Maybe the Drinking Age in the US should be Lowered?

Here is an interesting article:

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Educators Urge Lower Drinking Age to Cut Bingeing

By Susan Kinzie

Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, August 20, 2008; B03

Scores of college presidents, including the head of Maryland's public university system and the president of Johns Hopkins University, have an unexpected request for legislators: Please, lower the drinking age.

The Amethyst Initiative, launched in July, is a coalition of college presidents who say that the legal drinking age of 21 encourages binge drinking on campuses. William Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, William Brody, president of Johns Hopkins, C.D. Mote Jr. of the University of Maryland and the presidents of Washington and Lee, Sweet Briar, Towson, Randolph-Macon, Duke, Tufts, Dartmouth and others have signed on to the effort.

It is likely to be difficult politically to change the drinking age, which has been 21 since the mid-1980s.

In a survey released yesterday by Nationwide Insurance, which is hosting a symposium on binge drinking in Washington in November with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 75 percent of adults said they support tougher enforcement of existing drinking laws.

In Maryland, the House drug and alcohol committee chairman called on local colleges to not take part.

"Far more teens die in alcohol-related incidents than [in those caused by] all the other illicit drugs combined," said Del. William A. Bronrott (D-Montgomery), who co-founded the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, which fights drunken driving and underage drinking. "Lowering the drinking age to 18 will only make the situation worse."

Actually I agree with this proposition despite the fact both law enforcement and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) are both vigorously opposed.

I heard an interview with the ex-dean of Middlebury College and he brought up a number of really good points. First is the premise that whether it is legal or not drinking will occur in college. What you do is force this to occur in an environment which is not conducive to being controlled and the results are more severe. This coupled with the notion that this behavior is taboo causes more people to want to pursue this as well. If it wasn't such a taboo like in France for instance responsible drinking could be demonstrated under the supervision of their parents.

The statistics i saw cited can be interpreted a number of ways. Clearly driving under the influence it not condoned, but even with most restrictive age limits in place, underage DUI reached a high in 2006 (NHTSA stats). Enforcement across the board needs to be stepped up.

I find it somewhat ironic that an 18 year old that can be called to fight and die overseas cannot buy a beer in most US states. The US is only one of four countries that have the drinkiing age higher than the age of majority.

what do you think?

I don't understand how they think lowering the age will curb drinking?

All that will do is make it legal for everyone on campus to drink rather than those 21 and over.

If they are trying to curb campus drinking than they should raise the age, obviously.

At the age of 25 students would be either graduated and gone or deep into their education and used to being on their own instead of just getting that first taste of being away from home and non-supervision that freshmen experience and potentially go wild.

I agree with you Darla! Like you said, the US is one of few countries where the legal drinking age is over 18, and the age 21 is arbitrary. Nothing magical happens when you turn 21.

At 18, you're considered an adult. I think if you're old enough to vote and decide who will run the country, and old enough to serve your country, you're old enough to be able to drink.

But you see Jinx that's probably the wrong approach. Binge drinking for underage people is worse today (based on medical statistics about alchohol related visits) than prior to the raising of drinking ages and also worse than those countries that have a younger drinking age.

Changing the drinking age upward would only exacerbate the problem.

I actually agree - I think the way in which teens, in Australia but also in America are educated about alcohol gives totally the wrong impression.

The idea seems to be - totally abstain until you are 21, after which, it's ok (accepted/tolerated) to make up for the time you lost not being able to drink by bingeing.

In Europe (france and italy particularly) the attitude is that wine and other alcoholic beverages are a part of a meal, and children much younger than 21 or 18 drink with dinner. I have to say, I was brought up in the same way, when i was 10 or 11 I was allowed to drink watered down wine at Christmas or special functions - and I believe I have a healthy attitude toward drinking. I consider it part of a meal, and I think this is the best approach to introducing kids to alcohol - in a safe environment, with their parents, where they can learn to appreciate it as an addition to a nice meal, rather than something 'naughty' or 'bad' that one can only enjoy as an 'adult'.

Am I weird to think like this?

Oh - ETA - increasing the drinking age to 25 will surely only make a. more people drink illegally and b. the binge drinking age 25 rather than 21?

there is no evidence that the US age of 21 is any better than the Australian age of 18 or even the European age in some countries of 16!

I think the presumption (incorrect as it is) is that at 21 a person will act more responsibly than at 18; just like your insurance is less expensive at 25 than at 18, because they presume that you will be a smarter driver and less of a risk than at 18, or student loans are based on your parents income until you are 25 the lender doesn't trust an 18 year old to be responsible for that much of a loan.

HOWEVER, we see all the time that age does not equal wisdom and especially when alcohol is involved, and in fact insanity and instability seem to be more obvious as we get older!

Rosie I don't think you're weird or wrong either. The US has had its share of misguided simplistic programs directed towards alcohol and not wanting to widen this thread, drugs too. (Just Say NO)

In all the so called eduction programs it is never conveyed that alcohol can be enjoyed if consumed reasonably. No now the message is alcohol is a drug and is very dangerous.

Well i think this is completely stupid, lowering the age will just increase the rate of drinking, more people will drink alcohol that's it.

Honestly, i dont think that the people that run any countries know what they are doing, they always make very poor desicions.

I have never seen the point of drinking alcohol, i just saw this on the news and all alcohol does to you is turn you stupid, you lose one or two of your five senses and you definitely not function the same way as you do when you are in your five.

I saw all these people drinking at the clubs while watching the report on this on the news, and they looked so stupid, some drunken girls acting all stupid, thinking they looked so cool but they looked retarded, same as others out in the street fighting and falling over cause they were so drunk, and laughing on the floor, wtf?

If me saying something about this changed anything, i would say they should ban alcohol forever. bah.

Nuri, that's the case if you get drunk, but not if you enjoy alcohol responsibly. Wine especially, adds a completely different dimension to a meal, just like another course! but I agree with you in the case of those that just drink to get drunk!

It's not necessarily about reducing the overall alcohol consumption of the entire population, but to reduce binge drinking.

Plus prohibition has been tried in the US in the early 1920s. Obviously doesn't work. It's kind of like our current situation with marijuana - banning a substance will only create a black market for it.

most people i know drank way more when they were under 21 than they did once they turned 21.

I think it should be lowered. I don't see why the 21 is so special, millions of teens are drinking even before they turn 18. At 18 people consider you an adult, so why can't you drink?

I think they should leave it alone.. Since I was in high school they have raised and lowered and raised again.. I'm Michigan it was 21 but we could sneak over to Ohio cause it was 18.. Hell in college I was drunk for the first 2 years.. A couple months before my 21st bd the lowered it to 18. Lol. Then the whole nation went to 21..

Those that want to drink bad enough will find a wat.. With 50,000 auto related deaths a yar and half alchol related. Just what we need are a flock more kids who barely know how to drive let alone drink and drive..

I really like the way it is in most European countries:

legal drinking age is 16 (18 for hard liquor) and legal driving age is 18 (or 17 with a special driving ed)

I can tell from my own experience and from my friends that drinking alcohol was only really interesting when you were a teenager. And since it was legal it wasn´t really all that interesting in a "OMG what if we get caught" way. And back then you weren´t allowed to drive, which is good cause there´s nothing worse than drunk driving. So basically we learned how to drink before we learned how to drive lol

I think that´s what makes a lot of teenagers in the US binge-drink or handle alcohol irresponsibly...cause teenagers are rebellious, and if they aren´t allowed to do something they´re gonna want to do it even more.

BUT, what I don´t like is how alcohol is considered "normal" in most European countries. We basically grow up with it, and it´s the most normal thing to order a beer with your meal here in Austria. Alcohol is not seen as a potentially dangerous drug...that´s what kinda bothers me.

Originally Posted by Jinx /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't understand how they think lowering the age will curb drinking?All that will do is make it legal for everyone on campus to drink rather than those 21 and over.

If they are trying to curb campus drinking than they should raise the age, obviously.

At the age of 25 students would be either graduated and gone or deep into their education and used to being on their own instead of just getting that first taste of being away from home and non-supervision that freshmen experience and potentially go wild.

if you lower the drinking age people under 21 would most likely not want to drink anymore because its legal. Students these days do the things that they do because they think its cool to be the one to provide alcohol and drugs at the party but if you make its okay for everyone to get it no one will be in that phase anymore, therefore there will be less people who have the urge to buy alcohol and want to drink. i know it sounds really stupid but heres the thing. WEED is legal in amsterdam right? but majority of the people native there dont smoke weed, tourists are the ones that i usually doing that stuff... so if you legalize something adolescence dont have the urge to go and do it because what was wrong is now right.
maybe im completely wrong about this situation, but thats just my point of view..

I didn't know that the drinking age was so high in the US!

Well I just think no matter what the drinking age you are gunna get people who binge drink. Just because you offer someone under 21 the responsibility to drink responsibly doesn't mean they will. I don't drink but I know people my age who do and whether they were legal or not they would still drink. I think sometimes governments assume that because the drinking age is 18 or whatever that those under 18 won't drink when it's obvious that they do. If you want kids to be responsible with alcohol then teach them the side effects of going out and binge drinking! When I was at school we were NEVER given any lessons or education about alcohol or drugs. How can you expect kids to understand the consequences of drinking when they don't know what the consequences are?

In Britain last year they passed a 24 drinking legislation so that pubs and clubs with a lisence could stay open 24 hours a day. They did this because they thought that if someone had all day to drink they would spread it out through the day instead of cramming it all into a few hours. In reality people went out and still got absolutley wasted. So imho it was a completely stupid idea.

Originally Posted by pinksugar /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nuri, that's the case if you get drunk, but not if you enjoy alcohol responsibly. Wine especially, adds a completely different dimension to a meal, just like another course! but I agree with you in the case of those that just drink to get drunk! But see that's the problem. I think it'd be nice to have a glass of wine with a meal but these are young people who take it the next level of binging.

I don't think they should lower the age at all. Look at how many teens die in drunk driving accidents and they're not even at a legal age to be drinking. If we lower the age, then more teenagers will be able to drink but that does not necessarily mean that they would be responsible. I think then it will be the high schools complaining as oppose to the colleges who even then will still have a reason to complain as many students enter college at 18. Lets say they do lower it and the problem does subside but now high schoolers (some) can drink and they can give an easier access to their non-legal friends at school. Then it's going to be high schools complaining that the age needs to be raised.

Adrienne, I agree with you - I think it's the general attitude toward alcohol that needs to change. Not to mention, in Australia and many other parts of the world the legal drinking age is younger and there is no significant evidence that I'm aware of that says that those countries have a significantly higher number of alcohol related deaths.

Thats that sad part. Young people's attitudes are just getting worse and worse. I'm twenty and I'm embarassed for half my peers.