Do you think lowering the drinking age would help solve the problem of binge drinking? / LJWorld.com

Asked at Massachusetts Street on August 20, 2008

“No. I think it’s more of a cultural thing. As long as it is seen as the cool thing to do, changing the law isn’t going to stop it.”

— Hannah Zachritz, Kansas University senior, Lawrence

“Yeah, but it depends on how much you lower it. It won’t be effective to simply lower it to 18. I think you would have to lower it to around 15, so that you are still under your parent’s supervision when you gain access to it.”

— Eric Rowlands, KU freshman, Lawrence

“I do, because looking at other countries with lower drinking ages, it’s not off-limits to them so they don’t overindulge. It works extremely well abroad, so over time I think it would work here.”

— Julianna Keegan, KU senior, Lawrence

“Yes. I think it would help because it wouldn’t be seen as the forbidden fruit, and it would be a lot less tempting.”

— Nick Cage, KU freshman, Lawrence

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dminear60 4 years, 10 months ago

RETICENT_IRREVERENT: Didn't you know that Binge's birthday is this weekend?

jaycat 4 years, 10 months ago

I think Binge will drink when evry he wants to.

nobody1793 4 years, 10 months ago

Well, I guess taking 18 shots on your 18th birthday would be more responsible than taking 21 shots on your 21st...

sunflower_sue 4 years, 10 months ago

do people really binge drink more than once? OK, or twice? (I'm a slow learner.) After "driving the bus" once (or twice), a person should get it through their thick head that it's just not fun. (Or very cool to witness.) I don't think lowering the age will help. We tend to learn more from our mistakes as we age. (Hopefully)

beatrice 4 years, 10 months ago

Binge and Bender aren't identical twins, although they are the nicknames for the Bush twins. In England recently, they changed the time when bars needed to close, claiming that a later closing hour wouldn't encourage binge drinking. So far it hasn't happened and binge drinking continues. It is a falacy that they don't have binge drinking in countries with lower drinking ages. Raise the age to 23. That way most of the students will have graduated from KU before they are allowed to drink. Problem solved.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 4 years, 10 months ago

But seriously,Binge drinking is a result of the failure to maintain a even continuous light buzz, compounded by flawed social mores. The view that an eye-opening cocktail is taboo, along with the societal constraint of having to hide my bottle during work, tend to promote binge drinking: even if only at lunch. Lowering the age limit may have an effect of allowing people to maintain a more even keel. Or not.

dminear60 4 years, 10 months ago

Is there evidence that binge drinking increased after the drinking age was raised to 21?

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 4 years, 10 months ago

How old is Binge?

stinerides 4 years, 10 months ago

thomgreen-i totally agree- they should all be one in the same wheter it be 21 or 18- 18 to drink, 18 to drive, and 18 to fight or 21

nobody1793 4 years, 10 months ago

I've known plenty of 25-year olds who binge drank, and 18-year olds who didn't.

aeroscout17 4 years, 10 months ago

Raise the age to 23 and the problem is solved? What kind of logic is that? The age is already 21 and that hasn't stopped ADULTS under 21 from drinking.

tangential_reasoners_anonymous 4 years, 10 months ago

RET: "Binge drinking is a result of the failure to maintain a even continuous light buzz...."I don't think the kick with alcohol is related to any particular state.The kick comes from a change in state. One never arrives.It's a pursuit of the elusive along a downwardly spiraling path.

thomgreen 4 years, 10 months ago

I would like to see one, ONE, age to determine legal adulthood. If you're old enough to die for your country at the age of 18 then you should damn well be old enough to legally purchase a beer. Ditto for driving.

Drew_Carey 4 years, 10 months ago

200 pts to beatrice for the laugh of the day100 pts to R_I twice, just cause he hits the nail on the head without a building permit.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 4 years, 10 months ago

Tangi,"I never knew you drank, until I met you sober"?

Dani 4 years, 10 months ago

I don't want most of the 18 year olds in Lawrence on the roads sober, let alone drinking.

idarastar 4 years, 10 months ago

McDonalds is legal for everyone and people still binge eat on that artery clogging "foodstuff".It's the American thing to do. Do EVERYTHING in excess!

Pywacket 4 years, 10 months ago

MD~ From the looks of it, Nic(k) was here for a chemical peel and hair implant. Note the youthful, fresh appearance... The statistics do seem to be all over the place. With two kids between the ages of 18 and 21, and with my own experience of being able to drink legally at 18, I am truly torn on this one. There is some credible evidence that drunk driving deaths for kids under 21 fell in states where the drinking age was raised from 18 to 21--presumably not because they weren't drinking any more (everyone knows they were and are) but merely because they were more likely to be drinking illegally at home or in the dorms and NOT DRIVING HOME from bars. So maybe it's good to keep the drinking illegal and (as some malign the colleges for doing) just turn a blind eye to dorm or home drinking, up to a point. On the other hand, from a "rights" standpoint, I have a very hard time with the idea that it's okay for an 18-year-old to fight and perhaps die or be maimed for life in george's dirty bogus war, but not be able to walk into a pub and get a legal drink when home on leave. No, that does not set very well at all.We do need to do a better job of teaching our kids the effects of binge drinking, reminding them how easy it is to slip into alcoholism, and letting them know that they can call us any time, from anyplace, if they (or whomever brought them there) are too drunk to safely drive home. I know my son drinks with his friends--I try mainly to stress to him not to drive that way, and to be careful about how much he imbibes. He lives in a rental house with 3 roommates, so not allowing him to drink at my house doesn't make a lot of difference--he isn't there very much.

jonas 4 years, 10 months ago

My wife brought up a point when I was talking about this with her, because I didn't think that it would make much of a difference, but taking the illegality out of the drinking for the young college crowd could potentially have an effect, because doing it illegally already puts you in a risky and sometimes dangerous frame of mind. Legal, it could be just another thing to do. It won't change it completely, of course, but it could have some impact.

Swayze_Express 4 years, 10 months ago

"In England recently, they changed the time when bars needed to close, claiming that a later closing hour wouldn't encourage binge drinking."In the UK, they get kids as young as nine in the emergency room for alcohol poisoning. They changed the laws because the earlier laws were relics from WW2; but, like most everything Labour did, they went too far. If you want to know how much drinking goes on, check out http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7429638.stm. And these were the people who are old enough to drink.As for the age limit, if there was conscription, then it would be different. No one is forcing anyone to join the military right now so the argument of "If you're old enough to die for your country at the age of 18 then you should ... be old enough to legally purchase a beer." doesn't hold water. Drinking is a privilege, not a right.

Trobs 4 years, 10 months ago

There was nothing more irritating then spending my in the desert as a member of the military able to drink in a foreign country, then to come home unable to drink. Operation Enduring Freedom Veteran 2004-2005, able to drink since 2005...after I returned. That's sad.