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+--- Thread: Amethyst Initiative (USA) (/showthread.php?tid=3063)
Amethyst Initiative (USA) - Venison! - 2008-09-03
I don't know if any of you have heard about this, though its likely since a lot of us are affected by it (in the age range of 18-20).
http://www.amethystinitiative.org/
It's called the Amethyst Initiative and I guess originally it was just a petition signed by a hundred college presidents. Now, it's gaining momentum and they have decided to take it to the federal government and see if they can get anywhere. It would remove the highway clause (or whatever it's called)--the one that says states can have their drinking age at whatever they like, but if they don't make it 21+, they won't get federal funding for their highways...
Basically, it would lower the drinking age to ~18 (states could set it to whatever they like but in all likelihood they would set it to 18). I mean, it makes sense, right? We're old enough to sign our lives away to the army, smoke cigarettes, gamble all our money away, but we can't booze around!
Whatcha think? Do you support it? Is it a bad idea? Do you think that if teenagers had the opportunity to drink at an earlier age, they would be less inclined to have issues? (This is what my friends argue--if we lower the age, there will be less rebellion, and then people won't be so stupid about how they drink...)
Amethyst Initiative (USA) - wobbufet - 2008-09-03
Sure it's a good idea because 21 is bit rediculous in my eyes, but where I live the legal drinking age is 16. People start drinking here at the age of 13, basically the same rebellion
Whatever the legal drinking age is, people will try to drink before that. Only way to stop this would be making drinking legal for everyone, but I don't think that's a good idea xD
Amethyst Initiative (USA) - Venison! - 2008-09-03
wobbufet Wrote:Whatever the legal drinking age is, people will try to drink before that. Only way to stop this would be making drinking legal for everyone, but I don't think that's a good idea xD
Hahaha, that's true. I think anything before like 15, the brain's development will be hindered a bit by alcohol...and the younger they are, the worse it is.
Still, it means that college students wouldn't be afraid of calling the cops if a party got out of hand because there'd be no underage drinking!
Amethyst Initiative (USA) - wobbufet - 2008-09-03
Yeah but you'll have teenagers afraid of calling their parents / the cops when a party goes out of hand >_>
Just playing devil's advocate btw ;0
Amethyst Initiative (USA) - Katie - 2008-09-03
[COLOR="Navy"]I personally think the drinking age should remain at 21. I had a very good friend die his senior year of highschool because a 40+ yr old man who was intoxicated hit his car at a toll booth in Chicago. Your age doesn't matter if you can handle it any better. Drunk is drunk in my opinion. Sometimes, I think 21 is to young. There are some really really stupid people out there that just shouldn't be drinking.
Because I live in the Metro Detroit area, alot of "Under 21-ers" go across the bridge to Windsor, Canada to drink where the drinking age is 19. Then they cross the border back into Michigan and are driving drunk at 19. [/COLOR]
Amethyst Initiative (USA) - Venison! - 2008-09-04
xkatiie Wrote:[COLOR="Navy"]I personally think the drinking age should remain at 21. I had a very good friend die his senior year of highschool because a 40+ yr old man who was intoxicated hit his car at a toll booth in Chicago. Your age doesn't matter if you can handle it any better. Drunk is drunk in my opinion. Sometimes, I think 21 is to young. There are some really really stupid people out there that just shouldn't be drinking.
Because I live in the Metro Detroit area, alot of "Under 21-ers" go across the bridge to Windsor, Canada to drink where the drinking age is 19. Then they cross the border back into Michigan and are driving drunk at 19. [/COLOR]
Driving drunk is a very serious issue because often people don't realize when they've had too much...
But changing the drinking age isn't going to change the fact that individuals will drive drunk regardless. I mean, at the public high school I went to there were sophomores and such who were already alcoholics. The drinking age is sort of a fine line between who can buy alcohol and who can't (which is blurred by false identification cards, etc) but it does little else, except frighten teenagers out of calling their parents/cops when they're piss drunk and worried about the repercussions.
I don't think that it's necessarily a drinking AGE issue, as far as we're concerned. The AGE can be at whatever point it ceases to inhibit a growing body. What we need is a drinking IQ test! "You must have THIS MUCH common sense to be allowed alcohol!"
Amethyst Initiative (USA) - Katie - 2008-09-04
But at least with the age being 21, there wouldn't be high school kids going to liquor stores to buy booze. I understand people buy for them but at least at 21 you wouldn't have to worry as much. I know in Michigan, our Drivers Licenses have a bar on the back like credit cards and when I go to buy liquor, they swipe it to see if it's fake or not.
Amethyst Initiative (USA) - Afrobean - 2008-09-04
wobbufet Wrote:Whatever the legal drinking age is, people will try to drink before that. Only way to stop this would be making drinking legal for everyone, but I don't think that's a good idea xDActually, done correctly, that's the best idea. Parents should be teaching their children to be responsible. Controlled, monitored, moderate consumption of alcohol in a child's youth can be an effective way for them to learn how to drink without going overboard.
It is legal in some states for parents to let their children have alcohol, but that's not enough. It should be legal in all states and it should be encouraged (encouraged, not just for parents to give their kids alcohol, but to handle it RESPONSIBLY).
Venison! Wrote:the brain's development will be hindered a bit by alcohol...Excessive drug use of any kind at any age can damage a person's brain. However, alcohol (as well as some other drugs) when used safely in moderation has no ill effects whatsoever.
xkatiie Wrote:Your age doesn't matter if you can handle it any better.This is the same argument that people use to say it should be lowered. Age doesn't make you any more capable to be responsible, so why is it that you must be 21 to drink rather than 18?
xkatiie Wrote:There are some really really stupid people out there that just shouldn't be drinking.I agree, however, I would say that it's better for these people to learn their limits while they're still living at home with their parents at 18 than when they're 21 and out living on their own.
xkatiie Wrote:Then they cross the border back into Michigan and are driving drunk at 19.And they wouldn't be driving drunk across the border if they could try alcohol safely in their own home.
xkatiie Wrote:But at least with the age being 21, there wouldn't be high school kids going to liquor stores to buy booze. I understand people buy for them but at least at 21 you wouldn't have to worry as much. I know in Michigan, our Drivers Licenses have a bar on the back like credit cards and when I go to buy liquor, they swipe it to see if it's fake or not.Wow, I didn't know stores could use that pumpernickel. I only ever knew police could scan that. If they didn't have legal grounds to check ID, I'd almost say that sounds like invasion of privacy.
Anyway, "there wouldn't be high school kids going to liquor stores to buy booze"? High school students buy porn, tobacco, firearms, but you don't think an 18 year old could be responsible enough to walk to the store, purchase a bottle of alcohol, walk home, then consume the alcohol moderately at home? Not all people want to drive to the store, down a liter of rum, then go out for a drive on the Interstate.
Amethyst Initiative (USA) - Katie - 2008-09-04
[COLOR="Navy"]I understand what you are saying. I don't think alot of parent's are really in favor of letting their children drink at home. I was lucky with my parents. They let me try it at home on New Years eve one time when I was 16. They took our car keys and each of us were allowed 1 drink only. I think if it can be done responsibly then it might be ok. Not alot of people have enough sense to take away car keys even drinking at home.
I think that schools should talk to kids about this stuff (unless they do already since I am out of highschool). They do it for sex why not for this? Alot of schools have the S.A.D.D program but that doesn't really help unless you are actually in the organization and actively participating.
And about the ID's, not all stores do it around where I live. But because I live near Detroit and the Canada border where the drinking age is 19, they randomly check it. I don't think they do it all the time. They do it to me cause I don't look over 21. [/COLOR]
Amethyst Initiative (USA) - Venison! - 2008-09-04
xkatiie Wrote:I think that schools should talk to kids about this stuff (unless they do already since I am out of highschool). They do it for sex why not for this? Alot of schools have the S.A.D.D program but that doesn't really help unless you are actually in the organization and actively participating.
They do have some programs for teaching about alcohol in school, but they are very vague and mostly center around not drinking and driving. Really, I have to say I agree with Afrobean on this one and I think that the best way to have kids learn about alcohol is to be taught by the parents. If you know how to drink responsibly from a younger age, you're less inclined to abuse it in the future. (I knew a few friends whose parents sat them down in front of several bottles of beer/hard liquor and were told to drink to their heart's content. Then, in the morning, they were forced to deal with the painful consequences.)
And, lol, at my high school we didn't learn about how to do sex responsibly--we learned how to abstain. (gg Texas & it's retarded distribution of sex ed funding!)