Draw the Line » I'm not fully against underage drinking

I don't really have a story just more of an opinion that I'm hoping someone will hear. I'm not fully against underage drinking. The only problem that we're really having is the fact that kids aren't responsible when they do drink. Same as some adults. So don't just target the youth. It's everyone not being responsible. Whethere it's drinking to much and overdosing or drinking and getting in the car. People just gotta be responsible. That's all. Thanks.

I agree that parents and youth need to act responsibly, especially when it comes to alcohol. Parents and adults need to set an good example with their actions. This includes not over consuming when youth are around, sending clear messages about drinking, engaging in conversations about alcohol and encouraging them to participate in non-alcohol events. However, underage drinking is harmful and illegal even if used responsibly.

Monica wrote:
I don't really have a story just more of an opinion that I'm hoping someone will hear. I'm not fully against underage drinking. The only problem that we're really having is the fact that kids aren't responsible when they do drink. Same as some adults. So don't just target the youth. It's everyone not being responsible. Whethere it's drinking to much and overdosing or drinking and getting in the car. People just gotta be responsible. That's all. Thanks.

I agree that if someone is going to consume alcohol, they should do so in a responsible manner. I must, however, make several other points. There are several campaigns to target specific issues. First off, alcohol use by anyone under 21 years of age is against the law! (period) And that is what this campaign is about. But to add to that fact, the use of alcohol by a minor can casue damage to a still devloping brain. Problems that will effect rather important functions of the brain. So if a 16 year old drinks alcohol is it okay as long as it is responsible use? No, if it's against the law how can it be responsible!

We have campaigns to tarket citizens (all ages) who drink and drive - Friends Don't Let Friends Drink and Drive, Over the Limit, Under Arrest, and the phrases go on and on. When you talk to teens or young adults about drinking and driving, they will tell you that they get that message..."Don't Drink adn Drive" But perhaps we have been missing the message that for them - we should be telling them "Don't Drink." You can't put the ilegal use of alcohol by our youth in the same campaign as responsible use of alcohol by non-youth - they are very different issues. We have far too many youth taking their first drink of alcohol at age 12! If we start addressing the "issue" with the youth, perhaps by the time they reach legal drinking age and if they do drink - it might be responsible use.

Government-mandated drinking ages have always offended me as a state intervention into what is legitimately private decision-making. Parents should decide when their minor children will be permitted to drink -- not politicians. And adults, who can marry, sign contracts and are legally required to register for the draft, have the right to purchase alcoholic beverages from those willing to sell to them, whether or not legislators like that idea. That some government officials think they have the legitimate right to reach even into the home to determine who can and can't drink is truly appalling.

I'm far past the point of being personally affected by silly legislation like drinking ages, but I remember being annoyed by them once upon a time. I also remember evading them quite efficiently. I don't know what the law was then, though I doubt it was nearly as draconian as current statutes, but I was served small quantities of diluted alcohol at home from a young age -- seven or so. I was permitted to moderately raid my folks' beer and wine stash from relatively early in my teenage years.

When my friends and I decided we wanted to buy beer to drink on our own time, we went searching for fake ID that would get us past bar bouncers and liquor-store clerks -- a job now rendered much easier in the Internet age. My first fake ID was a bogus-looking Times Square special, but it worked well enough in an era before drinking ages were taken so seriously.

Later, I became adept at altering driver's licenses and even made money informally aging classmates at college. I was put out of business by a competitor who showed up with what looked like his own Department of Motor Vehicles set-up, offering authentic-looking driver's licenses from a selection of states. Finally, I altered my birth certificate and got myself a state-issued ID that said I was three years older than I was. I was actually slugging down beer in the campus pub after showing that ID while the pub manager boasted to me that nobody underage ever got served in his establishment.

I had some news for him, but I let him figure it out in his own time.

My son is years away from his first sip of wine, but he'll have it at home, under his parents' supervision, no matter what the law says.

And if, at 17 or 18, he gets busted by cops with too much time on their hands for knocking a drink or two down in a bar before the law says it's OK, he'll have my full support. I'll even give him a few pointers on craftsman-like forgery so he can stand aside and finish his drink while the police turn their attention to less fortunate bar-goers. Because there's just no obligation to obey a law that tries to substitute government judgment for your own as to when it's OK to have a drink.

More here:
http://www.tuccille.com/blog/2008/02/hey-kids-lets-drink-to-liquor-laws.html