Do you think the drinking age should be 18 in the U.S.?

I think the drinking age int he U.S. should be 18 instead of 21 because when you are 18 you can
a. vote
b. legally you are an adult
c. you can die for the country (join military)
d. get married
so what do you think? tell me your opinion鈾モ櫏鈾モ櫏鈾モ櫏鈾モ櫏

Just because you can do all those wonderful things at 18, does that make you responsible enough to purchase and/or consume alcoholic beverages? No, it doesn't. I've seen 60 year olds that shouldn't be drinking. Alcohol serves no useful purpose, unless it's isopropyl.

There's more to life than going through it in a drunken stupor.

Oh, and btw...you're legally an adult at 17.

I understand your logic, but I don't believe that you have given this idea enough thought. BTW you are not the first person to suggest this. Thousands have, and it has even reached our government's ears. There are some serious questions that our nation's leaders have asked and that you should also ask yourself.
How will changing the drinking age to 18 benefit our country?
More people are killed by drunk drivers each year than by any other unnatural means. Will this statistic go down if the drinking age were reduced to 18? If yes, then how do you know? The goal is to decrease DUI incidents and to minimize DUI related automobile accidents. We are not helping to meet those goals if we are creating a greater possibility for DUI incidents. Education is not the answer, because we have been heavily educating the public from childhood about the importance of drinking responsibly and using designated drivers, but the average drinking and driving accidents continues to be major problem across America.
I am not saying that the age should not be changed, but the reasoning that you are basing your suggestion on has not addressed the two questions that I have listed above.

I feel that 18 yr olds should be allowed to drink.You can do everything else.It was 18 when I was 18 and we could handle it.I am sorry that there are a few 18 yr old that are irresponsible.I also know many over 21 year olds that are too.I know that Mothers Against Drunk Driving(MADD) had a lot to do with having 18 yr olds denied the right to drink in the USA.However this age group has a lower incidence of drinking and driving.The group that has the highest is the 23-26 year old.MADD just picked on the poor 18 yr olds.That really sucks.I allow my adult children to drink when they reach 18.They're responsible because I raised them that way.
18 years old is just a number no one believes 21 year olds are any better.Our government loves to screw with us.If they deny 18 yr olds the drink they also need to not send them to war or allow them to vote or marry.

I live in Australia I'm 18, here the legal drinking age is 18
17 for car license
18 vote
18 marriage
18 adult.

In my opinion, America needs to keep the legal drinking age at 21.
I think it should be raised to 21 here in Australia.

Can you imagine how much more mayhem, America would have if they decreased the legal drinking age theres already so much crime and violence I don't even want to think about it!!

First, it's pretty typical for people under 21 who join the military to have access to alcohol upon demand.

I don't think the drinking age should be 18. We set different ages for different things -- you can drive at 16, ruin your life at 18, and become an alcoholic at 21.

I think that allowing one person to have all of those privileges at once would overwhelm.

I agree with you 100%, for all of the reasons you mention.

You are adult enough to sign up for the military, with a good chance that your life will be endangered ... but not adult enough to drink a beer.

The "21" drinking age is just another "nanny state" law! At the age of 18 you have all of the other rights and responsibilities of an adult, but they hold this one back for an additional three years?

It wasn't like that when I was 18 ... we could hit the bar for a cold one after work! It didn't hurt me one little bit, probably wouldn't hurt the majority of 18 - 20 year old people out there today.

In certain circumstances yes and in some no. On one hand yes you can do all those things when you are 18 but drink. On the other hand some 18 year olds are still in high school and still under legal guidance of their parents. The government is just making sure that someone is a little more mature and knowledgable of what can happen if you get caught. A 21 year old sometimes can tend to be more mature than an 18 year old. I work for an agency with a diversion program for prohibitions and you wouldn't believe how many 18 to 20 year olds we get because we are a college town as well. His schedule is booked 4 days a week all day.

I've got mixed feelings about it.
Curiously, the drinking ages in continental European countries are 18 or even lower, and they don't seem to have a big problem with teens getting drunk and acting stupid. But their culture and attitude towards drinking is very different than ours (i.e. mainland Europeans are mainly moderate social drinkers who usually only have a drink or two with their meals, and don't drink simply for the sake of getting wasted). It's doubtful that most people under 21 in the U.S. or the U.K. are responsible enough to handle booze. Maybe someday it can be lowered here to 18, but now would not be a good time. I believe that this is completely the fault of the 1960's generation for failing to teach responsible drinking habits to their kids (either banning any alcohol for them altogether, or just ignoring the issue). So now when their children inevitably get older and move out of the house and manage to get a hold of alcohol, they don't know how to handle it in a socially-acceptable manner.

However, I would agree that if you serve in the military, you should be allowed to buy a damn beer. I don't see why a legal exception cannot be made for current or former military personnel.

nope.
not enough 18 yr olds are responsible enough. when the majority becomes more responsible, sure. till then, no way.

No, I don't think people aren't responsible enough. There are so many car crashes each year from drunk drivers. Teenagers aren't old rnough too be trusted with alcohol.

Rather than the drinking age to be brought down to 18 I think everything else should be raised to 21.

Yes. You can thank MADD for that.

I'm with you Hun yes the laws silly if you can go in the military ...why not drink ..... do you have such little faith in your younger people /

I've seen how people drive, I think it's better for everyone to keep it at 21. Or for the sake of pedestrians at the very least.

it is only fun to drink before you are 21 anyway. once you are legal who really cares

Yes...or make the ages for the other stuff 21.