Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to 18?
The question has been raised by a number of college presidents who state that drinking, especially binge-drinking, is rampant on college campuses. The president of Trinity College said the current drinking age “is counterproductive because it simply fosters this counterculture of binge drinking, which is epidemic at colleges”. They believe the law is unenforceable and basically the reason for the under age drinking problem. College presidents also write: “Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer.” Are they saying that all the 21 yr olds who are now abusing alcohol will suddenly become more mature and thoughtful if the drinking age is lowered to 18? And, will there be a trickle down effect- will more 17, 16, and 15 year olds drink because they are close to the age of 18?
On the other side, Alexander Wagenaar, an epidemiologist who studies alcohol issues says that college presidents see a problem on college campuses and don’t want to deal with it. He also says studies consistently show that the 21 drinking age, “has substantially reduced the amount of drinking and the amount of damage due to drinking.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the drinking age of 21 has “cut the traffic fatalities involving drivers ages 18 to 20 by 13%. According to Communities Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) 25,000 lives have been saved since the implementation of the 21 yr. old drinking age.
Neuroscience, the study of the brain, has shown that the adolescent brain is not completely developed until the early 20’s. Alcohol introduced into the brain during the time the brain is developing has very damaging effects on the brain development.- the most compelling is the fact that individuals are 4 times more likely to have problems with alcohol if they begin to drink in their teens.
What are your thoughts? Lower the age to 18 or keep the legal age at 21?
May 5th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
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