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Drinking age now makes sense to me
By Ashwin Raman
Published:
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Ashwin Raman -- Staff Column
When I first came to Minnesota in the fall semester of 2001, I was surprised at some of the laws that govern people over here. I guess the law that baffled me the most was the drinking age limit. I was surprised that you had to be 21 to be able to consume alcohol. Being that every other country I have been to and lived has the drinking age set at 18, I was confused at what at the time I felt was an unfair law.
Furthermore, my view on how unfair the law was increased when I learned that 18-year-olds are allowed to own a gun and go fight for their country but not have a beer. Two years down the road and my opinion has changed quite substantially. I still think the law is unfair but in some ways, I can more or less understand the reasoning behind the law.
What I don't get is that why under aged individuals can't behave more appropriately when they're drunk. I won't accept the answer that they aren't mature enough. These individuals are university students and if you are in college, then you are capable of making rational decisions. I also can't understand how it is possible that 19-year-olds in this country and be any different from the 19-year-olds in other countries. Take any survey and you'll always notice that ages 18-24 are always grouped together. So how can there such a huge divide in the thinking and the behavior of a 21-year-old and an 18-year-old?
I'm sure that not everyone who is under-aged behaves in the ways that I have witnessed. I'm pretty sure that the incidents I have witnessed only account for those few bad apples around. But all it takes is a few bad apples to ruin it for everybody.
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