Legal drinking age, dui limits, etc

[minendo]

Millennium and I had been discussing this as a spinoff in another thread that has been locked so now I start a new thread to acquire other's thoughts and/or opinions.

Please stick to on topic discussion and refrain from flaming other members because their opinions may be different than yours.

Discuss the following questions:

[*]Should the legal drinking age be lowered, raised, or remain the same? Why?
[*]Are DUI limits (0.08 in most states) adequate, too high, too low? Why?
[*]Should zero tolerance be taken more seriously or less seriously then it currently is? Why?
[*]What new laws would you like to see added regarding alcohol consumption? Which ones should be removed? Why?


Keep in mind that these three questions should be answered as based on current United States' laws and regulations. For question 4 you can base your answer on either US Law or State Law.

 

[ElFenix]

i think the drinking age should be done away with. you'd get a couple years of teens boosing but i think after a short while you'd have people having more respect for what alcohol does to you and you'd get much less binge drinking than currently. why do underage drinkers binge? it has to do with not having access to alcohol and not being taught how to drink. for those that used to binge drink when did they stop? 9 times out of 10 i'll bet its when they turned 21.

when they changed the limit from .1 to .08 in texas more innocent people went to jail.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
when they changed the limit from .1 to .08 in texas more innocent people went to jail.

This is something that should not be blamed directly on the state government though. In a way it can be, but in order to receive federal government funding (not sure funding for what exactly) states were told they had to adopt the 0.08 BAC limit. (I may have misunderstood that, but I think I took it the right way.)

 

[MrDingleDangle]

I think drinking age should be lowered...its so high now its a joke...i know almost no one, no matter how good who didnt have a drink before 21...unless they were never going to have one

I never had someone say, oh i'm 21 i can drink now...

I would say 18...about the time most people go to college would be a good year...since its going to happen anyway

i cant really comment on the DUI thing cause I have no clue what .08 and .1 feel like...i know what the charts say...but i have never been tested so i cant tell

 

[yobarman]

I think the drinking age should be lowered... i mean we have the power to vote! Its just that young adults don't it. Simple as that. But in a society that's so in the mindset that drinking is wrong and that it's a cool thing to do if you're underage, lowering the drinking age would cause a serious problem among young adults. But this zero tolerance is bullcrap. The more you tell kids not to do something, the more they're gonna do it. I just don't think kids in America are responsible enough to control their drinking... and things get out of hand way too easily.

I think DUI should be more strictly enforced. Cops let drunk drivers off the hook pretty easy if they're over 21 and not too hammered. Too many people die from drunk drivers.

Its a problem and we keep digging our hole deeper with all these laws telling us what to do. In other countries alcohol laws are pretty lax, and no one really cares. But we live in a different society... fast paced, no time for a 2 hour lunch break like in Latin american countries... If we started giving kids alcohol now, well, they would fvck up in school pretty bad. I dunno it's a question I don't know the answer to...

But we should definately legalize marijuana haha.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

i think there should be some way to get a cheap breathalizer for yourself...

i think the problem with DUI is a lot of people dont know how it feels and are stupid and guess the wrong way, especially younger people...

I would so get a breathalizer if i could get one for like $20 or so...then if i was anywhere near i wouldnt drive...but the only ones ive seen are like $100

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: ElFenix
when they changed the limit from .1 to .08 in texas more innocent people went to jail.

This is something that should not be blamed directly on the state government though. In a way it can be, but in order to receive federal government funding (not sure funding for what exactly) states were told they had to adopt the 0.08 BAC limit. (I may have misunderstood that, but I think I took it the right way.)

yep, moving the BAC and the drinking age from 18 to 21 were both done under federal threat of witholding highway money (which texas gets screwed in anyway, receiving under $1 for every $1 in taxes received from it).

what i'm refering to though, is that suddenly the tolerance level is 20% lower but the machines aren't 20% more accurate so the margin of error goes from say, 10% of the value to 12.5% of the value.

 

[brtspears2]

I say the current drinking age is perfect. It sure does take quite a few years of pre-legal drinking to realize what you are really doing. So I went to college, looked for the drinks. At times it was hard to get but not impossible to get. Now that I'm 21, I realize that was the worse thing to do. Sure drinking isn't as fun anymore, but the law is there to protect younger people from making poor decisions.

Dui limits are adequate. 0.08 is about the point where I start to get a little tippy. (Closer to 2 drinks.) But even then, it is still unsafe to drive. Cannot focus on making instant decisions when my mind wants to have its own party.

Zero tolerance is bad news. We all know how well a ban on alcohol went...

For laws, I wished all states have lax laws such as California on liquor. As long as you are buying between the 20 hour timeframe, its not a problem. And you can get whatever you need at the grocery store, not some state ABC "liquor store".

It all comes down to personal control and judgement.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Originally posted by: brtspears2
I say the current drinking age is perfect. It sure does take quite a few years of pre-legal drinking to realize what you are really doing. So I went to college, looked for the drinks. At times it was hard to get but not impossible to get. Now that I'm 21, I realize that was the worse thing to do.
.

the thing i dont like about the drinking age now is...no one obeys it...even most parents i know dont care if their kids drink before 21, especially if its at college...

so basically parents are telling their kids its ok to break the law if u dont get caught...

 

[atom]

18 is fine. If you can vote and die for your country, might as well kick back a pint if you damn well feel like it.

As far as the BAC, I can't really say. Some people say .08 will decrease the amount of deaths, some people say .06-.10 BAC really doesn't make a significant difference in most people. Dumbasses are dumbasses regardless of BAC, I don't think changing it back to .10 like it was before will make a significant difference either way.

Zero tolerance is a joke.

We should stop demonizing drinking. The "scared straight" tactics we use now are a joke. Maybe if we were taught some responsibility at some point in time(whether it being school, some state sponsored program, hell even from your parents) there wouldn't be so many kids going

"Ohh ahh I'm drinking. I'm a rebel. "

 

[Rogue9]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
i think the drinking age should be done away with. you'd get a couple years of teens boosing but i think after a short while you'd have people having more respect for what alcohol does to you and you'd get much less binge drinking than currently. why do underage drinkers binge? it has to do with not having access to alcohol and not being taught how to drink. for those that used to binge drink when did they stop? 9 times out of 10 i'll bet its when they turned 21.

when they changed the limit from .1 to .08 in texas more innocent people went to jail.

These are almost my exact thoughts. Get rid of the limits. Short term, some won't be able to handle it, and there may be trouble, but in the long term everyone's better off.

 

[SViscusi]

Legal age should be lowered to 18. If you can make the decision to join the military and possibly die for your country you should be able to buy a beer.

The DUI limit should be zero tolerance everywhere, all the time. If it's not, you'll have someone figuring that since they've only had a couple, and they're a big guy with a high tolerance that it's ok to drive. It's just going to end badly if people try and figure out if they're under some arbitrary number. With zero tolerance their won't be that problem, if they blow anything on a breathalyzer then it's a DUI.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

if they blow anything on a breathalyzer then it's a DUI.

ok im all against drinking and driving...buts thats just dumb

that would mean no one could have a single beer with dinner? uhm i dont think so

 

[SViscusi]

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

if they blow anything on a breathalyzer then it's a DUI.

ok im all against drinking and driving...buts thats just dumb

that would mean no one could have a single beer with dinner? uhm i dont think so

Well if they could have one beer, then they could also have two. And since I have a high tolerance, then I can have three. Since one couldn't possibly affect me, two or three wouldn't either. And it's only a few beers or glasses of wine at dinner, I mean what's the harm, it? Right?

 

[ElFenix]

you'd blow more than a zero after using your mouthwash in the morning or taking a cold medicine

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Originally posted by: SViscusi

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

if they blow anything on a breathalyzer then it's a DUI.

ok im all against drinking and driving...buts thats just dumb

that would mean no one could have a single beer with dinner? uhm i dont think so

Well if they could have one beer, then they could also have two. And since I have a high tolerance, then I can have three. Since one couldn't possibly affect me, two or three wouldn't either. And it's only a few beers or glasses of wine at dinner, I mean what's the harm, it? Right?

so you basically want to make alcohol illegal? i'm sure that will work, its done so well in the past!

 

[gopunk]

i don't think anything i do to myself should be illegal. this implies that somehow, the government thinks it knows what is best for me, and i really don't feel like having my intelligence insulted like that.

any such laws should be viewed as a temporary fix for the idiots out there (dumb kids that drink and drive or something)... we should be constantly looking for ways to punish these people without the need of totalitarian rules telling us what we can or can't drink. i should be able to drink frickin' hemlock if i wanted to.

 

[zeruty]

I think the dui thing is simple
if you are buzzed enough to have your driving impaired... you will make some mistakes and hopefully get pulled over... if you ARENT too drunk to drive, you will drive normally (and hopefully you dont get pulled over all of the time sober)


so... if you can't drive at 100% of your normal driving standards, you are therefore too drunk to drive...

and... getting a dui is the BEST you can hope for....
actually causing an accident, killing someone, and going to jail for man slaughter or whatever... thats the worst case scenario... if you get pulled over and get a dui... consider yourself lucky

 

[SViscusi]

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

Originally posted by: SViscusi

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

if they blow anything on a breathalyzer then it's a DUI.

ok im all against drinking and driving...buts thats just dumb

that would mean no one could have a single beer with dinner? uhm i dont think so

Well if they could have one beer, then they could also have two. And since I have a high tolerance, then I can have three. Since one couldn't possibly affect me, two or three wouldn't either. And it's only a few beers or glasses of wine at dinner, I mean what's the harm, it? Right?

so you basically want to make alcohol illegal? i'm sure that will work, its done so well in the past!

I have absolutely no problem with alcohol, hell in my first post I even said that the drinking age should be lowered, but I do have a problem with people trying to judge if they're fit to drive after consuming it.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Originally posted by: SViscusi

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

Originally posted by: SViscusi

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

if they blow anything on a breathalyzer then it's a DUI.

ok im all against drinking and driving...buts thats just dumb

that would mean no one could have a single beer with dinner? uhm i dont think so

Well if they could have one beer, then they could also have two. And since I have a high tolerance, then I can have three. Since one couldn't possibly affect me, two or three wouldn't either. And it's only a few beers or glasses of wine at dinner, I mean what's the harm, it? Right?

so you basically want to make alcohol illegal? i'm sure that will work, its done so well in the past!

I have absolutely no problem with alcohol, hell in my first post I even said that the drinking age should be lowered, but I do have a problem with people trying to judge if they're fit to drive after consuming it.

but how would u know if u have anything on your breath still? how long do you have to wait after you finish 1 beer?

 

[Mill]

My feeling are this:

1. Lower the drinking age to 18.
2. Get rid of zero tolerance laws for minors. It causes more harm than good and it rarely enforced anyway.
3. DUI limit 0.10.
4. DUI punishment should be EXTREMELY HARSH.
5. We need better testing supplies and equipment and better training for officers.
6. Get rid of Sunday liquor laws and other laws that say you cannot buy alcohol a at a certain time.
7. More education for people on the affects of alcohol.

 

[minus1972]

legal drinking age should be lowered. That's my opinion and it seems to be the consensus here. It also seems to be the consensus that there would be quite the binge in the first few months if that ever did happen, but you have to think long term. To me, is seems foolish that as an 18 year old I can vote and be drafted, but not buy alcohol for myself, instead having to take five minutes to find someone down the hall to buy it for me.

 

[SnapIT]

Here in Sweden, drinking age is 18, DUI limit is 0.2... In Denmark drinking age is 16, DUI limit is 0.5.... Swedes love Denmark...

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Millennium
My feeling are this:

1. Lower the drinking age to 18.
2. Get rid of zero tolerance laws for minors. It causes more harm than good and it rarely enforced anyway.
3. DUI limit 0.10.
4. DUI punishment should be EXTREMELY HARSH.
5. We need better testing supplies and equipment and better training for officers.
6. Get rid of Sunday liquor laws and other laws that say you cannot buy alcohol a at a certain time.
7. More education for people on the affects of alcohol.

pretty much agree with this.

but regarding #4 it is nuts. a first time DUI can get off pretty easy wiath a fine $800-2000 and the loss of the drivers license for 6-9 months (but can get a court license to get to/from work). oh and probation for a year.

the 2nd offense though is harsh. you lose the license for at least a year. the fine is huge and you have the possiblity of jailtime.

If you can join the armed forces and kill or die for your country then you should be able to drink/smoke whatever. i never understood how they can say you arent old enough to make this decision but how about you join the army and go kill some Iraqies!?

bah. just have a special bar for the 18yr olds. heh at 30 i dont want to go to a bar and have a bunch of drunk 18 year olds being assholes.

 

[SnapIT]

If you drive drunk, you should spend time in jail... period... there is NO excuse for DUI...