NJ Assemblyman Proposes Lowering State Drinking Age to 18

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

I've been saying years how ridiculous this is. There are only five other countries in the world with an alcohol age restriction as high as ours and we're supposed to be the "Land of the Free." All the Europeans countries are lower and almost none of them have high numbers of alcohol abuse compared to the U.S. and that's because they haven't been raised to believe it's some kind of taboo and a right of passage into adulthood.

There actually is no federal drinking age, though. It's state by state, but the federal government blackmails the states by withholding 10% of their highway funding if they refuse to keep it at 21. MADD was the group that convinced Reagan and the Congress at the time to enforce this shit back in the 80s. It's ridiculous how paranoid our society has become over alcohol as a result. When I'm 33 and clearly look over the age of 21 and still get ID'd because bars and restaurants are so paranoid about getting fined then things have gotten out of hand.

I'd still rather live in the U.S. than most places in the world, but once you start spending time in other countries this is but one example how you start to realize we really aren't as free a country as we like to brag about. There are a lot of other places that don't obsess over the nonsense we do and they're doing just fine.

Should the Legal Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18?

 

[Harry Dresden]

it should lowered to at least 20 as well as any other rights obtained at 21.....BUT if an 18 year old is "adult" enough to go fight a war in some shithole someplace in the world than he/she should be "adult" enough to drink...so the kids in the military who are not 21 should be able to grab a beer anywhere in this country....

 

[Iceweasel]

I lived in NJ when the age was 18. I was just out of high school and in the military, so could drink on base anyway but it was legal in the civie world. I moved on and don't know when they raised it or why.

 

[Wry Catcher]

I lived in NJ when the age was 18. I was just out of high school and in the military, so could drink on base anyway but it was legal in the civie world. I moved on and don't know when they raised it or why.

"On December 13, 1982, “An Interim Report to the Nation from the President’s Commission on Drunk Driving” was released. It recommended that “States should immediately adopt 21 years of age as the minimum legal drinking age for all alcoholic beverages.” In a statement issued on April 5, 1983, Reagan noted this recommendation and informed the public that three states had already raised their legal drinking age.The commission’s final report was issued in November of 1983 prefaced by a letter from Reagan stating that drunk driving was “a national menace, a national tragedy, and a national disgrace.” The commission’s eighth recommendation (out of 39), “Minimum Legal Purchasing Age,” was not only that the states should raise their drinking age, but that legislation at the Federal level should be enacted providing that each State enact and/or maintain a law requiring 21 years as the minimum legal age for purchasing and possessing all alcoholic beverages. Such legislation should provide that the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation disapprove any project under Section 106 of the Federal Aid Highway Act (Title 23, United States Code) for any State not having and enforcing such a law."

Why Is the Drinking Age 21?

 

[Tommy Tainant]

A few years back, well quite a few. I holidayed in America with my then girlfriend who was 19. At the Sheraton in Fort Lauderdale she was asked for ID and knocked back for a glass of wine with our dinner. I actually thought it was funny that she could suck my cock in our room but not sip a glass of Sancerre in the restaurant. She wasnt amused.
Daft aint it ?

 

[Care4all]

when i lived in new jersey,

I lived in NJ when the age was 18. I was just out of high school and in the military, so could drink on base anyway but it was legal in the civie world. I moved on and don't know when they raised it or why.

changed in 1985 I think?, the feds said it would not give state federal highway funds if they didn't raise drinking age to 21...essentially... states were blackmailed... i lived there at the time it was 18 too... were you stationed at McGuire AFB, or Ft Dix?

 

[rightwinger]

when i lived in new jersey,

I lived in NJ when the age was 18. I was just out of high school and in the military, so could drink on base anyway but it was legal in the civie world. I moved on and don't know when they raised it or why.

changed in 1985 I think?, the feds said it would not give state federal highway funds if they didn't raise drinking age to 21...essentially... states were blackmailed... i lived there at the time it was 18 too... were you stationed at McGuire AFB, or Ft Dix?

Used to be 19 in NJ and 18 in NY

All the Jersey kids would cross the border

 

[Care4all]

when i lived in new jersey,

I lived in NJ when the age was 18. I was just out of high school and in the military, so could drink on base anyway but it was legal in the civie world. I moved on and don't know when they raised it or why.

changed in 1985 I think?, the feds said it would not give state federal highway funds if they didn't raise drinking age to 21...essentially... states were blackmailed... i lived there at the time it was 18 too... were you stationed at McGuire AFB, or Ft Dix?

Used to be 19 in NJ and 18 in NY

All the Jersey kids would cross the border

the town I lived in for a while, was NO DRINKING, BLUE LAW TOWN....no bars no liquor stores, we had to drive over the bridge to the town there to buy liquor, ocean city.... might still even have blue law there even now...

 

[rightwinger]

when i lived in new jersey,

I lived in NJ when the age was 18. I was just out of high school and in the military, so could drink on base anyway but it was legal in the civie world. I moved on and don't know when they raised it or why.

changed in 1985 I think?, the feds said it would not give state federal highway funds if they didn't raise drinking age to 21...essentially... states were blackmailed... i lived there at the time it was 18 too... were you stationed at McGuire AFB, or Ft Dix?

Used to be 19 in NJ and 18 in NY

All the Jersey kids would cross the border

the town I lived in for a while, was NO DRINKING, BLUE LAW TOWN....no bars no liquor stores, we had to drive over the bridge to the town there to buy liquor, ocean city.... might still even have blue law there...

Ocean city is still blue

 

[JOSweetHeart]

I don't see what kind of good difference could be made by lowering the age, so to me, it should just be left the way that it is.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

P.S. How many people in this country will actually abide by this particular law no matter what the legal age sits at?

 

[aris2chat]

I grew up with no age limit for drinking and I was tending bar when I started university. I had been tending bar for my family parties and events since I was about twelve or thirteen. In university I wanted to earn my own money. I'd been working or competing since I was quite young but did not have the time for those types with classes and homework. I knew after my AS that I would have less time for work, or that was my expectation. Didn't quite turn out that way.

Age limits is just lazy and irresponsible raising of children. Like anything, drinking should be taught in a proper way. With food, understand the effect of drinking on the child, learn the limits and know when to stop, what drinks should and should not be served with certain foods (before, during and after meals), what to do if they drink beyond their limit, flush the system before going to bed to avoid a hangover, understand what a hangover feels like and to prevent one, don't mix alcohols incorrectly, know which drinks have various effect on the person, not to play drinking games or intentionally get slobbering drunk, know when to say 'when' or 'no'.

It should not be experiment without parental care and pick up bad habits or excesses.

You don't give the keys to a child without lessons first, why let them go drinking without lessons?

If they are old enough to drive, fight, have sex and vote (or be treated as a adult in criminal court), they should be old enough to drink responsibly (on their own).

Some place in europe, children drink at restaurants when with parents, no one asks the age. Most parents begin with watered down wine with meals, changing proportions with age.

I'd rather teach children to drink responsibly than have them experimenting on their own or with peers in secret and over indulge or abuse. If the child has poor tolerance, they should know before hand. It help them if they know early that they should not drink at all, before they find out the hard way.

 

[Iceweasel]

when i lived in new jersey,

I lived in NJ when the age was 18. I was just out of high school and in the military, so could drink on base anyway but it was legal in the civie world. I moved on and don't know when they raised it or why.

changed in 1985 I think?, the feds said it would not give state federal highway funds if they didn't raise drinking age to 21...essentially... states were blackmailed... i lived there at the time it was 18 too... were you stationed at McGuire AFB, or Ft Dix?

No, Cape May, in the Coastie Guard, waaaay back in 72 for boot camp and then returned in 74-76. Federal blackmail, it figures.

 

[Iceweasel]

Some place in europe, children drink at restaurants when with parents, no one asks the age. Most parents begin with watered down wine with meals, changing proportions with age.

I'd rather teach children to drink responsibly than have them experimenting on their own or with peers in secret and over indulge or abuse. If the child has poor tolerance, they should know before hand. It help them if they know early that they should not drink at all, before they find out the hard way.

I lived in Germany for 7 years as a kid, no drinking age then, although I heard there is one now. I used to be sent to the tavern to buy my uncle beer, I couldn't see over the counter.

 

[aris2chat]

alcohol and children should not be like a kid in a candy shop that eats till they get sick when they think no one is looking.

All things with knowledge and moderation

 

[Bruce_T_Laney]

I've been saying years how ridiculous this is. There are only five other countries in the world with an alcohol age restriction as high as ours and we're supposed to be the "Land of the Free." All the Europeans countries are lower and almost none of them have high numbers of alcohol abuse compared to the U.S. and that's because they haven't been raised to believe it's some kind of taboo and a right of passage into adulthood.

There actually is no federal drinking age, though. It's state by state, but the federal government blackmails the states by withholding 10% of their highway funding if they refuse to keep it at 21. MADD was the group that convinced Reagan and the Congress at the time to enforce this shit back in the 80s. It's ridiculous how paranoid our society has become over alcohol as a result. When I'm 33 and clearly look over the age of 21 and still get ID'd because bars and restaurants are so paranoid about getting fined then things have gotten out of hand.

I'd still rather live in the U.S. than most places in the world, but once you start spending time in other countries this is but one example how you start to realize we really aren't as free a country as we like to brag about. There are a lot of other places that don't obsess over the nonsense we do and they're doing just fine.

Should the Legal Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18?

If you can go off and die for this nation at the age of 18 then I say you should be allow to drink at the age of 18 legally and with a parent permission at the age of 16 ( that mean the parent or guardian has to be there )...

 

[rightwinger]

Some place in europe, children drink at restaurants when with parents, no one asks the age. Most parents begin with watered down wine with meals, changing proportions with age.

I'd rather teach children to drink responsibly than have them experimenting on their own or with peers in secret and over indulge or abuse. If the child has poor tolerance, they should know before hand. It help them if they know early that they should not drink at all, before they find out the hard way.

I lived in Germany for 7 years as a kid, no drinking age then, although I heard there is one now. I used to be sent to the tavern to buy my uncle beer, I couldn't see over the counter.

I think that is the answer

If you create a threshold of drinking then that threshold becomes the time when you overindulge and act irresponsibly

I could drink legally at 18 and went out with friends and acted stupid
Now its kids who are 21 going out and acting stupid

 

[aris2chat]

Some place in europe, children drink at restaurants when with parents, no one asks the age. Most parents begin with watered down wine with meals, changing proportions with age.

I'd rather teach children to drink responsibly than have them experimenting on their own or with peers in secret and over indulge or abuse. If the child has poor tolerance, they should know before hand. It help them if they know early that they should not drink at all, before they find out the hard way.

I lived in Germany for 7 years as a kid, no drinking age then, although I heard there is one now. I used to be sent to the tavern to buy my uncle beer, I couldn't see over the counter.

I think that is the answer

If you create a threshold of drinking then that threshold becomes the time when you overindulge and act irresponsibly

I could drink legally at 18 and went out with friends and acted stupid
Now its kids who are 21 going out and acting stupid

It is important to learn in a safe and responsible way what your limits and tolerances to certain drinks are. If you learn early on when to say when or no, you avoid bad habits and dangers later on in life. Even knowing not to drink on an empty stomach and drinking water before bed must be learned. Also knowing what drinks you should avoid, or not mixing certain drinks

It is lot like learn to drive save or safety with guns or tools. Learning what foods to avoid if you have allergies.............

Good habit begin early in life.

 

[aris2chat]

Red wines with meat, red meat, actually helps digestion. It help break down cholesterol.
There is a science to it, but just following a few simple rules of both drinking and eating will avoid problem both immediately and long term.

Eating and drinking the right way can help you avoid many ailment later in life.

Drinking properly is not just about getting drunk of even relaxing.

I found that my son should not drink white wine. Now he knows to totally avoid.

Some people who require gluten free diets need to avoid beer, gin and whiskey, unless they get gluten free. Yes they do make gluten free alcohol.

Better to find these thing out early on.

Some people are allergic to cactus and should avoid tequila. Some are allergic to potatoes and need to avoid vodka made from potatoes.

In some cases certain alcohols should not be consumed with dairy based foods

Knowing to drink red wine with red meat actually helps break down the meat and makes it more digestible.

These are things that should be taught to children before they find out the hard way.

How much, with which particular food, which drinks, ..................... Most kids, teens and even adult are unaware of many of these.

Some people simply should not drink any alcohol at all.

 

[WildBillKelsoe]

If 18 is mature to be sent to the battlefield, then it's mature enough to get shit faces before you go.