One in four young males in Europe dies an alcohol related death according to the World Health Organization (WHO). I have no idea whatsoever regarding Canada. And while tobacco did lobby against marijuana, I think that is a skewed statement. I think it would be more proper to say that they lobbied so nicotine wouldn't be considered a controlled substance by the FDA. They did definitely lobby against marijuana though. But alcohol companies have strong lobbying groups as well - don't forget. The reason why states would lose Federal highway funding is something more related to the rights of individual states and not an omnipotent federal government. Plus many roads do go above 55 (NJ highways come to mind)...ok back to work
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Originally posted by KSig RC:
whoa - i was taught in modern history class that the reason was pretty much reactionary, as an unfounded attempt to make the public feel better about drunk driving (which, if anyone here is old enough to remember [i'm not], wasn't considered uncommon or criminal 40 years ago - once it was realized it was a problem, public opinion turned hard). It came up in class as a comparison to the illegalization of marijuana, which was based on lobbying action from tobacco producers who didn't want the competition and made it a scapegoat. Didn't the change to 21 occur roughly around the change to 55mph - also, this is why the age limit (set by states) is actually tied to the federal gov't (as the states will lose highway funding) - missouri was 18 until relatively recently, as an example.
Also, i was under the impression Canada (as an example) has a significantly lower occurance of drunk driving deaths and alcoholism - maybe my facts are wrong, can anyone help w/ this (and maybe extend it to europe)?
Anyway - thanks, good post
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