backpacker
fka "vetteboi"
Actually, it's pretty much on the mark. The age was raised because of accidents involving younger drivers, and some wanted to raise the age even higher. This has been an issue with a number of youth groups, especially military; they are sorta ticked because they are old enough to give their life for their country, but not old enough to buy alcohol.
Bad logic, this. The age was raised at the time that the War on Drugs was in full fervor; the two are otherwise unrelated. I'm not saying that there wasn't some in both camps, just that it was more coincidental timing than anything else. Outside of the usual "OMG! If alcohol is legal, drugs should be legal, too!" arguments, the two causes were usually kept separate.
Yes; we need more dead kids!I know a lot of parents that would disagree about the policy is a failure. I appreciate that the kids have a different perspective, but that's not exactly unexpected. You know, kids wanting to do what they want to do, regardless of personal risk.
As for the ticketing in general: The general rule is that no ticket, no court date. Underage drinking is usually a "jaywalking" offense; only if it's an issue is it brought up, as the police usually have better things to do, and usually it's more effective to give a warning than to actually write a ticket. Although you were in a stupid place (next time do it at home (where the rules are different, as some places allow underage drinking in some situations) or somewhere away from the general populace, like a creek way off the beaten path.
RG
You totally missed the point. A direct correlation between raising the drinking age and the decreased in alcohol related deaths cannot be made. There are far too many other factors involved to be able to draw that conclusion. In fact, it's entirely possible that the law caused more deaths when binge drinking and drug related deaths are considered.
What happened with regard to drugs is that drugs became easier to get and conceal than alcohol. The war on drugs first started in the 1950's and was more formalized in the early 1970's. The education push for the war on drugs didn't come until the late 1980's. Certainly the war on drugs was ongoing when the drinking age was raised in the late 70's and early 80's, but it certainly wasn't at full fervor. Regardless of the status of the war on drugs, illegal drug use dramatically increased following the increase in the drinking age.
Another consequence of raising the drinking age is that late teens are drinking far more at private parties instead of in bars. The high cost of drinks at bars (compared to buying carryout alcohol) somewhat limited the amount young people drank in the past. Binge drinking has skyrocketed at private parties and many lives have been lost. I'm sure the parents of kids who died from binge drinking at private parties would have definitely preferred their kids were drinking less at a bar. Yes I realize that people do binge drink at bars, but not to the same extent as at private parties.
Cops in some jurisdictions make a point out of enforcing the underage drinking laws. My nephews used to read the local paper to see who they knew had been busted for under age drinking. When I was their age it wasn't something we had to worry about.
We could also argue that if the speed limit was reduced to 10 mph and the penalty for speeding was life in prison that we would probably eliminate all car related deaths. If it's solely about saving lives, then that's what the law would be. There is always a trade off with every law. After about 20 years of the failed policy of a national 55 mph speed limit, the speed limit was increased in most states. The fear mongers predicted traffic deaths would skyrocket if the speed limit was increased, but it didn't. In the case of raising the drinking age, they created a second class of adult citizens that are being denied equal privileges based solely on age discrimination. It's fundamentally wrong, especially when it's very questionable if there is any benefit.
What I favor are two things: 1) graduated drinking where at 18 people could drink beer or other products with limited alcohol by volume. At 21 the restriction could be lifted. Many states had this type of graduation before they were forced to raise the drinking age. By the way, most states didn't want to raise the drinking age, but they couldn't afford to lose federal highway dollars. ; 2) a national drinking license. If someone acts irresponsibly with alcohol, regardless of age, their license could be suspended or revoked. That could very well reduce alcohol related deaths.
When I was 18, I could legally drink. Those one year younger than me couldn't drink when they turned 18. I saw first hand the impact of raising the drinking age and it wasn't good. We dumped the 55 mph mandate, now it's time to dump this mandate.
@ everything. 
