I, David the Day, wanted to touch upon something we talked about in Episode #18: Near-Death Podcasts–lowering the legal age for drinking alcohol.

According to John J from our last episode, 129 college Presidents have signed a statement calling on elected officials to lower the legal drinking age limit to 18. This is a good idea, and they should go even lower than that, much like countries in Europe and around the world.

Here in America, alcohol (like many things), is paradoxically looked upon with both disgust and admiration. It’s very similar to how our advertising industry is fueled by sex, even though sex itself, or anything remotely related to sex (such as a naked body) is taboo. The point is that alcohol should stop being looked upon as such an evil entity, and should be embraced into our culture (like wine in France or Italy, or a pint at the local pub in England or Ireland). By restricting alcohol’s use, it makes teens and young adults very curious, and want to consume even more. Just think of the Prohibition: generally speaking, drinking actually increased and a lot of illegal activities stemmed from it. It was Bad News Bears for everyone except Al Capone.

With proper supervision and education, younger drinkers won’t be so tempted to binge or get themselves into situations that are potentially dangerous. Many teen drunken-driving deaths could have been prevented if the teen wasn’t scared about calling their parents up and asking for a ride; they were too afraid of getting in trouble.

So the question is, citizens of Something Planet: Should the legal age for drinking alcohol be lowered or discarded? Below is a poll, and also please comment on this blog and let us know what you think about it. We love to hear everyone’s opinions, no matter what it is!

[EDIT: Even though this may hurt my opinion, I forgot to mention that the reason these college Presidents are so adamant about lowering the drinking age is student retention. The underage students can’t have disciplinary actions brought against them if drinking is legal, and therefore they’ll be able to stay in school and give the college more money. To them, it’s about the almighty dollar first, and the safety of the students as an afterthought.]

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