Our Drinking Laws on Minors Must Change

[Guest]

I went ahead and posted the entire article, as permission is granted to do so by the author.
Source link: http://www.franks.org/fr01100.htm

This guy has a point, I thought I'd put it up here for discussion.

Our Drinking Laws on Minors Must Change

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

This letter appeared in the Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana) on 21 September 1997.

This item may be cited as M. R. Franks, Letter to the Editor: Our Drinking Laws on Minors Must Change, New Orleans Times-Picayune, September 21, 1997, at B6.

Copyright © 1997, M. R. Franks


Dear Editor:

You won't find college students dying of binge drinking in England, Italy, Germany or anywhere else but in the good ole U.S.A. But where else in the world do they expect kids of 18 to fight and die for their country and to be mature enough at that same age to get married, hold credit cards, exercise the franchise and run the country - but not to drink?

By what logic are persons competent at 15 to drive vehicles that kill but incompetent until 21 to handle even one beer?

Our liquor laws make drinking a rite of passage to adulthood, fostering rather than discouraging teen alcohol consumption. We set kids up for an "I'm 21 now, so gimme my sixpack" mentality.

We make it illegal for kids to serve an apprenticeship in responsible drinking, virtually ensuring that what little instruction they get comes from their most immature peers in the high school parking lot rather than from family members seated around the dining table at home.

Then we wait until three years past voting age to thrust these ill-prepared drinkers onto the bar scene, equipping them well with vehicular horsepower but poorly with sober wisdom.

Jewish children traditionally have a glass of wine as part of the religious ceremony accompanying the Friday evening meal. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), Jewish families have very little alcoholism and almost no teen-age drunken driving.

Many European countries permit minors accompanied by a parent to enjoy a glass of wine with a restaurant meal, typically beginning at age 12. In France, Germany, Italy and Spain, a young adult of 16 may buy wine or beer unaccompanied by a parent, whereas the drinking age for distilled beverages in Europe (and throughout most of the non-Islamic world) is 18.

By the time a young European is old enough to drive a vehicle (at a sensible 18, certainly not at 15), he or she already has had some experience with responsible drinking and, more important, alcohol already has lost some of its allure.

Dodi al Fayed's chauffeur notwithstanding, drunken driving is rarer in Europe than in America. The auto fatality rate in England, for example, is half that of the United States - this is on a per capita basis adjusted for population differences.

But then, Europe doesn't labor under the delusion that the best way to stop drunken driving is to deny people alcohol. Most other countries simply punish drunken drivers. Severely. How sensible! Why has that idea not been implemented here?

America's puritanical, prohibitionist mentality has created a serious drunken driving problem. When we raised the drinking age to 21, we exacerbated our teen drinking problem. Now we seem headed down the same road on tobacco as well: prohibit the activity rather than discourage it, thereby making the activity a badge of adulthood, setting the stage for a teen black market.

I can't believe that the alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries don't know exactly what they're doing: suckering well-meaning but naive legislators into enacting cosmetic and often draconian prohibitions intended to fool the masses into believing that something is being done, while at the same time actually promoting rather than discouraging teen consumption.

Isn't it time we raised the driving age, lowered the drinking age and repealed unwise laws that prohibit kids from learning to drink in moderation under supervised apprenticeship within the family? But that's the problem, isn't it: Moderation just does not inhere in our national psyche, so neither will moderation be found in the halls of Congress or in our state legislatures.

The harvest of our shortsighted mindset is binge drinking in college, alcoholism in adult life and increased carnage on America's highways.



M. R. Franks
Professor of Family Law
Southern University

 

[Guest]

Very true, I did a report on this in school once.

Oh yea, I never understood why kids have the urge to spend their whole college life partying and crap when they could of done that at home on their own damn time. Why do it when your paying money for your future.

 

[pieceofmyheart]

Kids are going to drink when they go off to college, or join the Armed Forces anyway, so it's silly to make it illegal. You can vote...but ya can't legally have a brew.....doesn't make much sense when you think about it.

The legal age was 18 when I was 18, when it changed, I was already 21.

 

[alexnalaskaOG]

unfortunately this is yet another topic in which the good old usa has let religon and big money, the few, dictate laws on the masses.

liquor laws are meerly comprimises made to calm the religeous factions. and taxes.
while the reason we can drive @15 is simple money. ford money

 

[Guest]

I bet you if there was a small country people could go to for freedoms it would not be big enough to house everyone. The country wouldn't even need an army because we will be all about just enjoy our lives.

 

[HuffAndPuff]

That article says it all. I moved to switzerland from the states when I was 15 and came back when I was 18 for college. Obviously when you're 15 and you can go to bars, you take advantage. Truthfully, this didn't last too long.

I was suprised when I found myself getting sucked back in again when I came back. To be able to recognize and avoid the mob mentality is a thing gained with maturity, I guess.

I have heard (from my pops) that states actually control/set their drinking ages. The reason they are all set to 21 is because the Federal government will refuse to provide the states with highway funding if they do not set it to 21.

Does anyone know if that is legit? I love my pops, but he loves bullshitting me. I do know MADD has been the 'driving' force behind raising the drinking age. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, my friends.

HAP

 

[Guest]

That article says it all. I moved to switzerland from the states when I was 15 and came back when I was 18 for college. Obviously when you're 15 and you can go to bars, you take advantage. Truthfully, this didn't last too long.

I was suprised when I found myself getting sucked back in again when I came back. To be able to recognize and avoid the mob mentality is a thing gained with maturity, I guess.

I have heard (from my pops) that states actually control/set their drinking ages. The reason they are all set to 21 is because the Federal government will refuse to provide the states with highway funding if they do not set it to 21.

Does anyone know if that is legit? I love my pops, but he loves bullshitting me. I do know MADD has been the 'driving' force behind raising the drinking age. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, my friends.

HAP

I think your pops is right because I know of a similar incident where they would not fund a certain amount to a school anymore if they passed a thing that offered students to take tests and stuff in their language. Which so incredibly fucked up because your testing someone on the knowledge, not on english.

 

[Dan42nepa]

Same argument from 30 years ago when the draft for vietnam was looming. NJ lowered the drinking age to18 in 1974? the year I turned 18 and changed it to 21 3 years later. Lots have changed since then. Going to bars and having some beers was not a big deal and if you were underage and had beer in the car chances were it would get confiscated and you would be sent on your way. Then dui checkpoints started and certain towns would get grant money depending on the amount of dui arrests they had each year. I dont condone drinking and driving but you can read over the limit if you drink one beer and get pulled over. No more days of having your older brother buy you beer either because if he gets caught he is screwed... Funny how things come full circle.

 

[HuffAndPuff]

I hate to be so cynical, but it seems to me so many of our 'laws' exist soley to provide the state and the feds with a steady influx of income. I've been to court several times in the last year for bullshit inspection/registration stuff and each time I (and like 30 others) have walked out at least 200 bucks poorer.

The DUI issue is absurd to me. Obviously people should not drive whilst impaired. That said, it's not like they're telling us we can't have ANYTHING to drink. They're telling us we are supposed to know when our BAC has hit .08. Which, by the way, aint exacty sober. I'd say .08 constitutes the start of a good buzz.

Designated drivers? Man, those assholes get to the bar, realize they got a shit job, and BAM! They try to get hamboned first, that way someone who is still sober will stop drinking and take the job! (ok, that might have just been me a few times)

Seems to me a huge part of the problem in this country is a lack of public transportation. In europe, they'll basically cut your dick off for having road sodas. As they well should, because in Europe, there is no excuse for it. Public transport from home to bar and back. Christ, the beer is so good over there, even the drinking part of it is made easier for you.

To review-
America: Lots of shitty beer you have to drive to the bar to drink. Have 3 beers in a bit more than an hour on a full stomach, drive home slightly buzzed. That's A-OK. Forgot to eat? or you judge wrong and blow a .085? WHAMMY. Fork over almost 5 grand, and prolly a weekend in the clink. And then have everyone look at you like you molest children for a goof. Despite the fact that until the 1970s people drank and drove ALL THE TIME, in hulking masses of steel with poor handling and drum brakes and no seatbelts.

Europe- Great beer abounds, and you get chauffered all over to imbibe of it. Oh, and it seems like there are far fewer meathead/fratboy types, too. Maybe its because I am nostalgic, but even the troublemakers (footie hooligans, etc) over there seem to have a certain european charm.

RANT! Thanks for hearing it!

HAP

 

[alexnalaskaOG]

I hate to be so cynical, but it seems to me so many of our 'laws' exist soley to provide the state and the feds with a steady influx of income. I've been to court several times in the last year for bullshit inspection/registration stuff and each time I (and like 30 others) have walked out at least 200 bucks poorer. dont forget the modern slaves... prisoners that work and do not get paid are slaves to unjust laws! grow a plant in south east usa and 5yrs servitude you will owe. :fsu

 

[treble]

its an interesting read. I see merit in responsible drinking but I disagree with a few points. Binge drinking is a big problem elsewhere. Where I am alcohol contributes to more than 25% of all deaths involving 15–29-year-olds. This is the same for other western countries as well. So UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Spain, Australia, USA. I dont know about other european countries.

for me I will tell you now I am a few months into giving up drinking altogether. I started very young. By 12 I was getting drunk at bbq's and parties which were regular enough events. At 14 - 15 I was adept a pinching booze and had the odd binge during highschool. By 18 I was a regular drinker and had been going to clubs for a year... at 25 I was warned to stop by my doc and monitored for 6 months while I stopped. I was warned if I continued I would have problems. At 30 I was told I might have to 45 if I kept drinking.

now 10 years on I am confident I wouldn't see the year out. I am someone who doesn't swill around in a drunken stupor but a few beers a day with a dozen or more over a weeked year after year will kill ya. The culture here is very alcohol based so I still have not convinced people I have stopped for good. The look on peoples faces is pretty confused to say the least.

On another thing... here they just enabled you to buy alcohol from more places and longer hours and low and behold our road death rate has gone up 50%..... of course no one can understand why.

I have developed a strong opinion on alcohol and what its is used for but i wont lay it out...peoples got a right to drink I guess. It keeps me determined in any event so I hope you'll pardon me if you don't agree

peace all
treb

 

[alexnalaskaOG]

did it actually go up 50%, or was that the agreed amount by the councils plan to raise age by 2009?

I dont trust any grant paid for studies or " on the payrole" Drs. They
tend to spew whatever keeps money coming in.

didnt you know pot is bad, and has no good to it? this is what my gov spends millons on trying to drill in everyones heads,... imo

 

[Dan42nepa]

I was a stage for me... When I was in my 20's I would pound down beers with my buddies all the time.. As I got older, I slowed down except for maybe when i go to a party or watch a football game. A few beers at home just makes me sleepy... I wouldnt blame the liquor companies or lobbyists.. I am sure if it were up to them the drinking age would be 15.... More profits..