Do you thulink the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18 or left at 21?

Lowered, but I'll be honest and admit that this conviction arises primarily from the fact that being able to legally buy alcohol would make getting booze a lot easier for me than it currently is. On that note, I'll add that for kids with social lives, getting alcohol is pretty easy, but getting *good* alcohol, not so much (Parties abound with crap like Natty Light or Aristocrat.). Personally, I have either to wait until I go home to my dad's house (He'll buy me the whole liquor store.), or bribe my boss at work into buying it for me (and wind up paying $26 for a handle of Aristocrat) .

Now for the history lesson. Truth be told, there really wasn't some magical "era" where the drinking age was universally 18. Historically, it was tied to the age of majority, which in most states was 21, prior to the uproar over being able to be conscripted and die, but not vote, in the Vietnam War (conscription without representation). Thus, in the 70s, the drinking age was lowered to 18 or 19 (along with the age of majority--in some states, like mine that's still 19; thus I have to be 19 to, say, buy a pack of cigarettes). Then came MADD, and their pitching a (justified) fit over drunk driving fatalities. Thus, the federal government was persuaded to raise the drinking age, and bullied the states into doing so by threatening to withhold highway funding if they didn't lower it (because the federal government does not have the constitutional authority to set the drinking age). Drunk driving fatalities did fall, but they did in a similar fashion in Canada, which kept their drinking age at 18. Thus, "drive 21" probably had a minimal impact on its stated reason to exist, i.e. drunk driving fatalities. The drop probably had much to do with reduced social acceptance of drunk driving, and thus less drunk driving among "respectable" adults. Also, auto safety and trauma care have both improved since the early 80s.

Logically, I think of it this way: is someone who would drive drunk going to follow the drinking law anyway? Of course not. That said, it allows the legal BAC for drivers under 21 to be set at zero (though, logically, this could be done regardless of the law concerning drinking). Given that the trend seems to be one of reluctance towards granting "young adults" actual adulthood, I doubt the drinking age will change anytime soon.

I'm old enough that when I turned 18 that was the legal drinking age. A lot of counties have never had it over 18. The US only did it because the auto insurance industry pushed them into it. I'm with you on this - you can get married, join the military, vote for president, etc, etc. If you are considered mature enough to do those things at 18, you ought to be able to have a drink as well.

it should be raised to 25

Too me it won't matter age limit it or not kiddos are already drinking with or without you know it so why change it or lower it. It won't matter or might matter to some kiddos that want to hurry and reach that age and be a fool. Drinking is drinking just like drugs are drugs.

Left at 21.Too many people die, who think they know how to drink now.

Left at 21.