A new campaign arguing that the 21-year-old drinking age is not working, and that it “has created a culture of dangerous binge drinking” on college campuses has been signed by an eclectic group of over 100 college presidents, including those of Duke, Dartmouth, The Ohio State University, and Johns Hopkins.
From the Wall Street Journal:
John McCardell, a history professor and former president of Middlebury College in Vermont, is leading the effort. His group, Choose Responsibility, a nonprofit unaffiliated with the college, has received financial backing from money manger Julian Robertson. Mr. McCardell says he receives no money from the alcohol industry.
He argues current laws drive drinking underground, causing more problems than they solve. “The law is out of step with reality,” he says. “The law is so obviously unjust and discriminatory. It ought to at least be the subject of debate.”
But he and the college presidents are taking on powerful constituencies, including some of their colleagues, the top government traffic-safety agency, the insurance industry and public-health authorities, all of which say the higher drinking age saves lives. Even representatives of the alcohol industry say they support current laws.
A college student interviewed for the piece says she cut back on her drinking once it was no longer forbidden:
Elizabeth Pogust, a 21-year-old senior at Middlebury, says she felt pressured to drink as a freshman. Classmates would quaff alcohol in their rooms before roaming the campus on weekends, she recalls. As they got older, she says, she and her peers learned their lessons. “I’ve noticed a definite change in my attitude once it was no longer forbidden,” she says.
What do you think? Is the 21-year-old drinking age part of the problem — or the solution?
Bid to Reconsider Drinking Age Taps Unlikely Supporters [WSJ]
List of College Presidents Who Signed The Petition [Amethyst Initiative]
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College is the absolutely best place to test your “drinking limits.”
@Jesse in Japan: It’s been a long promulgated myth that binge drinking is not an issue in Europe. There was an article published in lieu of a NYT editorial about the drinking age back in MArch or September that mentioned that _every_ country in Europe other than Turkey has higher “binge drinking rates” than the United States amongst young people. Now, the actual numbers, I don’t know them off hand or how valid the study was, but I think that generally, the point was that the idea that “America’s taboo aversion to drinking causes excessive binge drinking,” is largely untrue.
LOWER IT! I believe a drinking of age of 21 creates more accidents and deaths than 18 does!
I never seemed to worry about drinking laws…going to a university two hours from Canada and traveling to places with ridiculously low drinking ages.
If anything, there should be a law against anyone drinking awful beer!
@cloud-on-a-bike: still a dick.
I have to agree with lowering the US drinking age. Alot of the border states coming into Canada, especially into Quebec, where it’s an 18 legal age is packed.
Hell I used to go to Quebec when I was 18 (Ontario law says 19 to smoke and drink) and have a bit of fun…
When I turned 19 and I am able to drink legally you enjoy it more, but you don’t get drunk more often. It’s more of a social thing, having a drink or two while enjoying the company of your friends, rather than downing a 40 of hard liquor in half an hour.
I guess I just see 19 as just the right age, since you weed out the 18 year olds that are stupid and don’t know control.
@SinisterMatt: Agreed. But I think it would be a smarter choice to spend a little money and come up with better IDs than to completely lower the drinking age.. That just gives EVERY KID a chance to test thier waters when they hit the age.
If you have to have a college ID and a state ID to buy alcohol at a younger age, it would be considered more of a privilege for them and not just any kid could go out and do it. I know if I liked to drink and I was a 18 year old, I’d want to go to college to be able to drink legally, rather than take the risks.
They should also limit to how much alcohol you can buy under 21, so college freshman can’t buy enough to get thier high school buddies smashed.
I grew up with raging alcoholic parents. They’re both still alcoholics, but neither is that bad anymore. Growing up around them, seeing what it does to you to get retardedly smashed… just not what I could consider a good time. It also helps that I’ve seen the shame people have the next day after they’ve binged and done something really stupid. (ie: urinating on [yourself, in the fridge, on the couch, in the candy dish, your buddy's pocket], had a conversation with the television, came out of the closet, got naked in front of 20+ people, etc, etc, etc)
My “cool” older (14) cousin made me drink a beer when I was 9 or so because it was the coolest thing ever… Try grossest thing ever. Haven’t done it since.. I’m almost 24 and I just took my first sip of alcohol a couple weeks ago. I took a sip of Hurricane & Mountain Dew.. and boy did it taste good. BUT! I couldn’t drink much because I wouldn’t want to get drunk and feel like an ass.
@JeffDrake: “If the drinking laws were changed to 16, parents could teach their kids about drinking. “
(This may be mentioned downthread, but …)
Most states have an exception that allows underage children to drink in their parent’s home with parental supervision. (NOT for the parents to have OTHER kids drink in their home!)
My parents raised us under this exception — glass of wine with dinner at holidays and special occasions, starting with two fingers of wine at about 14 and graduating slowly to a full glass.
When I went to college drinking wasn’t that exciting or sexy, and EVERYTHING THEY DRANK TASTED AWFUL, since I’d been raised on real grown-up liquor.
A 20 year old is old enough to have been in the army for several years already. They’re old enough to have voted in several elections. They can legally drive and fly airplanes. They can get married and have children without requiring parental approval.
But they’re not “old enough” to have a glass of wine with dinner, or to have a beer with Dad while watching the Superbowl.
That is not just stupid or hypocritical; it’s insane.
BTW, I live in Montreal, where the legal drinking age is 18. We’re close to the U.S. border, so a lot of college-age kids from Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and upstate New York are in town here every weekend, checking out the bars. Downtown Montreal can get really rowdy on a Saturday night, but when you see a bunch of really drunk 18-21 year olds, 80% of the time they’re the Americans in town for a binge.
That’s not to say Canadians don’t binge too. But it’s less of a big deal to go drinking if it’s been legal since you were 18. But for the Americans it’s forbidden fruit so they go nuts.
I would consider supporting a lower drinking age if perhaps they upped the tax on alcohol. I don’t however believe that a lower drinking age would discourage binge drinking, that line of reasoning is absolutely ridiculous. If anyone is planning on getting totally wasted for whatever reason its going to happen whether the drinking age is 21 or 15.
@KaliMama (Ganesha is my Om boy):
As another Dutch person I can totally agree with you. Smoking pot is considered nothing special. Some people do it, most don’t. If you run into any really high people in Amsterdam they’re usually tourists.
The drinking age is 16 here, 18 for hard liquor. The age you can start getting your driver’s license is 18. A lot of people get to deal with alcohol responsibly because it’s not forbidden. Yeah there are some stupid kids binging, but that happens when it’s illegal too apparantly.
Most kids here get their partying out before they turn 18 and get to drive. Plus some very strict drunk driving laws and punishment and very good education about alcohol.
Argh forgot that I can’t edit, but I think it’s really horrible people are allowed to get killed for their country, but not have a few beers in the weekend… Drinking is more dangerous than war?
When I was in high school, not that long ago, I lived in the country, so people could only get to one another’s houses by car. I didn’t drink, but I lost several people, and there were many more that I know drove drunk because they were afraid to tell their parents that they’d been drinking underage and they felt that they couldn’t make up a good enough excuse. When it’s legal, it makes it more likely that kids will be honest with their parents about it, and even if they DO binge drink, they are less likely to drive. A lot fewer kids die from alcohol poisoning than drunk driving accidents.
I like the idea of a drinking license. 18 to drink (and also purchase individual drinks in bars and the like), but 21 to buy from a liquor store. This would effectively solve the problem that many people mentioned (15-16 year olds knowing 18 yos but not 21 yos).
As for the argument that our parents should teach us about alcohol, easier said than done. While I consider myself a fairly responsible drinker (underage and in college myself), my parents were always very strict and anti-alcohol. They would probably shoot themselves if they knew I’ve gotten drunk. A lower drinking age would probably make it easier for parents to be more accepting of their children’s drinking.
The age should be none. Anyone can do what they want. Sounds like utopia, but it’s true.
I can garauntee that the law isn’t a deciding factor when kids weigh pros and cons to drink or not. When we go off to college and we’re pressured or even just accept that we will drink eventually before the age of 21, the law is DEFINITELY not a deciding factor.
As a college student, I’ll tell you first hand when my friends and I are going to drink, we don’t say “weellll, maybe we shouldn’t because it’s illegal.”
The drinking age shouldn’t simply be lowered to 18 without a change in attitude about following the rules; that won’t do anything to change the habits of high-school drinkers. What we really need is a gradual introduction of alcohol. In Germany, 16 year olds can legally drink beer (and I think wine) but aren’t supposed to have hard alcohol until 18. Of course, it’s completely possible to get drunk on beer, but it’s still a good system.
More important is that, whatever the drinking age is, much of Europe doesn’t pay much attention to it. I was at a restaurant in Paris with my parents at 16 and they served me wine without carding me (or even asking if I wanted any; we ordered a bottle for the table). This makes complete sense, especially since I was with my parents; in the US they could card groups of young people, but not people who came with family.
The whole “age limit” concept is stupid. IF (that’s a big IF) people were responsible for their actions, regardless of age, there wouldn’t be a problem.