Re:Should the US drinking age be lowered to 18?
by aardvarkious on Tuesday August 19, 2008 @10:54PM
(#281142)
"For example, 18-year-olds from Ottawa, ON cross the border to Hull, QC"
I'd be interested to know how many MORE drunk drivers this puts on the road.
Re:Should the US drinking age be lowered to 18?
by a-priori on Tuesday August 19, 2008 @11:15PM
(#281155)
It's not exactly that far. I believe there are public transit routes that cross the bridge. :)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q...
I've never lived there myself, but you bring up a good point. I'm sure lots of people do drive drunk across that bridge in the wee hours.
Re:Should the US drinking age be lowered to 18?
by chollida1 on Wednesday August 20, 2008 @01:57AM
(#281242)
You can take a taxi, for about $5.00 from the bar area in Ottawa to Hull, Quebec. Alternatively you can walk it in about 15 minutes.
Luckily for ride programs you have to cross a bridge and there are cops policing it most weekends.
The main problems I hear of are on the edges of legality. For example, 18-year-olds from Ottawa, ON cross the border to Hull, QC, where they can get into bars. And, of course, as with anywhere else, there's binge drinking of newly of-age teens.
The worst problems happen when underage kids drink themselves to the point of alcohol poisoning, then don't get medical help because they're worried about getting in trouble.
Basically, my opinion is that the drinking age should be set to the point where there's a medical reason for it not to be any lower. I'm not sure exactly where this is, but 18 is probably a good number. I don't think that you can count on males being finished developing at 17.