09-04-2008, 12:15 PM
I've recently actually had this debate with a colleague.
My stance is to go ahead an lower it.
Based on not only my experience, but what I saw of my friends, and what I see of my brother and his friends who are 7 years behind me, the college years (18-22 on avg) are the drinking years. These are the times where most young people are out getting smashed, thinking its the greatest thing in the world.
The problem is, is that since they cannot do it legally in a bar, they do it at home before they go out for the night. So they start out drunk, then get in a car and drive. They are also more apt to be binge drinking and shotgunning to get the alcohol in their systems quicker.
By legalizing it for these people, we can put them in bars, where they will spend their money (helping the economy), can be monitored by the bartenders who can cut them off when they have had enough, can be out with other friends who will hopefully designate a driver, and subsequently be more responsible about their drinking because of these factors.
My stance is to go ahead an lower it.
Based on not only my experience, but what I saw of my friends, and what I see of my brother and his friends who are 7 years behind me, the college years (18-22 on avg) are the drinking years. These are the times where most young people are out getting smashed, thinking its the greatest thing in the world.
The problem is, is that since they cannot do it legally in a bar, they do it at home before they go out for the night. So they start out drunk, then get in a car and drive. They are also more apt to be binge drinking and shotgunning to get the alcohol in their systems quicker.
By legalizing it for these people, we can put them in bars, where they will spend their money (helping the economy), can be monitored by the bartenders who can cut them off when they have had enough, can be out with other friends who will hopefully designate a driver, and subsequently be more responsible about their drinking because of these factors.
What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.