still be in college so your parents are partially supporting you. Once you're 23, its you who pays the fine, you who has to deal with your job, you who serves the jail time with nobody to support you or pay for the lawyer. Then there's all the issues with drunk driving which I'm sure that you're all aware of. But really, putting it to 23 makes people think more, those who ignore it regardless are the ones who would start underage anyway and its up to the law to attempt to put a stop to them. Even if alchohol was completely banned it would make it more popular as showed during the US Alchohol Ban via the 16th Amendment. Therefore its best to set a reasonable age, but one that will cause thought in the proposed drinker and cause more caution. Even if not 23, 21 should be instated for the same reasons.

Mentor
06-01-2006, 06:12 PM
I don't see any benefits at all of people being allowed to drink at a lower age. Yet I do see many benefits, as baving has stated in his post, to making the drinking age higher. I think it would also be productive to move the age to 23 if it was allowed, it may not be necessary but could be useful. By 23 most are out of college and fending for themselves and responsible for their actions.
Unless you been held back a year most people will be out of collage by there 19. so youd leave collage at 18 "/ so where does 21 come in?


Yes many may contend that one is responsible for one's actions at 18 or 21 but who ends up paying the fine? Probably your parents. Also you would still be in college so your parents are partially supporting you. Once you're 23, its you who pays the fine, you who has to deal with your job, you who serves the jail time with nobody to support you or pay for the lawyer.
Exsactly like it is for most 18 year olds then... if parents will pay when there 18 parents will pay when there 21, 23 or even 30.. the people who turn to there parents costnatly for things will do it what ever age they are


Then there's all the issues with drunk driving which I'm sure that you're all aware of. But really, putting it to 23 makes people think more, those who ignore it regardless are the ones who would start underage anyway and its up to the law to attempt to put a stop to them. Even if alchohol was completely banned it would make it more popular as showed during the US Alchohol Ban via the 16th Amendment. Therefore its best to set a reasonable age, but one that will cause thought in the proposed drinker and cause more caution. Even if not 23, 21 should be instated for the same reasons.
Nether offer any benifit thogh? Rasing the age will only increase the numbers doing it illgaly, and danmage alot of the echomeny. It will also cause a massive disrupting with the basic sosal system the entire contary runs in, 18 is when in EVERY aspect you are declard a FULL adult, whether by banks, video retailers. EVERYTHING is set at that age, changeing that would complty mess it up, if all other things were rased accordingly the govement would have to put forward BILLIONS to pay for supporting them. Along with loosing the MILLIONS in gains from tax on alchol sold, to that target age group "/

iluvben
06-01-2006, 07:39 PM
Mentors posted , there no point me trying to win this debate now ;P

Concentric - Admin
Please don't post in a debate unless you have a comment relating to the topic at hand.

Baving
07-01-2006, 02:54 PM
Congratulations to 01101101entor for his most compelling arguement,
http://www.habboxforum.com/showpost.php?p=1359720&postcount=44

He has won the debate.

Most people from reading the debate say that there would be no point in raising the legal age to 21 years, as this would cause more trouble than there already is. Also the legal age that you can drink on your own premises is 5 so people under-age are already drinking.

Some people also stated that some clubs / bars are already only servering people that are over 21 years of age. This could soon be bought into more bars / clubs as more are seeing the positive side.

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