My 2 cents, if you lower the drinking age, and individuals want that responsibility, stiffen the dui laws, and apply them, period, and no consideration for age. When someone takes on that responsibility then accept the consequences. Alcohol related deaths are one of the top related causes of death for persons under 21. Personally, I am for mandatory jail time for a first offense. Then for those doing it now, I am a firm believer in individual choice, but as a part of that choice is the acceptance and consequences that come from illegal activity. I am certain that Curtis is responsible, at least most of the time I have seen him. But...., is everyone at those parties responsible? Do any of them drive home? Have any of them been stopped for dui in the past? Has the punishment been severe enough to keep them from doing it again? These are all questions deserving an answer because these crimes don’t just affect the person drinking, they affect the remainder of the public who may, and have, been affected because of a bad decision of someone drinking who is underage.
As one who lost a family member to someone driving dui, and have had to go to court and see other close friends who have lost someone as a result of someone driving while under the influence. I can tell you, the majority of the time, the punishment is not severe enough and those people keep on driving under the influence, some multiple times before getting caught, and truth is, some many more times than that, each time endangering the lives of someone’s child, mother, brother, sister, father, or friend. For one that wants to see some shocking statistics, one only has to google teen drinking. I would like to hear arguments against some of those statistics that are legitimate and hold water. I am in favor of lowering the age, but likely more so to 19 or 20, at this point, most people will have a better understanding of responsibility and a higher level of maturity due to the stresses of being out of High School, not for all, but for some. There is also good research to support this position which can be seen through various sources, available on the web. Another interesting point is that some credit the Republican Party for the push to lower the drinking age. Why? Ask about the Bush daughters that have been stopped multiple times at the age of 19. Not making this up, just reporting the facts.