Well folks, this is one of those subjects where I am a VERY ABNORMAL teenager. I hate all drinking not in moderation. Period. I've seen family members, friends, and friends of friends DIE either from their own stupid decisions with alcohol, or others. I've watched families get torn apart because someone in the family just has to have another. I've personally watched my friend's relationships die because of alcohol. I've also had to pull my friends out of the way of speeding cars and out of bushes to try and get them home when they've had too many. One of my friends almost died right in front of me from alcohol poisoning. Just before this he walked up to me and asked, "do you think 12 is too much?" And most of them haven't learned yet! One friend in particular has been getting drunk every night for the past year or so. He quit his job (basically got fired because he stopped caring) right after moving out of his house to get an apartment with his friends.
I'll tell you exactly why the U.S. drinking age should NOT be lowered: Stupidity. The teens and "young adults" as they are so lightly called in this country are nowhere near the maturity level required to handle something so dangerous. Binge drinking is supposedly "fun" so they engage in it without a second thought. This destroys their lives and others as easily as starting a car. I'm sick and tired of people saying lowering the drinking age is going to make things better. There are ROCK HARD statistics on this people! When the drinking age was changed from 18 to 21 before, the number of deaths caused by drinking, whether it be poisoning or accidents, went down DRASTICALLY! That's good enough for me to say it shouldn't be lowered again.
In my personal opinion (and I know this is going to open Pandora's Box on my head, but I don't care) getting drunk for any reason should be illegal, in public or private, with friends or not, with a designated driver or not. Any intoxication, even as slight as one drink, while operating a motor vehicle of any kind should result in license revocation and multiple classes to prove responsibility. Ignition interlocks should be mandatory in these cases, as they are now. I'm sick of the destruction getting drunk has caused in so many lives. It's poison that's legal to give yourself and others. It doesn't make any sense.
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