The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 2 of 11)

Once again we are shown just how bad it is when people try to justify the limiting of freedom of free thinking adults. Mr. Collins' article is not only poorly worded but also poorly argued. How many people in this country are between 18 and 21? And considering that a great many of them still drink alcoholic beverages when they feel like it, saving 900 lives a year is supposed to be sufficient justification to allow our government to limit the rights of these men and women?

Is 18 the age of majority, or isn't it? It's old enough to vote. It's old enough that the government can come down and pick you up, put you in uniform and send you across the world to fight for the state (the draft isn't used, but it's still there). It's old enough for you to make any contract which you please and be forced to pay the consequences. Yet it's not old enough to drink when you choose?

And Mr. Collins, how do you argue against the lower rates of drunkenness and alcohol abuse in nations like France and Germany where the drinking age is much lower? It would seem to me that this would argue for a lower drinking age (even below the age of majority). It's really very simple. There are a lot of different reasons these young men and women drink. Most do it for social status. Some do it for fun, and yes, Mr. Collins, some do it because it is illegal and taboo.

And did you really write an argument that was essentially "they might even have sex if they get drunk and/or high?" How long has it been since you were a teenager, Mr. Collins? Trust me, they don't need any drugs to encourage that particular activity. And quite honestly, peoples sex lives are none of our business. Actually, people's lives are none of our business as long as they aren't hurting anyone else. And a lower drinking age will help simply because it means people are less likely to be somewhere getting drunk and then have drive back home.

No, Mr. Collins, this argument is simple. The mandatory 21 drinking age is yet another example of an over-reaching federal government forcing the will of a minority onto the whole of the citizenry. But hey, guess that's okay if their forcing a conservative position?

p>And I didn't even start ranting about your total lack of understand on how making pot illegal is also down right unconstitutional... br> -- Charles Campbell /p> p> Let 'em eat (rum) cake. br> -- Arnold Ahlert br> Boca Raton, Florida /p> p>

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