Seriously?  

I’ve heard that it’s cold up in Minnesota, but Minnesota State Representative Phyllis Kahn’s suggestion to lower the drinking age to 16 under certain circumstances makes me think that she may have had a brain freeze.

“You gradually get people used to drinking; first with their parents, which has got to be the most controlled situation I can think of,” Kahn explained, “And then with friends in a place that has responsibility, under dram shop laws.”

I’m only 15 … 

But I don’t plan on drinking anytime soon.  Even if my drinking a few beers would help the economy.  (Can you believe that Democrat Tom Rukavina of Virginia said that opening bars to those as young as 18 would help those taverns offset the impact of the smoking ban.)  Really?   Well at least he had the guts to not sugar coat it.

A look a Teen Health gives reasons that politicians shouldn’t be encouraging teens to start drinking:

Alcohol puts your health at risk. Teens who drink are more likely to be sexually active and to have unsafe, unprotected sex. Resulting pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases can change - or even end - lives. The risk of injuring yourself, maybe even fatally, is higher when you’re under the influence, too. One half of all drowning deaths among teen guys are related to alcohol use. Use of alcohol greatly increases the chance that a teen will be involved in a car crash, homicide, or suicide.

Teen drinkers are more likely to get fat or have health problems, too. One study by the University of Washington found that people who regularly had five or more drinks in a row starting at age 13 were much more likely to be overweight or have high blood pressure by age 24 than their nondrinking peers. People who continue drinking heavily well into adulthood risk damaging their organs, such as the liver, heart, and brain.

Alcohol is a drug.  I don’t have experience with it.  Frankly - the taste is a deal breaker.

 I am concerned that politicians are trying to lower the legal drinking age for what seems to be a pretty serious drug with pretty serious consequences.  

This will make parenting a lot more difficult.  ”Hey mom, the law says that I’m old enough to drink.”  Some teens may be mature enough to handle it.  Others aren’t.  The Law in this case should be there to protect us from ourselves.  Give us a few more years with guardrails.  

In case you aren’t convinced that this is serious, here are some stats:

Approximately 100,000 deaths each year are related to alcohol consumption.

5% of all deaths from diseases of the circulatory system are attributed to alcohol.
15% of all deaths from diseases of the respiratory system are attributed to alcohol.
30% of all deaths from accidents caused by fire and flames are attributed to alcohol.
30% of all accidental drownings are attributed to alcohol.
30% of all suicides are attributed to alcohol.
40% of all deaths due to accidental falls are attributed to alcohol.
45% of all deaths in automobile accidents are attributed to alcohol.
60% of all homicides are attributed to alcohol.

(Sources: NIDA Report, the Scientific American and Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario.) Also see Alcohol Consumption and Mortality, Alcohol poisoning deaths, CDC report)