Rudd wants to lift legal drinking age

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he'd personally like to see the legal drinking age lifted to 21 years.

But there would have to be rigorous debate and evidence that the policy could reduce binge drinking before the government would consider it, he says.

What do you thinks about the legal drinking age? Should it be raised to 21? Leave your comment below.

"If the evidence is there and it is capable of being proven that it works, then we (will) look at these things and make a decision," Mr Rudd said, when quizzed on ABC Television's Q&A program on Monday night.

Mr Rudd told the audience, including 200 high school students, that booze, like alcopops, was a concerning factor in P-Plate driving deaths.

"(The) drinking rates of young teenagers (is) going through the roof ... and hugely affecting their ability to, frankly, manoeuvre a car."

He stopped short of calling for a federal intervention, but said "a whole lot of work" was needed to address the alarming road toll.

The federal government was working to regulate car safety standards across the states, and automatic systems in cars for better handling, he added.

Yeah, right, like that's gonna curb drinking...

I am a teetotaler myself. I do not condone such irresponsible drinking but I also do not endorse an encroaching nanny state.

Well as long as irresponsible parents buy alcohol for underage teen graduation parties I don’t think we have much hope of stopping teen drinking and driving. It seems to be that teenagers think they need to get trashed every weekend to prove what a good time they are having.

I am more concerned about the effect his is having on their general attitude and their sexual morals. We seem to be having a lot more teen pregnancies nowadays and of course the nanny state uses our tax dollars to support unmarried moms and reinforce their poor moral choices.

There doesn’t seem to be any easy solution for this stuff!

Mel

I am 46 I have 3 teenagers. In fact yesterday I sat in court with my 19 yr. old for a MIP, minor in possession of alcohol charge. Not only did the police give him the MIP, they also returned his fake ID to him, for later use.

That being said, the drinking age is also a HUGE money maker for the cities.

In court yesterday, college town, it was so packed that we had to be taken in in groups. All in there for MIP, some from out of state, obviously in town for a football game. At the minimum $300.00 per kid. While my son was waiting for his turn, I was thinking, as soon as we are done with this, he is heading to the recruiter for his appointment to MEPS, he is 19, he will be there with a bunch of 18yr. olds. I thought about all the kids under the age of 21 in Walter Reed and Bethesda. All of those under the age of 21 in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have no problem giving these kids, guns but they can’t have a beer.

Even the colleges are complaining about this nonsense. People send their kids to school, they are considered an adult and then the school is supposed to be babysitting them after school hours. One or the other.

I think if we are going to make 21 the drinking age, then 21 to join the military, 21 to vote, under 21 your are still considered a child and under your parents jurisdiction.

18 was the legal drinking age when I was young. So many of us survived our teenage and young adult years. Most countries have 18 as well. Make the disinction, 18 is adult or it is not!

I would also like to state, that the drinking age is a state issue, not a federal law. The reason why states go along with the 21 age is because if they do not, then they don’t get federal funds. So basically it is blackmail.

Have to disagree with drinking age at 18. It was tried in Michigan when my boys were teens...A couple of years later it was raised back to 21....

At one point in my life I was a waitress in a bar...You would see some young punk come in and feeling his oats, the old guys that had been drinking at that bar for years put them in their place real quick...plus younger drunks legally on the road lead to more accidents and death...

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.