Drinking Age. News.

[robnix]

So as many of you heard or saw I'm assuming, educators from college campuses across the country want the legal age brought down. They say it will prevent binge drinking that is so prevalent in schools.


I tend to agree, I spent a while in europe and it is more often than not acceptable to have drinks at a very young age. This is also how I was raised, they did it so that when I was presented with large amounts of alcohol while on my own (as they knew I would), I would able to reason. I think most of you probably feel the same way.

Drunk driving seems to be a completely different thing over there, I got the feeling that it was NOT ACCEPTABLE in any way. Drunk driving rates seem to be lower. However, most teenagers also don't drive in comparison to their American counterparts.


I know lots of kids here who think it is fine to drive around buzzed.


What is it?

What do you think of the age?

It'll never work. In a nutshell, the culture of eating and drinking in the United States simply isn't designed around eating and drinking in a responsible manner. Read this:

http://www.michaelpollan.com/indefense.php

you'll understand what I mean.

[maxama10]

well as interesting as that looks, gotta pay for it to read it...

[SithSteve]

I can't stand most 21 year-olds in bars... let alone 18 year-olds.

[robnix]

well as interesting as that looks, gotta pay for it to read it...

Try the library.

[Lohman446]

Now what kind of government actually puts a policy that makes sense?

What would be a great policy, would be to actually hand out alcohol to college kids on a weekly basis. Make it enough to get drunk, but not a lot. People who don't drink can sell it or trade it to the people who wish to drink more. That would provide some incentive for some kids not to drink, because then they get a constant stream of money.Those who wish to drink moderately do so with little expense, so they don't end up spending more money then they want to on alcohol. Then you have your heavy drinkers, who will pay a little less then what they normally do.

Yeah for more government hand outs rather than responsible people earning / buying things for themselves

[mr.mag218]

If the goal of drinking is to get drunk you are not helping the argument that 18 year olds are responsible (then again, there are a lot of far older who are not).

And DUI, by the time you are done, are way over $1500 I am sure - though not from personal experience.

i blew a .06 and .04 on them. legally i could have been driving a car had i been 21

[Lohman446]

i blew a .06 and .04 on them. legally i could have been driving a car had i been 21

Whats the point?

[JesseB]

:rofl: I agree that government should have no business involved in these but I hope you don't honestly beleive they are "neutral" in regards to health.

Pot would be the main health issue there if it is smoked and not eaten since it contains carcinogens (sp?) mescal, and lsd have no known health risks aside from mental stress which could cause someone to endanger their health. But that's a weak mind and should be chalked up to natural selection.

Alcohol is far worse for your body and mind in my personal experience.

[Lohman446]

Pot would be the main health issue there if it is smoked and not eaten since it contains carcinogens (sp?) mescal, and lsd have no known health risks aside from mental stress which could cause someone to endanger their health. But that's a weak mind and should be chalked up to natural selection.

Alcohol is far worse for your body and mind in my personal experience.

LSD? One of the very few drugs that show indications of actually causing structural changes in DNA?

[JesseB]

JesseB you forgot one of the most abused drugs in the US....prescriptions.

Yeah i know a few people with barbituate and xanax addictions who have never had a prescription in their lives. They throw away their whole consciousness for days at a time. It's a sad situation and if you are ever close to a person who is addicted to prescriptions please urge them to get help and if they do not then the best thing to do is to cut ties with them or if that's not an option then get them help against their will.

Drugs can be a two sided coin and there is always a line. Be sure that you know your limitations when experimenting and always know which doors not to open. I'm not advocating drug use but I'm saying if you make the choice then do some research and know your body and what you are putting into it and be prepared for the consequences because everything you do will have repurcussions either socially, mentally, physically, or legally.

Sensible drug policy would exist in a true democracy since 75% of the prison population is drug cases.

[JesseB]

LSD? One of the very few drugs that show indications of actually causing structural changes in DNA?

Source?

I googled LSD and DNA and all it said was the double helix structure of DNA was discovered while Crick was high on LSD...

I saw a shady looking website that was talking about questionable reports of embryotic chromosomes being altered by LSD. Link your source I'm interested in changing my view if there is a legitimate risk there... I would assume if there was then the late 60's would have spawned a whole generation of f'd up flipper babies though.

[Lohman446]

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/grofchro.htm

I googled it before my post just to be certain I was not misremembering. The idea is a pretty widely held in academic circles at least, enough so that I was exposed to the concept and the beleif.

[JesseB]

They used five concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 10.0 micrograms of LSD per cubic centimeter (cc), and the time of exposure was 4, 24, and 48 hours

a normal dose of LSD for a human is 1-2.5 micrograms. They were soaking a cubic centimeter of white bloodcells in different levels of LSD. Apparently .001 micrograms per cc caused no mutation so unless you only had 1 cc of blood in your body then I guess you would be ok.

That study is kinda long and the first paragraph says that for every dissertation that says LSD causes mutation there is another that disproves it. So I dunno I'm gonna wait until someone has a major birth defect from LSD (like cocaine, meth, heroin, and prescription users have all the time)

[maxama10]

dude stop. LSD is not alcohol


out of my thread please


please.

[JesseB]

dude stop. LSD is not alcohol


out of my thread please


please.

cry more. we we're having a discussion you don't run this forum you don't get to say what we can talk about or where. We are on topic it's just a segway. Is it really that important that only alcohol is discussed? I am making a point that there are synthetic and natural drugs that are safer but more harshly regulated than Alcohol. Quit being a thread Nazi.


Alcohol regulation is fine the way it is. Some places should have shorter hours in which you can purchase it. Hell you should have to take an alcohol awareness class before you are able to drink in public. There are more irresponsible Alcohol users under age and legal age than there should be but that is the nature of the drug itself.

Alcohol is too addictive, and impairing for most people to consume responsibly 13.8 million americans cant be wrong! Plus if you get started ewarlier in the developmental stages of your life then you have higher risk for dependancy and kidney/liver disease. It's a bad idea and anyone who would lobby for this is commiting political suicide. There is no room for a bunch of irresponsible teens to be drinking there are already more irresponsible adults than there should be.

In conclusion drug policy reform > alcohol reform.