College Presidents Move to Reduce Drinking Age to 18 – Too Good to be True?

August 20, 2008     Posted in News

hanging-around-drunk.jpgThis week, 100+ college and university presidents from across the country signed to the Amethyst Initiative, a petition to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. In a statement on the project website the alliance of university higher-ups suggest:


By CC Staff

“A culture of dangerous, clandestine “binge-drinking”—often conducted off-campus—has developed. Alcohol education that mandates abstinence as the only legal option has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students.”

Strong critics to the plan, particularly Mothers Against Drunk Driving, suggests a lowered drinking age would result in increased fatal car crashes.

Both sides can agree that collegiate alcohol abuse is a serious problem and the current system isn’t working.

One factor that neither side seems to be addressing is that by lowering the drinking age to 18, you make it legal for a majority of high school seniors to buy the hooch.

Yes, most resourceful high school students can get their hands on some rail booze, usually courtesy of older siblings at an inflated price. But consider the floodgates that would open up if you could get your hands on legal alcohol as a high school student.

I don’t know about you, but the last fuel my pathetic high school drama needed was alcohol. We had more tears, yelling and he said/she said than “The Hills,” and that was before we started drinking watered down screwdrivers in my parents’ basement.

And if seniors can buy booze, the sibling liquor store opens up to an entire new generation of young people. Before you know it 14-year-olds will be drunk as hell at the “Welcome to Highschool” breakfast, Miley Cyrus concerts, or whatever young people do these days.

So what do I propose? Let’s lower the drinking age, but let’s take a cue from Canada and make the drinking age 19. Sure, there are still a few 19-year-olds in high school, but the burn-outs, athletes and kids who were held back are few and far between (and probably over 21 anyway).

What are your thoughts folks? Is 21 a right of passage, an arbitrary number or the only thing saving us from premature destructive decisions?

18 Comments on "College Presidents Move to Reduce Drinking Age to 18 – Too Good to be True?"

  1. michael says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 200811:07 am 

    i don't know how well it would really work in the US (because we are so big)… but in Germany, the drinking age is 16, and the driving age is 18.

    i guess this lets kids learn how to drink responcibly befor they are ever allowed behind the wheel of a car.

  2. Sarah says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 200811:18 am 

    First of all, I think that Michael's comment is very interesting. It makes a lot of sense because alcohol is held on such a pedestal for teens that it becomes a symbol of appearing cool to their peers. Perhaps if we made it more attainable they wouldn't abuse it? That's just theoretical though.

    As for my personal opinion on the drinking age, I think it's bullshit that 18-21 year olds can serve and die for their country, but they aren't legally allowed to drink. There's just something wrong with that. I suppose lowering the drinking age to 19 would suffice; I agree with your argument about high schoolers having access to alcohol and all the negative repercussions that could follow. So yeah, 19…sounds like a plan.

  3. Kay says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 200811:54 am 

    Being a Canadian with a few American friends, I can say that I honestly don't see any difference between the two countries' teenagers' drinking habits regarding age – not even in Quebec/Manitoba/Alberta, where the legal age is 18. If kids want alcohol, they will get it, no matter their age or how far away they are from being legal. I don't think changing the legal age will make much of a difference.

    That being said, it is worth taking a closer look at the legislation – unlike what is widely believed, the minimum age of 21 is not a blanket law. Check this out: http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/images/usmap_min…

    In all the green states, it is perfectly legal to consume alcohol at any age if it's for "An established religious purpose, when accompanied by a parent, spouse or legal guardian age 21 or older; Medical purposes when prescribed or administered by a licensed physician, pharmacist, dentist, nurse, hospital or medical institution; In private clubs or establishments;

    In the course of lawful employment by a duly licensed manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer.” This outlines what is not considered "public possession", which is what is prohibited by the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. All the yellow states have varying exceptions to the rule – so it's really only the eight pink states that completely prohibit alcohol consumption under the age of 21.

  4. Molly says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20083:07 pm 

    @Kay

    Whaaat? Does this mean all the raids on private clubs serving alcohol (In the green states) to minors are illegal?

  5. zoe says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20084:20 pm 

    as a uk resident, where the drinking age is 18, i think we have fewer alcohole-related problems than in the us… maybe that should say something to agree with what sarah said about making it less 'dangerous' and 'cool' … at the same time look at the deaths caused by alcohol, then the ones caused by other drugs… maybe keep alcohol, a much more destructive and dangerous drug prohibited, but allow kids to experiment with less harmful substances such as weed, mushrooms, even e doesnt nearly cauise so many health problems or driving incidents… alcohol is a RLY dangerous substance, it's just that kids want to feel a buzz, why not give them the safer ones??

  6. Steph says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20084:22 pm 

    When my mom went to high school, over twenty five years ago, the drinking age was 18. She says that there was much less drinking than there is now. However, the legal drinking age is a state-by-state decision, since it's not controlled under the constitution. The Federal gov just gives perks to the 50 states that do have the legal age at 21. Hurrah for Nevada being the loner, with alcohol being available for those aged 18 (but not hard liquor).

  7. Caroline says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20084:47 pm 

    19 sounds excellent.

  8. Christine says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20085:14 pm 

    I feel that 19 is more reasonable than 18, simply because you know there will be those high school seniors that skip school to get drunk at the bar. And that's just not a good thing.

    And it is perfectly fine to drink in your own home as long as your parents take responsibility for your actions. Granted most parents probably don't want to deal with their drunk kids.

    I think what we really need to do is start teaching people to drink socially and not just to get shit faced. Because I think that's a huge part of the problem. If here in the US people drank more socially and didn't get drunk, there wouldn't be so much resistance to lowering the drinking age.

    Although in all honesty I don't think it's going to change anytime soon.

  9. Kay says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20085:40 pm 

    @ Molly: No, because while the National Minimum Drinking Age Act doesn't prohibit the consumption of alcohol under the circumstances I mentioned, it completely prohibits buying alcohol for those aged under 21. People who get charged in raids are probably getting slapped with 'purchasing alcohol under 21' misdemeanors.

  10. Sam says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20085:48 pm 

    I think it's absurd to lower the drinking age. Kids of that age have enough accidents without alcohol, let alone making it readily available to them. As for those who sign up to serve our military; I think with a military ID they should be allowed to purchase alcohol.. As for everyone else, I think they can wait.

  11. kelly says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20086:14 pm 

    Just out of curiousity, are you an American Sam? Your suggestion makes absolutely no sense to me–what would be the justification for allowing soldiers to drink but not the 18-21 year old civilians they protect? They are already rewarded with respect, payment for college and other monetary benefits (and the money is not great, I know, but this is their choice). If they really want to be a soldier alcohol should not play a roll. I can't even begin to imagine how many inadequate fools we'd have "defending our country" just so they could legally drink. I don't want the people fighting our wars, however ludicrous THOSE are, to do so because they want to be able to booze legally.

    That aside, I think that 19 is a good idea… I agree that high school seniors could cause a problem although I'm not sure how big of a deal I think it would be. Once you're out of high school, though, I think most 19-21 year olds are going to get alcohol and go nuts if they want to regardless of if they can do so legally or not. If they had the right to do so, maybe they'd realize the responsibility that comes with drinking a bit faster.

  12. Mandy says:
    Thu, 21st Aug 20087:55 am 

    I'm not entirely sure that lowering the drinking age would really change young adults' drinking habits much. While most people I know stopped boozing it up as much once it became legal for them, I think that's partially just an age/maturity thing. Once you turn 21, chances are that you're about to exit undergrad and enter "grown up" jobs or grad school where boozing it up every weekend just isn't feasible anymore.

    Lowering the drinking age to 19 (or even 18) wouldn't cause kids to drink less just because the "I'm doing something I shouldn't be" allure would be gone… but I'm pretty sure that underage drinking any worse than it is now. People who want to consume alcohol (regardless of age) are going to do it whether or not the law allows them to.

    …and that's not to say that I wouldn't have enjoyed being able to purchase booze legally a couple years earlier, I'm just not sure it's the solution these people are looking for.

  13. Jill says:
    Thu, 21st Aug 20088:17 am 

    I would say 19. As a Canadian, it seems to be working for us. 18 is really too young.

  14. heather says:
    Thu, 21st Aug 20084:18 pm 

    i say if the drinking age is 19, then lets make the draft age 19 also. it is total bullshit that we cant have a beer but we can die (and in new jersey, with a 19 year old smoking age, you can go and die but you cant even have a cigarette).

    studies have shown that if kids are introduced to alcohol early, such as a sip with their parents, they are less likely to abuse it. also, the areas which have imposed laws on parents who allow kids to drink have seen a rise in ambulance trips (due to kids then drinking in less safe locations, and not learning responsibility from mom and dad). (info taken from Time Magazine).

    is it really a coincidence that when we punish parents for giving their kids a beer, and then expect them to not have anything until 21 years of age, when they have no idea how to handle it, that we have an alcohol problem in this country? if we were to lower the age, and teach responsibility, and encourage parents to let their kids have a sip of wine at dinner time, id expect our drinking problem to gradually diminish.

  15. Oy says:
    Thu, 21st Aug 20084:51 pm 

    "One factor that neither side seems to be addressing is that by lowering the drinking age to 18, you make it legal for a majority of high school seniors to buy the hooch."

    Uh, where have you been hiding?

    Isn't this one of the main reasons people are against moving it to 18?

  16. Sam says:
    Thu, 21st Aug 20085:01 pm 

    Kelly, yes I am American.

    My justification for giving the members of our military the opportunity to purchase alcohol versus civilians is I do believe they grow up a lot faster than a normal civilian. The big argument I keep hearing is "if they're old enough to join the military, why can't they legally purchase alcohol?" It's true, it takes some guts and a lot of maturity to go through boot camp.

    I highly doubt there would be a surge of "inadequate fools" rushing to join the military simply to acquire some booze. If they did; they'd be in for a rude awakening of the reality of what it takes to serve in the military.

  17. sara says:
    Fri, 22nd Aug 20086:20 am 

    I think 19 is good, or you could always make a college ID an acceptable form of ID… but then of course there is the dilemma of people who don't go to college.

  18. Call says:
    Fri, 12th Sep 200811:20 am 

    Sam, you cant be serious about letting the young adults in military purchase alcohol but not regular young adults. Do you really think is a plausible idea and wouldnt cause national outrage. Prohibition doesnt work. We are one of only FOUR countries in the ENTIRE WORLD that have a drinking age 21+. Its alchol, we are never going to get rid of it. Why not teach our kids how to handle it maturely and in a supervised environment like a bar, rather than having kids hidden in their dorm rooms pounding ten shots in an hour because thats what everyone else is doing. The only alchohol edu our country has is from other irresponsible underage binge drinking friends. LOWER the AGE, 18, 19, whatever, just educate kids and show them how to be mature with drinking.

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