Wisconsin State Rep Has The Right Idea About The Drinking Age...But Needs To Go Further...

I've never understood the logic behind allowing 18, 19, and 20-year-olds to fight and die for their country, but not allowing them to drink a beer when they get back...

One Wisconsin lawmaker figures if the U.S. military trusts 19-year-olds with a $10 million tank, then the state should trust them with a beer.

State Rep. Mark Pettis, a Republican who served in the Navy, is pushing a bill that would drop the drinking age to 19 for Wisconsin soldiers, but only if the federal government agrees it will not yank an estimated $50 million a year in highway aid. A federal law ties federal highway dollars to compliance by the states with the required drinking age of 21.

"We're treating these young men and women as adults when they're at war. But we treat them like teenagers when they're here in the states," he said.

Here's where I think Rep. Pettis needs to go further:

1.) The drinking age should be 18. What's the point of lowering the drinking age under the guise of being fair to those who are eligible to join the military if you still negate an entire age?

2.) Military enlistment should not be a requirement for being able to drink a beer. That just seems a little too tedious. For one thing, the number of fake military ID's hitting the scene would be astronomical.

To this point, I would also suggest that if enacted, a lowering of the drinking age should be accompanied by stiffer penalties for 18 to 20-year-olds for drunk driving, reckless driving, disorderly conduct, or any other criminal acts related to alcohol consumption.

Just my $.02...
- posted by Brian @ 11:11 AM