696 very good reasons why we should lower the drinking age

I missed out on the grandfather date for legally drinking 3.2% beer in Colorado by a little over a year.  It was weird having friends who could legally buy alcohol who were under 21 years of age.  I always felt it was unfair I could not buy alcohol, just because I was a bit younger.  You can hunt, vote, marry, live on your own, purchase porn (or even perform), have sex, have abortions, get a credit card, enter into legally binding agreements, hold public office, be executed, get sued, own a business, employ others, and even go to war and die for your country.  You just can’t buy a beer.

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 required every state in America to legislate and enforce 21 years of age as the minimum age to possess and consume alcohol.  The Federal Aid Highway Act takes 10% of highway funds from every state which does not set the minimum age at 21.  Fair or not, the legal drinking age in the United States is 21.

What’s Changed?

These laws have been in effect for more than two decades, but what has the change accomplished?  Proponents for the laws will point out alcohol related deaths have decreased since the law went into effect.  This is true; however, all alcohol related deaths have decreased for almost all ages.  Tougher DUI laws and drunk-driving education, better cars equipped with airbags, and other alcohol awareness programs have reduced the number of alcohol related fatalities in all age categories except in one notable category, 21 to 24.  It appears the law just raised the ages of those killed.

Some might argue a lower drinking age will result in higher rates of drinking as an adult.  There is no research to demonstrate this.  Research actually shows the desire to drink alcohol after 21 wanes with each year.

Research also shows underage drinkers are more likely to desire spirits over beer and wine.  This is most likely because spirits give “more bang for the buck”.  A bottle of vodka is easier to sneak around or mix with orange juice than a 6-pack of beer.  You can get alcohol poisoning from beer, but it is much more difficult.  I would rather let them have the beer.  Beer becomes the beverage of choice quickly after the age of 21.

Another problem with the higher drinking age is kids go to college and are exposed to the “forbidden fruit” with little to no guidance.  Without the education and experience they might have learned from their family, they are more prone to over-indulgence.  This puts them at greater risk, because they know drinking is illegal.  “They get sick, they get scared and they get into trouble and they can’t call because they know it’s illegal,” says Vermont Senator Hinda Miller.

Bad choices, not alcohol, are to blame

The real problem is how alcohol is viewed in America.  In countries where alcohol abuse is not a problem, alcohol is seen as neutral.  Other cultures teach their youth how to drink in the safe environment of the home.  In these countries, the legal drinking age is lower than America.  Alcohol education needs to come from the family, not a mandate from the government.

So what age do you consider someone an adult?  America is a free country where adults are allowed to make their own choices, for better or worse – but not minors.  An 18-year-old is considered adult enough to vote for people to lead our country, but not buy a beer.  Is an 18-year-old an adult or not?

How old to fire a gun?!?

A 12-year-old can carry a gun and hunt and kill game.  Am I the only person who finds this scary?  I’m not advocating a 12-year-old be allowed to purchase a beer, but it is strange our country thinks a gun is safer than a beer in the hands of a child.  The reality is the child has the gun under adult supervision and is required to take training before the child is granted a license.  Why is the same approach not applied to drinking?

Who can better teach a child about alcohol than their parents?  The government thinks it is better for people to start from scratch at 21.  It is illegal in many states for a parent to provide their child an alcoholic beverage.  Personally I think I am a much better choice to teach my child about alcohol.  No wonder 21-year-olds do not know how to drink – but with our laws they have nine years of practice with a gun!

No beer, but here hold this gun!

And they are in luck!  We have a great job for those who know how to use a gun.  I cannot believe we allow young men and women to fight in wars, but we don’t allow them to drink.  I cannot describe how offensive I find this contradiction of “adulthood”.  When I was a teenager I got into this argument with my father.  His response at the time, “we don’t go to war that often”.  America went to war in the first Gulf War two years later.

An 18-year-old is old enough to give their life for our country, but not old enough to buy a beer.  As of date of writing this article, 696 soldiers have died in Iraq and were not old enough to buy a beer.  Here are 696 very good reasons why we should lower the drinking age right now to 18. These men and women did die for our country, but still were never trusted with a beer.

696 reasons to lower the drinking age to 18

Ruben Estrella-Soto	18	Army Private
Andrew Julian Aviles	18	Marine Lance Corporal
David Evans Jr.	18	Army Private
Cory Ryan Geurin	18	Marine Lance Corporal
Daniel R. Parker	18	Army Private 1st Class
Charles M. Sims	18	Army Private 1st Class
Michael G. Mihalakis	18	Army National Guard Specialist
Matthew G. Milczark	18	Marine Private 1st Class
Dustin M. Sekula	18	Marine Private 1st Class
Marcus M. Cherry	18	Marine Lance Corporal
Kyle D. Crowley	18	Marine Lance Corporal
Ryan M. Jerabek	18	Marine Private 1st Class
Anthony P. Roberts	18	Marine Lance Corporal
Bradley G. Kritzer	18	Army Private 1st Class
Leslie D. Jackson	18	Army Private 1st Class
Sam W. Huff	18	Army Private 1st Class
Christopher R. Dixon	18	Marine Reserve Private 1st Class
Jonathan R. Flores	18	Marine Lance Corporal
Christopher R. Kilpatrick	18	Army Private 1st Class
Sergio H. Escobar	18	Marine Lance Corporal
Peter D. Wagler	18	Army Private 1st Class
Stephen P. Snowberger III	18	Army Private 1st Class
Jeremy Z. Long	18	Marine Lance Corporal
Colin Joseph Wolfe	18	Marine Private 1st Class
Jeremy R. Shank	18	Army Private 1st Class
Jason Franco	18	Marine Private 1st Class
Eric R. Sieger	18	Army Specialist
Matthew T. Zeimer	18	Army Private
Steven J. Walberg	18	Army Private 1st Class
Le Ron A. Wilson	18	Army Private 1st Class
Christopher D. Kube	18	Army Private 1st Class
Jeremy S. Bohannon	18	Army Private
Nathan Z. Thacker	18	Army Private
Brandon Scott Tobler	19	Army Reserve Specialist
Brandon Ulysses Sloan	19	Army Private
Nolen Ryan Hutchings	19	Marine Private
Gregory Paul Sanders	19	Army Specialist
Diego Fernando Rincon	19	Army Private 1st Class
Christian Daniel Gurtner	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Devon Demilo Jones	19	Army Private
Gregory Paul Huxley Jr.	19	Army Private 1st Class
Anthony Scott Miller	19	Army Private 1st Class
Alan Dinh Lam	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Jose F. Gonzalez Rodriguez	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Nicholas Brian Kleiboeker	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Kenneth A. Nalley	19	Army Private
Jesse M. Halling	19	Army Private
Ryan R. Cox	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Robert L. Frantz	19	Army Private
Jonathan M. Cheatham	19	Army Reserve Private 1st Class
Duane E. Longstreth	19	Army Private 1st Class
Vorn J. Mack	19	Army Private 1st Class
Pablo Manzano	19	Army Private 1st Class
Benjamin L. Freeman	19	Army Private
Stephen E. Wyatt	19	Army Private 1st Class
Paul J. Bueche	19	Army National Guard Private 1st Class
Steven Acosta	19	Army Private 1st Class
Rachel K. Bosveld	19	Army Private 1st Class
Joey D. Whitener	19	Army Private 1st Class
Jason G. Wright	19	Army Private 1st Class
Jeffrey F. Braun	19	Army Private 1st Class
Nathan W. Nakis	19	Army National Guard Specialist
Luis A. Moreno	19	Army Private 1st Class
Holly J. McGeogh	19	Army Private 1st Class
William C. Ramirez	19	Army Private 1st Class
Bryan N. Spry	19	Army Private
Nichole M. Frye	19	Army Reserve Private 1st Class
Dustin L. Kreider	19	Army Private
William R. Strange	19	Army Private 1st Class
Geoffrey S. Morris	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Shane Lee Goldman	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Moises A. Langhorst	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Christopher R. Cobb	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Travis J. Layfield	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Christopher D. Mabry	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Chance R. Phelps	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Torrey L. Gray	19	Marine Lance Corporal
James E. Marshall	19	Army Specialist
Brian K. Cutter	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Brandon C. Sturdy	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Michael A. Mora	19	Army Private 1st Class
Daniel Paul Unger	19	Army National Guard Private 1st Class
Kyle W. Codner	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Cody S. Calavan	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Bradli N. Coleman	19	Army Private
Sean Horn	19	Marine Private 1st Class
William River Emanuel IV	19	Army Specialist
Harry N. Shondee Jr.	19	Army Private 1st Class
Joseph L. Nice	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Jonathan W. Collins	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Fernando B. Hannon	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Seth Huston	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Charles L. Neeley	19	Army Reserve Specialist
Omead H. Razani	19	Army Specialist
Luis A. Perez	19	Army Reserve Private 1st Class
Nicholas Perez	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Tomas Garces	19	Army National Guard Specialist
David Paul Burridge	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Jason L. Sparks	19	Army Private 1st Class
Dominic C. Brown	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Mathew D. Puckett	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Andrew Halverson	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Aaron J. Rusin	19	Army Private 1st Class
Oscar A. Martinez	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Victor A. Gonzalez	19	Marine Lance Corporal
David L. Waters	19	Army Private
Richard Patrick Slocum	19	Marine Lance Corporal
John Lukac	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Andrew G. Riedel	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Nicholas D. Larson	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Abraham Simpson	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Nathan R. Wood	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Nicholas H. Anderson	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Cole W. Larsen	19	Army Private 1st Class
Justin D. McLeese	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Travis R. Desiato	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Bradley L. Parker	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Phillip G. West	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Jordan D. Winkler	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Joshua E. Lucero	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Joshua A. Ramsey	19	Army Private 1st Class
Oscar Sanchez	19	Army Private 1st Class
Brian P. Parrello	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Gunnar D. Becker	19	Army Private 1st Class
Jesus Fonseca	19	Army Private 1st Class
Jason C. Redifer	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Sean P. Maher	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Richard C. Clifton	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Richard A. Perez Jr.	19	Marine Reserve Lance Corporal
Landon S. Giles	19	Army Private
Samuel S. Lee	19	Army Private 1st Class
Tenzin Dengkhim	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Casey M. LaWare	19	Army Private 1st Class
Charles S. Cooper Jr.	19	Army Private
Stephen P. Baldwyn	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Wesley R. Riggs	19	Army Private 1st Class
Carrie L. French	19	Army National Guard Corporal
Chad B. Maynard	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Adam J. Crumpler	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Lavena L. Johnson	19	Army Private
Ramon A. Villatoro Jr.	19	Army Private 1st Class
Christopher Jenkins Dyer	19	Marine Reserve Lance Corporal
Nils George Thompson	19	Army Private 1st Class
Nathaniel E. “Nate” Detample	19	Army National Guard Private 1st Class
Joshua P. Dingler	19	Army National Guard Specialist
Ramon Romero	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Elijah M. Ortega	19	Marine Private
Oliver J. Brown	19	Army National Guard Private 1st Class
Roberto C. Baez	19	Army Private 1st Class
Andrew D. Bedard	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Shayne M. Cabino	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Jason L. Frye	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Daniel Scott R. Bubb	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Kenneth J. Butler	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Christopher T. Monroe	19	Army Reserve Specialist
Mario A. Reyes	19	Army Private 1st Class
Jeremy P. Tamburello	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Daniel Freeman Swaim	19	Marine Lance Corporal
John A. “JT” Lucente	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Anthony Alexander “Alex” Gaunky	19	Army Private 1st Class
Adam Wade Kaiser	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Andrew G. Patten	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Brian A. Wright	19	Army National Guard Specialist
Jeriad P. Jacobs	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Jonathan Kyle Price	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Javier Chavez Jr.	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Amy A. Duerksen	19	Army Private 1st Class
Angelo A. Zawaydeh	19	Army Private 1st Class
Jeremy W. Ehle	19	Army Private 1st Class
Chase A. Edwards	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Jody W. Missildine	19	Army Private
Ryan G. Winslow	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Michael E. Bouthot	19	Army Private
Travis C. Zimmerman	19	Army Private
Michael L. Ford	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Christopher M. Eckhardt	19	Army Private 1st Class
Leon Deraps	19	Marine Lance Corporal
David N. Crombie	19	Army Private 1st Class
Brent Zoucha	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Devon J. Gibbons	19	Army Private 1st Class
Ryan. J. Clark	19	Army Corporal
Kyle Miller	19	Army National Guard Specialist
Anthony E. Butterfield	19	Marine Lance Corporal
James J. Arellano	19	Army Private 1st Class
Dan Dolan	19	Army Private 1st Class
Nicholas A. Madaras	19	Army Private 1st Class
Philip A. Johnson	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Anthony P. Seig	19	Army Private 1st Class
Ryan A. Miller	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Christopher T. Blaney	19	Army Private 1st Class
Edward M. Garvin	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Shane R. Austin	19	Army Private 1st Class
Stephen Bicknell	19	Army Private 1st Class
Donald S. Brown	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Ryan T. McCaughn	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Kristopher C. Warren	19	Marine Reserve Lance Corporal
Heath Warner	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Reece D. Moreno	19	Army Private
Jesse D. Tillery	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Ross A. McGinnis	19	Army Private
Joe L. Baines	19	Army Private 1st Class
Nick J. Palmer	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Seth M. Stanton	19	Army Private 1st Class
Fernando S. Tamayo	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Andrew H. Nelson	19	Army Private 1st Class
Ryan R. Berg	19	Army Private 1st Class
Collin R. Schockmel	19	Army Specialist
Andrew G. Matus	19	Marine Lance Corporal
David T. Toomalatai	19	Army Private 1st Class
Adam Q. Emul	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Tarryl B. Hill	19	Marine Reserve Private 1st Class
Daniel T. Morris	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Kelly D. Youngblood	19	Army Private
Matthew C. Bowe	19	Army Private 1st Class
Adare W. Cleveland	19	Army Private 1st Class
Louis G. Kim	19	Army Specialist
Cory C. Kosters	19	Army Private 1st Class
Jonathan K. Smith	19	Army Specialist
Raymond J. Holzhauer	19	Marine Lance Corporal
Miguel A. Marcial III	19	Marine Private 1st Class
Daniel A. Fuentes	19	Army Private 1st Class
Damian Lopez Rodriguez	19	Army Private
John G. Borbonus	19	Army Private 1st Class
Richard P. Langenbrunner	19	Army Private 1st Class
Michael J. Slater	19	Army Private
Jeffrey A. Avery	19	Army Private 1st Class
Jerry R. King	19	Army Specialist
Brian A. Botello	19	Army Private 1st Class
Katie M. Soenksen	19	Army Private 1st Class
Michael A. Pursel	19	Army Corporal
Daniel Courneya	19	Army Private 1st Class
Aaron D. Gautier	19	Army Private 1st Class
Joshua G. Romero	19	Army Specialist
Alexander R. Varela	19	Army Private 1st Class
Robert A. Worthington	19	Army Private 1st Class
Clinton C. Blodgett	19	Army Specialist
Anthony D. Hebert	19	Army Private 1st Class
Dustin L. Workman II	19	Army Specialist
James J. Harrelson	19	Army Private 1st Class
Ron J. Joshua Jr.	19	Army Private 1st Class
Zachary Clouser	19	Army Specialist
Daniel A. Leckel	19	Army Specialist
Jaime Rodriguez Jr.	19	Army Specialist
Braden J. Long	19	Army Specialist
Donald M. Young	19	Army Specialist
Travis M. Virgadamo	19	Army Specialist
Dane R. Balcon	19	Army Private 1st Class
Marisol Heredia	19	Army Specialist
Sammie E. Phillips	19	Army National Guard Private 1st Class
Christian M. Neff	19	Army Private 1st Class
Shayna Ann Schnell	19	Navy Seaman Apprentice
Genesia Mattril Gresham	19	Navy Seaman
Cody M. Carver	19	Army Private
Daren A. Smith	19	Army Private
Juctin R. P. McDaniel	19	Army Private 1st Class
Ivan E. Merlo	19	Army Private 1st Class
Duncan Charles Crookston	19	Army Private 1st Class
Jack T. Sweet	19	Army Private 1st Class
Micheal E. Phillips	19	Army Private 1st Class
William D. O