Vermont Considering Lowering Drinking Age to 18

Associated Press 

Proponents say the higher age hasn’t kept young people from consuming alcohol and has instead driven underage consumption underground, particularly on college campuses.

A movement is afoot to allow 18- to 20-year-olds to legally buy alcohol under some circumstances.

“Our laws aren’t working. They’re not preventing underage drinking. What they’re doing is putting it outside the public eye,” Vermont state Sen. Hinda Miller said. “So you have a lot of kids binge drinking. They get sick, they get scared and they get into trouble and they can’t call because they know it’s illegal.”

On Thursday, a committee of the Vermont Senate approved Miller’s bill to have a task force weigh the pros and cons of rolling back the drinking age and make a recommendation to the Legislature early next year.

Organizations and lawmakers in other states are toying with similar ideas.

In South Dakota, Flandreau lawyer N. Bob Pesall has drafted an initiative petition to allow 19- and 20-year-olds to legally buy beer no stronger than 3.2 percent alcohol.

In Missouri, a group is using the Internet social networking sites Facebook and Meetup to try to collect more than 100,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot to lower the drinking age to 18.

In South Carolina and Wisconsin, lawmakers have proposed allowing active duty military personnel younger than 21 to buy alcohol. A similar proposal was rejected last year in New Hampshire.

And last year, former Middlebury College president John McCardell started Choose Responsibility, a nonprofit that favors allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to legally buy booze once they’ve completed an alcohol education program.

“We don’t simply advocate the lower age, but believe mandatory alcohol education and licensing with very strict enforcement for violations of the state’s alcohol laws might work,” McCardell said.

Typically, when states flirt with the idea, they quickly abandon it for fear of losing the highway funding, he said.

Vermont stands to lose about $17 million a year if it were to flout the federal government and lower the drinking age.

McCardell said an effort is under way to persuade Congress to grant waivers exempting states from financial penalty if they lower the age.

“If Congress would grant a waiver, the states would be willing to try something, and at least then we could get some evidence and see whether things are better or worse,” he said Thursday.

Politically, it’s a hard sell, in part because there are other public health hazards associated with excessive alcohol consumption, not just highway fatalities.

But proponents of a younger drinking age say alcohol-related highway fatalities were dropping before the legal drinking age was lowered, and argue underground drinking presents its own risks.

In 2006, 28.3 percent of youngsters aged 12 to 20 said they’d had a drink in the past month and 19 percent were defined as binge drinkers, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The survey defined a binge drinker as someone who, in the past month, had drunk five or more alcoholic beverages within several hours.

Links:

Missouri 18 to Drink 2008: http://missouri18todrink.org

Beer Tracker: When You’re Too Drunk to Count

Counts for you so you can black out with no worries!

The Beer Tracker is a simple gadget that keeps track of how many times you open a bottle. When you wake up with a terrible hangover, look at your Beer Tracker to find out exactly how overboard you went - that is if you can find it in the morning.

The product website says, “ideal for world record attempts.” Nice. I like these guys.

Too bad that Beer Tracker isn’t in stock and costs 49,00 DK (whatever that is).

Make your own world record: [Beer tracker]

Plastered Pictures: Completely Busted

Picture evidence is the worst kinda of evidence. Just ask a celebrity.

As a proud college drinker, my first Facebook album featured 44/60 pictures with alcohol in them. I felt it was necessary to my social life that everyone knew what sick parties I threw in my dorm room.

I put up pictures of the beer pong table, the beer can pyramid, empty handles of Everclear (don’t drink that stuff, seriously), and all the action shots of me and my friends using these things. The best college memories are of getting wasted with your friends, and it seems logical that the best Facebook pictures be the same.

This was legit back in 2006, but we’re in 2008 now. It’s a common occurrence for students to receive disciplinary sanctions for actions committed in their Facebook pictures. And we’ve all heard the horror stories of employers rejecting us based on our Facebook profiles. I wish it weren’t so, but the truth is that in the modern world, we have to be extremely careful of what we’re seen doing on camera.
Right now in London, a single person is caught on camera an average of 300 times a day. You can be sure that cities around America are planning on implementing similar surveillance plans too. In the world we’re building, people will be under surveillance almost constantly. Ok, so its not like you’re out getting wasted in the middle of the London street, you’re getting wasted in your dorm rooms or at parties, where there are no security cameras (yet).

But for now, almost every person has a camera (girls at least), and chances are you are in plenty of pictures that find their way online, some you don’t even know about. Looking through photos of this girl I hooked up with last year, I found myself in a photo with her months before we met, tagged as “towel boy”. So, I’ve got some advice on how to keep out of trouble while you do your drinking.

Don’t Drink on Camera
Really, the best way to avoid pictures of you drinking on Facebook is to not be in those pictures in the first place. When I’m at a party and someone wants to take a picture, instead of going with my first instinct and toasting the camera, I put my drink down or out of frame. And don’t think that the excuse “no one can see what’s in my red solo cup” is gonna fly anymore: we all know its alcoholic.

So as much as you want to have a picture proving your awesomeness as you do that kegstand or shotgun that beer, try to avoid it. And remember, even if you’re 21, drinking in a lot of situations still violates university policy, and they’ll get you for that. Even worse, it makes you look like a person of low moral character, and employers will judge you, dumb as it is.

Untag Liberally
You’re right, sometimes there’s nothing you can do, you end up in that picture double fisting 40’s and making out with someone you don’t know, but who’s definitely not your girlfriend. Yes it’s an epic picture, and you should probably make a mental note of where it exists so you can find it later, but untag that right now. Setting your profile to “private” so only your friends can see it isn’t enough. The university and employers will find your photos somehow.

If a photo is untagged, unless it’s in your album, it’s much harder to trace to you. Take a couple minutes one day soon and go through your own albums and take down pictures of you drinking or doing anything illegal or against university policy. And then untag other people’s photos of the same nature. It kind of sucks, because these are a lot of the best pictures of you, but it’ll be worth it in the long run.

Case Race Strategy to WIN

With this strategy, you can’t lose (probably)

The case race is a superb pregame. It’s fratty to no end, it’s competitive, and it’s a fantastic excuse for wanton binge drinking. Unfamiliar with the case race?

Find two of your closest (and, preferably, largest) friends, and a thirty pack of beer. Now drink it as fast as you can. Usually, you compete against other teams of three, but there’s no shame in doing some team scrimmage.

In any case, after dozens of case races, experienced in wins and losses both, I’ve decided to release my strategy to the masses. Follow my thought process, and I promise you’ll do well.

Prior to seeing this Busch Light-themed Art of War, let me reiterate the rules:

RULES OF THE CASE RACE:

1. You cannot puke. If someone boots, the team is DQ.
2. All beers must be accounted for at the end of the game. If you can only show 26 of 30 beer cans at the end, DQ.
3. No beer bongs.
4. The beers can be divided in any fashion (10-10-10, 12-12-6, 29-1-0, etc)

Everyone on the same page? Good. Here we go, beer-by beer:

Beer 1: It’s the first beer. You’ve got this. Shotgun it.

Beer 2: Alright, here we go. You’ve warmed up the stomach with beer 1. Hopefully, you didn’t eat too much prior to this.

Beer 3: Start shit-talking. “Hey douchebag: it’s not too late to start switching to wine coolers. Yeah, I’m talking to you.” What a pussy.

Beer 4: SHOTGUN!!!!

Beer 5: Oh man. That didn’t feel too good. Let’s sit down on the couch. Ughh.

Beer 6: “This is a case race, man. You’ve got to keep on going. This is a case race, man. Like, a race. Am I repeating myself? Shit. I think I’m getting drunk.”

Beer 7: Never forget, case races are made for shit-talking. “We should have started these women out on Zimas. Look, they’ve still got like two beers left! …Oh shit, they’re winning!! Start drinking!”

Beer 8: You just sent out your first text looking for ass*. Because you’re drunk. And it’s only 9:30. Case races get you wasted. Don’t stop now.

Beer 9: “Bro, this is like my 13^th beer. For sure. I’ve been counting.”

Beer 9: “How is this not done yet? I’m so wasted. You guys are such pussies. My team sucks.”

Beer 9: Yeah, it’s still the same beer. Think of case races as a marathon, not a sprint. Keep on going. This is like mile 27…or 23… whatever. I’ve never ran a marathon.

Beer 10: SHOTGUN!!!!

Beers 2-10: Puked all over couch, team mates, cell phone.

Whatever, man. Victory’s yours. It’s the sweetest feeling that you’re ever going to brown out.

*[Ha ha where are u? lets meet up sex?]

Pacifico Clara

Expert Rating: 2.5/5

 

 

In the year 1900, three Germans opened the Cerveceria del Pacifico brewery in Mazatlan, Mexico. They began brewing a beer called Pacifico Clara, or “clear Pacific”.

Now if you’re a fan of Mexican beer, and if you know how seriously the Germans take their ale, you might think only good could come of this pairing. But you’d be wrong. In fact, I’m at a loss as to why anyone would drink this instead of Corona. Is it supposed to give you a change of pace? Make you feel a little unique? Maybe sophisticated?

Whatever it is, it’s not the price and it’s definitely not the taste. Pacifico Clara is basically Corona without a kick (it’s also darker and not as carbonated). I tried spicing it up with salt and a wedge of lemon, but all this did was kill the carbonation and diminish what little flavor there was to begin with.

Save your time and your money, people, and stick to what works: if you want Mexican beer, drink Corona.

How do you rate Pacifico Clara? Let us know with a comment!

Booze Test: Know Your Booze

Think you know all the facts about booze? How it’s made? Where it’s from? What the name means? (hint: Jagermeister means something…)

Test your knowledge with the Booze Test from justsayhi.com

Can you score 100% drunkard like our editor?

Let us know in the comments if you do!

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