Would lowering the age limit on alcohol lower underage drinking?

You know what would really solve the problem of alcoholism? Break the mindset that people have with drinking and getting wasted. I don't think badly of alcohol, I think badly of the people who make stupid choices while on it. Instead of having the first time you drink alcohol be at a party, it should be with your parents. Just have a glass of wine with them and see that it's not an intense and crazy thing. You won't get wasted afterwards, you just enjoy a nice evening. You should also teach your kids to never use a substance in order to escape from your problems.

Underage drinking really isn't the problem, it's the mindset that people have towards alcohol.

Lowering the minimum age for drinking would do one thing quite effectively; insure the death of many more children between the legal age that was and the legal age that is. It is a stupid idea in the US, and I don't understand why so many young people here feel that drinking alcohol is a symbol of maturity. It is more dangerous than most of the prohibited drugs and yet almost every child can't wait to drink legally.

i mean speaking from experience when i was in my teens and wanted to do some underage drinking i found it incredibly difficult to find someone who was twenty-one year olds who would do the deed most twenty-one year olds don't want to associate with a sixteen year old on the other hand if the age limit were eighteen it would be much easier for teens to find someone to guy buy it for them wich i think would just increase underage drinking

A maturity test would be better. Some 14 year olds can drink. Some 40 year olds can't.

it used to be 18 but was raised to 21 when all these dumb 18 year olds ruined it for everybody. i believe canada is 19.. so young'uns go up there to party in the mean time.

I have grown up as an expat, living in asia throughout my highschool years, living in an international community and because of this, there are not drinking age restrictions really for foreigners, so I have been allowed to drink for quite a while now and honestly because it was always so readily available to me and my friends we didn't have that urgency to get wasted any time we got our hands on alcohol, and growing up surrounded by europeans in my community aswell, they grow up drinking a glass of wine every here and there at dinner with their family so it isnt seen as something that is purely to get drunk off of or go overboard with. In america, because it is illegal for 16-20 yr olds to drink, yet they are almost all going to do it anyways, because of this the second they get their hands on a bottle they usually go overboard. I see this firsthand when I go back to america to visit. Because I have the choice, first of all I see it as a beverage that I can enjoy with a nice meal or while just casually hanging out with friends rather than something that is purely for partying and to get us "fucked up".

Issues with drinking I think have a lot more to do with cultural attitudes. Both of my parents drank as teens and never got into any serious trouble.