(why am I always the 1st to comment. I need to move away from the computer)
Probably stole some wine from my mums glass around 6/7
Started properly around 18.
at 20, a fully functional alcoholic. YAY!

In England its legal to drink in your own home from 5 if your parents give it to you.

Aside from the stolen sips (like *M*) back when I was young, started drinking when I 19. Yes, the drinking age should be lowered.

If you're a drinker, how old were you when you started drinking?

I had beer for the first time as a child of about 4. Relative would let me have some because I wanted to be just like them. Guess what, after having about 1-2 oz a few times, I never drank beer again. That stuff is digusting and since my folks didn't make drinking this oh so bad and evil thing,I don't give it much thought. My parents aren't really drinkers btw. I may average about 2-8 girly drinks a year.

yes, but it shouldn't be done overnight. young people and idiots (not all young people are idiots, just some of them) will always abuse alcohol.

what needs to be done is that we need to remove the mindset we have about drinking that makes it so lethal on so many college campuses.

now, yes the drinking age needs to be lowered…but maybe it can be done in phases. So maybe in 2009 the drinking age can be 18+ with a military I.D. only. Then 2010 is 20+. Then in 2011 its lowered to 19+. Then in 2012 it becomes 18+.

I think if the age is lowered in that kinda way then we wont have the sudden jump in alcohol-related fatal accidents. During those phase years, educational programs should be put in place and be widespread to inform parents that they must teach their children to have a healthy and responsible relationship with alcohol.

I don't drink & I don't think that the drinking age should be lowered, but that's just my opinion.

Of course it should be lowered. Having it at 21 has always been beyond stupid, and does more to glamourize drinking than any ad ever did. I, and everyone else I knew had a fake ID at 18. The same age you can go fight in a war, KILL PEOPLE, and DIE.

You can also vote for a fuckup (Bush), and if that doesn't deserve a drink, I don't know what does.

Well said Solitare

Yeah, I also think most of Solitare's points were spot-on. What about making the military enrollment and voting ages higher? I don't know. It is all so arbitrary.

Yes, lower it to 18.

The real question is how well will it be enforced? I didn't have a problem with drinking, and I started at 14 yrs. old, but that's me. If there is an 18 year old buying it for younger kids that don't have a clue, that can be a problem. Now your going to bring that drinking problem on down from the college frats to the high schools. I say let the military have drinking priveleges only. They can also only allow it on military installations only. Voting is a privelage at should be treated as such. Just because a person can vote does not make him/her a candidate to drink alcohol.

I believe drinking is disgusting. You do/ act a mess and it causes so much societal problems. For those that go for the occasional drink to kick back–many more are going to the extremes and destroying lives and families. I believe the problem lies with families and that they should be educating their kids about the dangers of alcohol/ not doing it in front of them. My opinion.

I agree KIKI. I myself don't think the age should be lowered I IMO don't believe that the majority of 18 yr olds are responsible enough and when you honestly think about who has every done anything positive from drinking, now change that to negative and there is a never ending list. Alcohol is a poison and we should not be in a rush as a society to consume or provide it.

@JessMess and MKYB- Yes, the problem with the drinking age is enforcement, in that it's unenforceable. Kids will get liquor and drink if they're determined to. I don't condone underage drinking or drinking to excess under any circumstances, but half the problem with binge drinking on campuses is that the kids think they need to guzzle as much as they can before they get caught.

My college had a very relaxed alcohol policy, which we really appreciated. We also had a fraction of the rate of alcohol-related incidents than most colleges, and I think that policy had something to do with it. Sure, I drank when I was underage in college, which is a late start for most American teens. But I never felt like I needed to down a bunch of shots before the cops showed up. Kids who drink in high school are even more reckless, and that problem is compounded by the fact that any adult who agrees to keep them out of trouble may face criminal charges if alcohol is present, whether or not the adult provided it.

There is no sense in awarding the right to drive, vote and join the military before the privilege of ordering a glass of chardonnay. It is absurd that parents can legally sign a 16-year-old's life away to the U.S. Army, but can be taken to court for giving them a single beer. I doubt lowering the drinking age would cause a significant rise in road accidents. Remember that since the drinking age was raised, we've since developed iPods and text messaging, and together those have been as good as liquor at increasing reckless driving among teens (and adults, for that matter).

Problem is no one teaches responsible drinking. Parents do not teach you. Universities don't beacuse they are gonna be seen as encourage drinking even they know and everyone else knows students are drinking.

I took sips from my mom's beer-cola mixes from as early as I can remember. I had a shot of gin when I was 7 which turned me off to hard liquor. I don't think I got drunk but the burn when it went down was pretty memorable. Wine and champagne here and there. At 17, in college, I started on beer and cocktails. At 18 when I developed close friendships with gay guys, I had weekly cocktail binges. At 20, I started hitting the wine bottle pretty hard as my best friend at the time discovered a really great wine bar that didn't check ID ever. This happened 2-3 nights a week and I'm still paying that credit card debt. At 21, when I finished college, drinking lost its allure as it was legal. I didn't drink with the sense that I wouldn't have some the next day. It wasn't going out of style.

I should add that of the many cases of alcohol poisoning I've witnessed, all have been underage. Several people had nicknames based on their blood alcohol level during their (first) trip to the ER. It takes me a minute to figure out some of their actual names looking back now, but I know 22 from 25 from 31. If it's illegal and you can't just stroll into the store and get some tomorrow, you drink A LOT. In the 3 years since, I've had probably less than 15 servings of alcohol.

I don't think it should be lowered. Unlike Europe and other nations,everybody in the US drives. Also Europeans have a healthier "drinking culture" than we do. Our choice of alcohol is liquor and beer, not wine. Besides… u can still get alcohol if you're underage. I started "drinking responsibly" at 17 thanks to friends' older siblings, friend's parents who's homes were always stocked with booze (white folks and hispanics really love booze) and stores that didn't check ID. We don't need to lower the age.

sure lower it, but if you get caught drunk driving i think your license should be revoked for a while, or you should have a court mandated built in breathalizer built into the steering column of your vehicle.

Brition has a problem with young people drinking Ike.

Here in Belgium the legal age for drinking is 16. For some that may be a bit too young but I think 21 is definitely a bit stupid.. 18 is just about right (for Americans)

I had my first drink at 16…..yea I know. BUT I was taught about diffrent wine, in terms of cooking, as well as the diffrence between all the diffrent alcohol.

I was taught resposability, safetly, etc.

Kids these days arent mature enough, or have parents that werent as serious as mine.

(We ARE serious wine drinkers and cook with it as well ie bottles all over the kitchen, if you were wondering why so early.)

I dont think the age should be lowered because there would be more accidents/deaths because an 18 is still young minded and there is no way to monitor them.Its really not amusing to see people of age drunk and falling over now imagine an 18 year old stumbling out of a bar and especially a female. That would be an easy target for all those sick people raping women. I think the age to be sent to war should be raised.