PDBROYLE@OWUCOMCN (02/28/90)
> Quit trying to erect false divisions between legal and illegal >drugs--our kids see right through it and laugh at us. We adults >either have to quit our own drugs or legalize all of them. >John Cromartie I agree completely with ya John. I lived in Germany for three years (Sophomore year to Senior year of HS) on a military base. Students at my HS had easy access to all the alcohol we wanted, and we didn't even have to break the rules to obtain it. If we wanted to drink, all we had to do, was walk down the road and buy it, no questions asked. I won't lie to you, my HS did have some students who were heavy into alcohol, but I don't think it was the problem it is here in the US (the worst drinkers were those who moved to Germany after developing the habit in the US!!!) Because alcohol was so easily accessible in Germany, my HS and the military encouraged the youth not not to drink, but rather to do so responsibly. The rules were different. Alcohol wasn't a no-no, it wasn't something that every kid tried to do without other knowing it. Most of the students at my HS didn't drink to get trashed but rather to be social. In the US, however, responsible drinking is not taught. American youth is taught that drinking alcohol is a grown up thing to do (age 21+) and thus try to get alcohol because they want to be grown up. Alcohol is a forbidden fruit, and you know how teens are with forbidden fruit---how can I get hold of it? Personally, I never drank alcohol until I returned to the US. I never felt the urge or any peer pressure until I returned to the US. Drinking in Europe is a social thing to do with friends responsibly (when in comparison with American teens/college students). Face it, I'd be willing to bet that upwards of 95% of the population drinks illegally before their 21st birthday. I'd be willing to bet that upwards of 70% of the college students in America (under the age of 21) drink. I'd be pretty willing to say that the ratios would be shockingly high for the HS age bracket as well. The drinking Laws in effect in America do not stop drinking. They do not promote responsible drinking but rather breaking the law. They do not discourage most youth from not drinking but rather to drink. Yes, I am VERY against the drinking age. In my opinion, the drinking age is counter productive. We need to teach responsible drinking in the US, we need to show the social side of alcohol as compared to the bombed side of alcohol. I am against the drinking age because IT DOES NOT WORK!!! But if we have to have a drinking age, how does this sound: make it 12 years old to drink in public with consent of their parent, and maybe make a higher drinking age such as 15/16 for the purchase of alcohol? I honestly think legalization and the usage of the 'just say no' program could drastically reduce the alcohol problem here in the US. The drinking age does not work (that's why they moved it up!!!), we have to try something else---anybody ever hear of reverse psychology? One ofthe condemned, Paul