Duke It Out: Lower Drinking Age?

October 9, 2009 9:00 am     Posted in Reality  Lauren H - The New School g+ page

binge drinking


By Lauren H

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman, so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like losing our summers!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

Let’s be honest – no one (at least no one who wants hot, dirty sex) waits until they’re 21 to try an alcoholic beverage. Alcohol is so ubiquitous at high school and college parties that the red plastic cup is practically the official symbol of underage consumption. And yet, even in the face of this almost universal fact, the legal drinking age in America continues to be 21 (as if we didn’t have enough problems getting our hooch!).

Now that the Amethyst Initiative - a group of over 135 US college and university presidents who want the drinking age lowered - is making the rounds, the debate has gotten even hotter – and since we’re the ones it really effects, it seems like it’s time we weighed in!

Believe it or not, there is an argument for keeping the drinking age where it is, and it’s even annoyingly legit. One of the biggest points is safety – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that setting the drinking age at 21 has saved more than 25,000 lives since 1975 (about 900 underage drivers a year). Admittedly an impressive statistic, and since no one I know of is pro-car accident, it’s hard to argue against that point. I’ll also give them the fact that in the ’70s, when some states lowered drinking ages, car accidents went up dramatically.

Proponents of the current law also say that students of campuses or states that more forcefully restrict alcohol are less prone to binge drinking, one of the serious problems with underage consumption. And studies have shown that the younger you start drinking, the more likely you are to develop long term health problems like brain damage and substance abuse issues (which explains why I can never remember where I put my keys).

The truth is, most of the arguments against lowering the drinking age are based on the principal that younger people make poorer choices – and I’m not saying we don’t make bad decisions (like my hair, circa 2005 ) – most drinkers do their heaviest, most irresponsible drinking when they’re underage.

However, this is where we come to the big crux of the problem for many: in the US, we’re considered adults at 18 – we can buy tobacco products, own guns, get married, make all our own legal decisions and even choose to die for our country if it comes down to it. We are guaranteed these rights by our country, and yet this same government tells us we aren’t good enough at making decisions to handle alcohol. It’s a back assward stance, any way you slice it. But beyond my general annoyance at being told my decisions are crappy, there are also good reasons for lowering the drinking age beyond the legal mixed-messages.

Remember how those in favor of the current 21 law were saying that binge drinking is lower because of the law? Well according to studies, “among college-age males, binge drinking is unchanged from its levels of 1979; that among non-college women it has increased by 20 percent; and that among college women it has increased by 40 percent.” And while the number of accidents went up in the ’70s when the drinking age was lowered, this was also a time before airbags and mandatory seat-belts and the after school specials that drilled “don’t drink and drive” into our brains – all things that just weren’t there almost forty years ago. And many say that real problem today is not road safety anyway: it’s binge drinking - something that can only be solved by education.

Do you think that lowering the drinking age would help? Or would it just make things worse? Are we just to debaucherously into our booze? Or should it be a question of something other than age, like alcohol education?

23 Comments on "Duke It Out: Lower Drinking Age?"

  1. Ellen says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20095:01 am 

    I'm from Australia where (like most places) the legal age is 18. I think most of the arguments against lowering the drinking age are pretty irrelevant because everyone starts drinking before 21 in the US anyway. But in Australia it's pretty common for 14 year olds to be drinking, and I don't think that that's really an ideal situation. I don't think that lowering the drinking age to 18 is going to make any difference, really, to how much people drink in college. Yeah, of course you should have the right to drink at 18 but it's so easy to get anyway when you're underage in the states it's not really a big deal. I think you should leave it how it is because you don't really want a situation where 14 year olds drinking – a lot – is considered normal.

  2. Erich says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20096:26 am 

    the drinking age should remain the way it is. Trust me when I say that most people are not all that responsible til atleast 25-26. Thats when they have been an adult for a while and undedrstand how life really works not the fantasy we all have built in our head.

    I'm the oldest of my cousins and when we go out I'm always the DD, why cause I have been there done that. I think thats the diff is that when you are older you tend to make sure you are sober or have DD. When I was 18-20, I never had a DD thank God nothing happenned.

  3. Lola says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20098:23 am 

    I have been aware of the Amethyst Initiative for some time, growing up in New England it was news when it first came out. When I was applying to colleges I actualy wrote one of m essays about how th drinking age should be lowered to 18. Yes, part of it is that I believe that if at 18 I am considered responsible enough to make the decision to potentially die for my country I should be considered responsible enough to order a drink. I am also of the belief that by forcing people to hide their drinking, i.e. underage college kids who still choose to drink, it leads to poor decisions. They are less likly to call for help if they need it. And lets be honest, high school kids fear their parents more than the cops, so if drinking and driving means making curfew, it very well might happen…forcing it undergound makes it worse thanallowing those 18 year olds to drink legally.

  4. Lauren H - The New S says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20099:08 am 

    I'm not trying to argue that lowering the drinking age will inherently make younger drinkers more responsible (though I agree with Lola that pushing it underground definitely doesn't help) but since underage drinking is so common it seems wrong that the unfortunates who get caught have to pay serious penaties (so school's will even kick you out, making it even harder to get into another school) while the vast majority of us do the same thing and get off scott free. Drinking isn't going to stop, so it seems like a waste of university and state funds and man power to track and penalize the few they can find.

  5. Olivia says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20099:11 am 

    Having the drinking age at 18 has worked for many parts of the world, I think we can find a way to make it work for the US too. Either way, people under 21 are most likely going to drink, so lowering the age limit would stop all the underage drinking legal punishments, which can really screw up a kid's future.

  6. Darwin - New York Un says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20099:21 am 

    It's not just the law, but also a societal thing. In many countries, drinking is drinking. It's part of life. It doesn't have to deal with the law, police, and age.

    While lowering the drinking age might be useful, it will not happen because our society operates and thinks differently when it comes to alcohol.

  7. Erich says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20099:30 am 

    @ Lauren H–

    "since underage drinking is so common it seems wrong that the unfortunates who get caught have to pay serious penaties (so school’s will even kick you out, making it even harder to get into another school) while the vast majority of us do the same thing and get off scott free"

    Lets focus on the "it seems wrong that the unfortunates who get caught have to pay serious penaties"

    Um, well lets see, did they break the law? Yes. When you are an adult sometimes you make bad choices and if you get caught breaking the law there will always be consequences whether or not you agree really doesn't matter, its the law and if you are goin to break it then you have to be prepared to accept the consequences of your actions. Being an adult is being responsible for your actions no matter what.

    That being said, I consitantly break the law (smoke, etc) so this is not meant to be holier than thou.

  8. hanabira says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20099:38 am 

    I think part of the problem with drinking is in upbringing and culture. One part of me thinks that the age should be lowered, as in some ways it can help you to learn responsibility with alcohol. For instance my parents had a much more mediterranean approach with drink when I was younger allowing us to have watered wine with meals and gain an appreciation for alcohol that was deeper than "wooo! lets get smashed!"… The involvement of my family in my first experiences with alcohol definitely gave me a better respect for its effects.

    HOWEVER you can't expect everyone to take this stance or feel that this is how you want your kids to learn. In which case alcohol is much more exciting and more likely to cause a little havoc when first discovered. In these cases I can see how a later drinking age might help.

  9. Beth says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 200910:24 am 

    "Let’s be honest – no one (at least no one who wants hot, dirty sex) waits until they’re 21 to try an alcoholic beverage."

    Not true. I am a sophomore in college and don't drink. And I know plenty of people who don't drink. Is there anything wrong with that? No. Do we make a big deal out of it? No.

    I have friends in England who say that most people there start regularly drinking when they're 14. As in, when they still have braces and have to have their parents drop them off at the movies. Basically, because their drinking age is younger, people start sneaking it younger. Let's keep ours the way it is-college kids drinking is fine, it makes sense. But do we really want all our younger kids running around being able to access alcohol that much earlier? (if the drinking age is lowered to 18, big sister is able to legally provide alcohol for little sister that much sooner.)

  10. Michael says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 200912:08 pm 

    The solution is simple, treat the problem itself, drunk driving and binge drinking. Lower the drinking age to reasonable levels, but raise the penalty for driving drunk.

    as for the argument that raising the drinking age lowered car crashes then I have to ask, why not raise it some more? Why not just keep raising it and raising it, until nobody can drink? We tried, It fails.

  11. Lauren H - The New S says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 200912:26 pm 

    @Erich

    I suppose my point there was more about the ramifications of the law than the law itself. Underage drinking doesn't come with incredible high legal penalties (at least when compared to something like, say, marijuana possession) but because the law says 21 is the magic age, some schools take a hard line on it – and what the school's do to student who get caught can have much more severe meaning for that kids future. I don't advocate breaking the law (we all do it occassionally, but that doesn't mean we don't deserve punishment if we get caught) but it seems a shame to me that even something that has minor legal ramifications can have much bigger ones for a student. It's definitely thier fault if they do it and get caught, it just seems wrong that so much can be lost on something that is overall rather minor.

  12. Sarah says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20095:02 pm 

    I'm a 20 year old Canadian barmaid. I've been doing this job for a year and it's the easiest way I found to pay for college ; I couldn't do it if I lived in the States. I think the 21 year old limit is a bit ridiculous because the whole responsibility thing really depends on how mature you are, not on how old. At work, I see people acting like assholes and/or puking after drinking heavily, and those people aren't necessarily the youngest ones in the bar…

  13. Star says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 20092:46 pm 

    It's funny how you can go to war and get shot at, maybe even killed, before you're ever old enough to have your first legal drink. Go America!

  14. Gilly says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 20096:05 pm 

    In Canada, the drinking age is lower, but I still think it could be lowered. In all honesty, it could be 16 and make no difference- in fact, it could be a good thing since the kids would be done (hopefully) experimenting with alcohol, since it was no longer "forbidden", and they would learn their limits. That could mean lower drunk driving accidents. I still remember my first high school party- I was 14- and if it hadn't been for my boyfriend, who was 17, I would have just kept drinking because I didn't know my limits. Instead, he gave me 1 cooler, then got me pop and juice for the rest of the day. It was overall a great experience, and I'm glad he (still) loves me that much!

  15. Sophie says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 200911:55 pm 

    It germany the drinking age is 16, but this is only for beer, not liquor. When I went there I found the culture towards drinking was more relaxed, and many people learnt the in's and out's of alcahol well before they were able to drive (18). I don't think it's fair to make people wait untill they are 21 to participate in a culture that had been around for hundreds of years.

  16. criolle says:
    Mon, 12th Oct 20094:37 am 

    One of the major differences I notices in overseas clubs was the presence of college professors and instructors (even deans!) during the evenings.

    They stepped in for dinners, they passed by for chats with their (and other professors) students. They MIXED with the student body, they knew the names and the backgrounds of the students.

    Students witnessed the responsible use of alcohol by observing the professors. One does NOT get slobbering drunk in the presence of one's adviser (or one's roommate's adviser).

    Soccer games are a different story.

    The point is that there was adult supervision and example. This is sadly lacking in most American college environments.

    The drunks lead the way.

  17. heidi says:
    Wed, 21st Oct 20092:17 pm 

    too* debaucherously

    Anyway, it's one of those things that isn't going to repair itself over time, and I do think it'd benefit young adults in the long term if alcohol laws were adjusted. I think children over a certain age should be allowed to consume limited quantities of wine or cider under responsible adult supervision, because turning alcohol into a forbidden fruit clearly has not helped us. If a teenager is allowed to do something, they tend to abuse it far less than those who are not allowed.

    My parents have always allowed me to have a little to drink while they're present, and so big college parties don't appeal to me because I can enjoy alcohol in a more pleasant, safe, environment. We always want what we can't have, and it really makes no sense to allow 18-20 year-olds to choose our president, get married, get tattoos, star in pornography, smoke cigarettes, which cause more health problems than alcohol ever will, and blow all their money on lottery tickets, but they aren't allowed to drink ANY amount of alcohol, nor can they go to a casino. Statistics may say that lowering the drinking age is dangerous, but statistics are just estimates and averages with a million and one variables, especially when those statistics are forty years old. It's not scientific method when more than one variable (drinking age) changes, so I can't take any of those numbers seriously, sorry, prohibitionists.

    This kind of stuff used to get me really riled up, but then I realized that, because we're all human, that we'll never learn and we'll never get it right, so now I just spend my time not giving a shit and taking lots of deep breaths.

  18. Awesoomee, says:
    Wed, 18th Nov 20098:13 am 

    this is stupid.

    the drinking age should be lowered to 16,

    cummoon, you were 16 oonce ! :D

  19. Jenna says:
    Mon, 5th Apr 20106:16 am 

    When the drinking age is lower (18, as it is in Australia where I am from) You learn about Alcohol earlier what you can and can't handle etc. Also there is less binge and dangerous drinking once people are of age because I think the novelty wears off when you are actually allowed to do someting. Also the driving age in the states is very young, In Australia the driving age is 18 however that is a probabtionary license that you will lose automatically if you have any alcohol what so ever in your system when pulled over, I know public transport sucks in most places in the states so upping the driving age would be inconvenient (although more enviromentally friendly…) but that is just food for thought when it comes to the comment the author made about the increase in accidents when the drinking age was lowered.

  20. jason says:
    Wed, 20th Apr 20112:08 am 

    For most states the legal drinking age was 18 until 1980-something when the federal government told states to raise it to 21 or loose their federal funding for road construction. Some states kept it at 18 until the late 90's.

    It's so easy to get a realistic fake id that will pass almost ever exam (unless you're pulled over by the cops) from websites like http://www.makeme21.com or some of the others out there that underage drinking can be done by anyone with $120 bucks.

    Not to mention so many parents provide liquor for their kids parties and I know from my own experiences at FSU, if I wanted alcohol it was easy to get from a ton of people. Why not just lower it back to 18 so all the money spent enforcing underage drinking laws could be spent on better uses?

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