Drinking Age

[#UnleashSean]

For what it's worth, I would also lower the BAC for DUI charges like they do in all three of those countries (0.03% in Germany, 0.05% in the other two), and I would make penalties stricter than they are in most states.

It's believe its been proven that driving with a BAC at 0.08 leads to no more crashes then someone at 0.00. I do know for certain that the founder of MADD was completely against lowering the federal BAC to 0.08.

[Hards Alumni]

The poll looks like someone giving the finger.

[Galway Eagle]

I'm really surprised that there's more votes for 18 flat out and for 21 flat out than 18 for beer wine etc. I thought that's a great option to ease people into drinking, get rid of the "drink as many shots as you can" game that me and so many others played at 18/19 yrs old. Plus you could reasonably open bars that are designed just for 18+ by eliminating hard alcohols.

[GooooMarquette]

It's believe its been proven that driving with a BAC at 0.08 leads to no more crashes then someone at 0.00. I do know for certain that the founder of MADD was completely against lowering the federal BAC to 0.08.

I hadn't ever heard that. Surprising if true.

All that said, as much as I am for punishing drunk driving, I am FAR more concerned with distracted driving than DUI. I bike a lot, and some of the things I have seen have been horrifying. Of course the run of the mill texting driver who suddenly veers off onto the shoulder, or the driver who doesn't understand the concept of hands-free calling. But also people with textbooks propped up on steering wheels, etc. Anyway, different discussion.

[JWags85]

Thank God for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, MADD, MAGV, MAPB, thank God for mothers.
For some it's no mothers, for me it's thank God.

In my view it's the behavior and not the age.

Some states like Tennessee and Wisconsin are behind the rest of the country and the world on many subjects including drinking.

The pandemic will close so many bars that over drinking will becom as yesterday as cuspidors.

Getting drunk is a fad.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I'm really surprised that there's more votes for 18 flat out and for 21 flat out than 18 for beer wine etc. I thought that's a great option to ease people into drinking, get rid of the "drink as many shots as you can" game that me and so many others played at 18/19 yrs old. Plus you could reasonably open bars that are designed just for 18+ by eliminating hard alcohols.

I think it's just too hard to enforce.

[MU82]

Too effen drunk to see the poll choices.

[Billy Hoyle]

Ah, yes, that's it.  They withheld federal funding for highways.  My bad!

South Dakota v. Dole in 1983. Though it was only 5% of federal highway funds that were going to be withheld.

The problem of state-by-state laws was the ease of crossing borders for those under 21 to purchase and consume alcohol.

[Hards Alumni]

I'm really surprised that there's more votes for 18 flat out and for 21 flat out than 18 for beer wine etc. I thought that's a great option to ease people into drinking, get rid of the "drink as many shots as you can" game that me and so many others played at 18/19 yrs old. Plus you could reasonably open bars that are designed just for 18+ by eliminating hard alcohols.

My friends and I went to Daytona (shouldn't have) for spring break our Senior year.  We quickly found out that you can go to the bars when you're 18, you just can't drink.

Sooooo we were the drunk older guys at a bar full of kids that were drunk, but couldn't buy booze.  And I think the temperature topped out at 65 degrees for the week... and it was windy.  Not the spring break we were hoping for. 

[JWags85]

My friends and I went to Daytona (shouldn't have) for spring break our Senior year.  We quickly found out that you can go to the bars when you're 18, you just can't drink.

Sooooo we were the drunk older guys at a bar full of kids that were drunk, but couldn't buy booze.  And I think the temperature topped out at 65 degrees for the week... and it was windy.  Not the spring break we were hoping for.

 I went to undergrad at Miami University. Oxford, OH has similar regulations, so i was going to bars right away at 18. It was stamps for the unders and wristbands for over. But enforcement was lax. You needed a friend with a fake or an older friend and you were fine holding drinks and drinking all night as long as you weren’t an idiot.

 Went to Destin my Junior year. Heard most places in Panama City were similar so myself and another friend who wouldn’t turn 21 till the summer expected to have smooth sailing seeing as most of our group was 21.  Until we saw the GIANT black Xs that may as well be tattooed on and eagle eyed bouncers kicking out people who washed the Xs off and had drinks. I had already washed one off, with tons of scrubbing, and was stressed about it most of the night   

[GBPhoenix1993]

Have to imagine the tax revenue from adding three additional drinking years would outweigh the ticket revenue.

In my case, I drank as heavy as any years of my life age 18/19 when it wasn't legal for me, but there probably were other kids that were more responsible and waited until it was legal at age 21.  You may have a point that there would be more tax revenue as the kids that were more risk averse may have decided to drink more at 18/19 if indeed it was legal. 

I did sort of enjoy the "naughtiness factor" of doing something slightly illegal, but yeah, overall it would have been better to have it be legal in my late teens.  I personally was born maybe a year or 2 too late to be grandfathered in under the old drinking age rule where you could drink as a teen.  I was born in '69, I believe the kids born in '67 were grandfathered in but it's been so long I can't remember for sure. 

[Lennys Tap]

They are doing it now so what's the difference?

Full disclosure, I'm pretty much a libertarian so I think the few the laws the better and if you are going to enact a law, enforce it consistently and uniformly but in a way that discourages the behavior without criminalizing it

+1000.

[Galway Eagle]

My friends and I went to Daytona (shouldn't have) for spring break our Senior year.  We quickly found out that you can go to the bars when you're 18, you just can't drink.

Sooooo we were the drunk older guys at a bar full of kids that were drunk, but couldn't buy booze.  And I think the temperature topped out at 65 degrees for the week... and it was windy.  Not the spring break we were hoping for.

Galway and Corn have bars where they decide the Age of the patrons. A fairly famous bar right on Eyre Square is 23+ while most the town is 18 with a couple 21s sprinkled around.

If it ever does drop to 18 I'd be in favor of bars doing that.

[MU82]

Is there serious talk about lowering the drinking age in any states?

[Galway Eagle]

Is there serious talk about lowering the drinking age in any states?

Don't know. I just posted this for a non political discussion people could weigh in on and debate.

[dgies9156]

It was 18 when I entered Marquette. Had a couple of bad experiences but nothing severe.

My children went to SIU Carbondale and the biggest difference was they drank as much as I did but it wasn't legal. What used to be done in bars is now done at house parties and frat parties. In the former, there was some regulation and control over sloppy, really bad drunks. You don't have that anymore.

Lower it and regulate it. Carefully.

[Billy Hoyle]

Galway and Corn have bars where they decide the Age of the patrons. A fairly famous bar right on Eyre Square is 23+ while most the town is 18 with a couple 21s sprinkled around.

If it ever does drop to 18 I'd be in favor of bars doing that.

I went to 21 and over and even 23 and over bars and clubs in Galway and Cork. The 23 and over club we went to in Cork, we were all under 21 but four of us had fakes and the fifth was a 300 pound D3 offensive lineman who was never carded. A much more mature crowd with a lot less obnoxious drunkenness.

Usually women were never carded though.

[MU82]

It's hard to imagine how much different my Marquette experience would have been had 18-year-olds not been allowed to drink legally back then.

It was such a part of the culture. MU officials would put signs up by the elevators on every McCormick floor encouraging us to have keggers. The signs weren't just handwritten by some MU lackey (or Bob Lackey); they were professionally produced by the fine folks at Miller, Schlitz or Pabst. Miller was especially active promoting this kind of thing. And Marquette was all-in on it.

There was a bar in the basement of the student union, the Mug Rack, and they'd bring in bands on Friday afternoons to get the weekends started early.

Of course, many kids started their weekends on Thursdays, which was a huge night for $1 pitchers and/or 25-cent taps at establishments around campus. Once I realized that -- which took all of one semester -- I would work my schedule so I never had a Friday class before noon. I was hardly alone in that regard.

Almost any night of the week, it was easy to find a ridiculous beer special. Yes, this was 106 years ago so everything seemed incredibly cheap then compared to now, but still ... a quarter is a quarter is a quarter.

Sometimes Marquette would run "Alternative to the Bars" at the rec center -- keep it open till 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Woulda been more accurate if they called it "In Addition to the Bars." We would go to Helfaer at 10, shoot hoops for a couple hours, and then hit the bars afterward. And back then, bars were open till 3:30 a.m. on Saturdays.

Once we moved off-campus, we got other favorite haunts. Our group loved Midget Tavern and Harp & Shamrock because we lived out that way. Dan the bartender at Harp loved us for some reason. We'd put a $5 bill on the bar at 11 p.m. and it would still be there when we left at 2 a.m. We'd leave it for him as a tip. My best friend bartended at State House on 13th and State, and those nights were often incredible free-beer fests.

Yes, we almost surely were alcoholics during our time at Marquette. But that culture did help me get to know the people who remain my best friends to this very day. Would I have gotten as close to them had the culture been different? Who knows?

Obviously, as others have discussed, college kids still party. I just wonder how different it became after the age went to 21. Again, hard to imagine, because the above is all I knew.

[Lennys Tap]

Yes, we almost surely were alcoholics during our time at Marquette. But that culture did help me get to know the people who remain my best friends to this very day. Would I have gotten as close to them had the culture been different? Who knows?

Mike

Alcoholism is a disease, not a phase one goes through. You guys were heavy drinkers. If you were alcoholics then, you’re alcoholics now (whether you drink or not).

[warriorchick]

I voted for 19. 

The drinking age was 18 when I went to Marquette, and everyone was more relaxed.  You could go to the bars or a party and drink 2 or 3 beers, and that was okay.  You could always get more beer later.

I think the 21 age limit encourages binge drinking.  If you are underage, and get into a bar or party, you have to strike while the iron is hot.

One good trend is that kids these days take the "don't drink and drive" thing much more seriously than we did.  Even before Uber existed, they planned ahead and made sure to have cab money or a designated driver.

[GooooMarquette]

I think the 21 age limit encourages binge drinking.  If you are underage, and get into a bar or party, you have to strike while the iron is hot.

One good trend is that kids these days take the "don't drink and drive" thing much more seriously than we did.  Even before Uber existed, they planned ahead and made sure to have cab money or a designated driver.

Agreed on both points.

Regarding the second, my sense is that people who got away with drunk driving before the MADD campaigns have developed a sense of 'being able to handle it' when it comes to driving home drunk. Younger drivers heard the MADD message before they ever had that (over)confidence.

[MU82]

Mike

Alcoholism is a disease, not a phase one goes through. You guys were heavy drinkers. If you were alcoholics then, you’re alcoholics now (whether you drink or not).

Of course you are correct, Lenny. Foolhardy word-usage by me, akin to a person saying "I was insane," when he wasn't clinically diagnosed as insane.

We indeed were heavy drinkers; definitely drank too much back then. I'm not an alcoholic, thank goodness, and I don't think my friends are.

Most of the stuff we swilled was Lite or the like. Today's beer is so much more potent (and delicious) -- another thing to ponder about the differences between drinking at Marquette then and now.

[warriorchick]

Of course you are correct, Lenny. Foolhardy word-usage by me, akin to a person saying "I was insane," when he wasn't clinically diagnosed as insane.

You can't get clinically diagnosed as "insane".  That's a legal term, not a medical term.   

[Galway Eagle]

I went to 21 and over and even 23 and over bars and clubs in Galway and Cork. The 23 and over club we went to in Cork, we were all under 21 but four of us had fakes and the fifth was a 300 pound D3 offensive lineman who was never carded. A much more mature crowd with a lot less obnoxious drunkenness.

Usually women were never carded though.

Yeah exactly. It was always great to head to O'Connells and not be associating with 18yr olds who couldn't stand up straight. But then you realize that at Murphs or Caffs you have 21yr olds acting like the 18yr olds there.

[#UnleashSean]

Talking about drinking age being 18/19 and keeping it out of schools....

I've had a thought in the back of my head that we should "legally" turn of age based on the school year cut off.

Its never made sense to me that a guy who turns 16 on September 3rd can start to drive st the start of his sophomore year, while someone born on August 25th needs to wait until almost his junior year. Even though they are both most likely the same maturity wise.

The same would go for alcohol and voting.