GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. — Colorado Republican Senate hopeful Pete Coors yesterday criticized the legal drinking age, chiding the federal government for coercing states into raising the age limit from 18 to 21.
"We got along fine for years with the 18-year-old drinking age," the former CEO of the Coors Brewing Co. told an audience of about 200 people at a candidates' debate here. "We're criminalizing our young people."
In other news, Ford urges lower driving age, Philip Morris urges lower smoking age, Michael Moore urges lower voting age, Larry Flynt urges lower porn-buying age, and Satan urges lower age of reason.
Sal............thanks for starting my morning off with a great hah-hah............you're too funny......Oh Lord I can't stop laughing............................!!!!!!
In this case, I agree with Mr. Coors (although I cannot drink his namesake beer). We let people vote on the next leader of the free world 3 years before they can drink a glass of wine with dinner?
I have to disagree with you too, Sal. You can sign up for the Marines at 18, where you fix multi-million dollar airplanes, fire anti-tank missiles, or shoot heavy machine guns. You can fight and die in the service of America. But you can't drink a beer with your buddies until your enlistment is almost finished?
My solution: lower the drinking age to 18 and make drunk driving a felony. At the very least, you should lose your license for several years and do some jail time.
Perhaps they should have two drinking ages, one for beer and wine and another for hard liquor. So said 18 year-old marine can have his beer, but he'll have to wait until he's 21 to have whiskey.
I think a total repeal of the federal drinking age would be better than keeping it the way it is now, but I also think that someone, like Coors, with vested economic interest in the drinking age should not be the one to lobby for this. It looks like he's trying to line his own pockets, which isn't a good thing if he wants to get elected to the Senate for the first time!
I also agree with Mr. Coors. The low point of the Reagan Administration, in my opinion, was when he decided to use the threat of withholding federal highway funds to coerce states into changing their drinking ages. In what way is this possibly a federal issue?
(The answer, of course, is "it's a federal issue because MADD was making a lot of noise about it.")
I was in the service when it was ok to serve beer to servicemen on base (no hard liquor), but eventually, congressional pressure forced the DOD to cancel that as well. But then again, a lot of us served overseas, where the whole point was moot, anyhoo.
"So said 18 year-old marine can have his beer, but he'll have to wait until he's 21 to have whiskey."
Well, how's that Marine supposed to listen to George Thorogood? Or Chumbawumba?
Anyhoo, the state of Texas raised its drinking age from 19 to 21 in 1986. When I was 20. With no "grandfathering in" of the already-legal. That was lame. Although it did mean I got to "lose my virginity" twice.
I happen to agree with you, Eric. I was simply pointing out the absurdity of the former CEO of his namesake brewing company advocating a lower drinking age. While there are some compelling arguments for a lower drinking age, Coors stands to make more money is the drinking age is lowered. And I was trying to be funny. I thought of some more people and things to add but they weren't appropriate for the blog.
Oh, okay. Thought you went Puritan on us, Sal!
Puritan? No way! Where's my beer?
On the other hand, I think the driving age should be raised to 18. This has been reinforced by the number of high-schoolers barreling down my new street, oblivious to the 20 little kids who live on our block.
Amen, brother Eric!