[Winona Online Democracy] I'm in the middle of studying for a midterm so I don't have a lot of time to invest in why I think Dean Lanz is on to something, but I think the age 21 drinking age is not the best method of distinguishing alcohol use from abuse. Lowering the age of prohibition back to 18 seems, at least according to my experience, seems to be consistent with common sense. (This, by the way, would not affect me; I'm 24. I've also been in two [not just one, but two] accidents caused by drunk drivers. I take alcohol abuse very seriously.) It seems difficult to draw a clear line where an individual shall be deemed "responsible" to handle alchol without abusing it. Certainly, many college students are capable of drinking responsibly before the age of 21. Similarly, many adults are not. If an equivalent amount of effort was spent on educational efforts that encouraged responsible consumption - not just prohibition - as we spend on enforcing the age 21 law, I think we would have a better handle on encouriging young adults to have a more respectful relationship with alcohol. May I, at this time, point out our European counterparts as examples. I think the current drinking age does not adequately address the very serious problem of alchol abuse in our culture - it merely attempts to curb a behavior that will most likely occur despite the best efforts of law enforcement. (I think there should be more of an effort on addiction and recovery than there is, but that's another post...) Anthony Kelly _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ---------------- This message was posted to the Winona Online Democracy Project. Please visit http://onlinedemocracy.winona.org to subscribe or unsubscribe. Please sign all messages posted to this list with your actual name. Posting of commercial solicitations is not allowed on this list. Report problems to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
