3 ms·

It's perceived as a failure because it was a failure. If anything, the US is still too restrictive when it comes to alcohol policy. I hope we see the drinking

by pg_bot 7y ago

It's perceived as a failure because it was a failure. If anything, the US is still too restrictive when it comes to alcohol policy. I hope we see the drinking age lowered back to 18, and remove most geographic and time restrictions on the purchase of alcohol. (i.e. Dry counties, purchasing on Sundays) It's funny, I don't see too many people championing the war on drugs as a public policy success.

runarberg 7y ago
The USA is weird. There are still policies that have been shown to work elsewhere, which aren’t enforced in the USA, like taxation and ad bans, while policies with questionable success rate are (like high drinking age and consumption in a public place).
sokoloff 7y ago
Though I drink occasionally, I support the rights of locals to decide whether to allow Sunday sales or to be a dry county. (I personally prefer no local restrictions and would vote against them, but would still defend the local communities to decide their relationship with alcohol sales.)
- pg_bot 7y ago
  I am in 100% agreement with you.
bitcurious 7y ago
A higher drinking age has been shown to lower drunk driving fatalities. https://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20080702/age-21-drinking-laws-cut-traffic-deaths https://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20080702/age-21-drinkin...
- dagenix 7y ago
  There are a number of red flags with that article: * It uses the words "strong" and "tough" a lot - which really means nothing but sure sounds good. * It endorses taking away the driver's license of someone caught with a fake id - without paying any thought to what that does to their life. Some kid that takes an Uber to a bar and is caught with a fake id on Saturday now can't drive to his job on Monday. This is messed up and almost certainly impacts lower income populations more than higher income ones. * The article specifically cites a "news release". The whole article is a summary of a press release of a study. * The study was conducted by Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), which describes itself as: "PIRE was founded as a 501(c)(3) organization in San Francisco, CA, in 1974, when a group of allied scientists were among the first to recognize the dangers inherent in the emergence of widespread drug use. PIRE developed and disseminated some of the earliest prevention strategies." This seems like a low quality article summarizing a press release from an organization with a clear bias. I can't speak to the quality of the study itself (although, due to how PIRE describes its founding, I'm suspicious), but the article isn't worth citing.
- hrktb 7y ago
  Drunk driving fatalities is only a part of the whole picture though. For instance liver disease deaths were decreasing until 2008 [1] Would/was lowering the drinking age have an impact ? I don’t know, but I just think there are wide and long term effects on these decisions, and judging by a single metric would not be fair. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/07/18/alcohol-related-liver-deaths-have-increased-sharply/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1ac28350f6a7 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/0...

by pg_bot 7y ago

runarberg 7y ago

The USA is weird. There are still policies that have been shown to work elsewhere, which aren’t enforced in the USA, like taxation and ad bans, while policies with questionable success rate are (like high drinking age and consumption in a public place).

sokoloff 7y ago

Though I drink occasionally, I support the rights of locals to decide whether to allow Sunday sales or to be a dry county. (I personally prefer no local restrictions and would vote against them, but would still defend the local communities to decide their relationship with alcohol sales.)

pg_bot 7y ago
I am in 100% agreement with you.

bitcurious 7y ago

A higher drinking age has been shown to lower drunk driving fatalities. https://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20080702/age-21-drinking-laws-cut-traffic-deaths https://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20080702/age-21-drinkin...

dagenix 7y ago
There are a number of red flags with that article: * It uses the words "strong" and "tough" a lot - which really means nothing but sure sounds good. * It endorses taking away the driver's license of someone caught with a fake id - without paying any thought to what that does to their life. Some kid that takes an Uber to a bar and is caught with a fake id on Saturday now can't drive to his job on Monday. This is messed up and almost certainly impacts lower income populations more than higher income ones. * The article specifically cites a "news release". The whole article is a summary of a press release of a study. * The study was conducted by Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), which describes itself as: "PIRE was founded as a 501(c)(3) organization in San Francisco, CA, in 1974, when a group of allied scientists were among the first to recognize the dangers inherent in the emergence of widespread drug use. PIRE developed and disseminated some of the earliest prevention strategies." This seems like a low quality article summarizing a press release from an organization with a clear bias. I can't speak to the quality of the study itself (although, due to how PIRE describes its founding, I'm suspicious), but the article isn't worth citing.
hrktb 7y ago
Drunk driving fatalities is only a part of the whole picture though. For instance liver disease deaths were decreasing until 2008 [1] Would/was lowering the drinking age have an impact ? I don’t know, but I just think there are wide and long term effects on these decisions, and judging by a single metric would not be fair. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/07/18/alcohol-related-liver-deaths-have-increased-sharply/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1ac28350f6a7 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/0...