Essay 1.2 Lowering the Drinking Age- Step in the wrong direction

Dear De Andra Kenoly,

I recently read your article proposing to lower the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA)in The Whitworthian from February 28th 2009. I strongly disagree with this idea because I am very certain it would only turn an unhealthy drinking culture into a worse one. It has been proven that there is a major problem with minors abusing alcohol and that it is on the rise. I understand your duty as a soon to be journalist to write an interesting editorial but, I'm sure as a Senior undergraduate student you've seen alcohol abuse by your peers. Something needs to be done, but lowering the minimum age to purchase the alcohol will only create brush this abuse under the rug and cause more abuse from a wider range of ages.

I'm sure you've seen that college students today have easy access to alcohol from friends and are often known to binge drink every weekend. This is becoming more and more of an issue because of the health risks that are associated with drinking so heavily and in such short time frames. Your article mentioned the Amethyst Initiative, which has had a major role bringing this issue into the public to be discussed. According to their website, their goal is to: “…encourage moderation and responsibility as an alternative to the drunkenness and reckless decisions about alcohol that mark the experience of many young Americans” (Amethyst Initiative). As you stated, John McCardell, the President Emeritus of Middlebury College, founded this group in hopes to change the law and create action. They broke news because of their petition signed by over 100 college presidents all agreeing to the benefits of lowering the MLDA. They believe lowering it will create a new culture of drinking in moderation. As good as that idea sounds in theory, I only see this creating a younger age group for binge drinking. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey said, “This small minority of college administrators wants to undo years of success – that defies common sense. We need to do all we can to protect the national drinking age – a law that saves the lives of drivers, passengers and pedestrians across the country each year” (MADD). Many benefits have come from raising the drinking age to 21 in 1985. I think it's safe to say most people, other than young adults counting down to their 21st birthdays, will object to this proposal.

Since the drinking age has been raised to 21, drinking related accidents have decreased by a significant amount. The Department of Transportation has estimated that the 21 year old drinking age has saved 25,000 lives since 1985 (MADD). Looking at this number of lives that have been saved every year from drunk driving accidents makes an impact by itself on why we shouldn’t lower the drinking age back to where it was, obviously it wasn't working in the first place.

Don't you think by college presidents signing petitions to lower the age to 18, they will only be passing the problem down to high school principals? Ruth Engs a professor of Health Applied Science at Indiana University believes drinking is a problem in minors because it is rebellious, she says, “This [binge drinking] is because drinking by these youth is seen as an enticing "forbidden fruit," a "badge of rebellion against authority" and a symbol of 'adulthood'” (Engs paragraph 2). If the drinking age is lowered to 18, then 16 year old high schoolers will just be wanting to drink because its “forbidden”. This will be a never ending cycle, lowering the drinking age is just irresponsible and not actually dealing with the real issues.

You also claim that many other European countries have a younger drinking age and that they have a healthy drinking culture. But one major factor in that they also have much higher driving ages. In the United States, we have a much younger legal driving age which gives rise to this culture by giving more freedom to our teenagers, having a car gives more access to getting the alcohol and more opportunity to be driving while under the influence. Europeans’ healthier drinking habits are not only related to the actual age, there are other variables involved in their cultures. The United States today would not be able to take on these mannerisms by just changing the age, this is not possible, and our country is not ready for this change.

In my eyes as being a college student, by allowing everyone in college to have access to alcohol, then many, many more people would be drinking. The major hindrance that stops many college students from “pre-gaming” is not having as much access too it. Common sense says you are forced to stop drinking when you run out, allowing everyone to go out and get their own alcohol would just keep everyone drinking more and more.

The website “Why 21?” they discuss the benefits of the 21 year old drinking age. Their website says, “A person’s brain does not stop developing until his or her early to mid-20s and adding alcohol to the mix is a recipe for disaster” (Why 21?). At 18 years old, the brain is surely not done developing; many psychologists say the brain continues growing past the age of 25. Scientists agree of the detrimental effects of alcohol on the brain, why would we allow teenagers to have access to something that we know is consider poison? Ronald M. Davis, Immediate Past President of the AMA said, ”It is impossible to ignore the scientific evidence demonstrating the dangers of underage drinking. A young adult’s brain is a work in progress, marked by significant development in areas of the brain responsible for learning, memory, complex thinking, planning, inhibition and emotional regulation. If we lower the age at which young adults are legally allowed to purchase alcohol, we are lowering the age of those who have easy access to alcohol and shifting responsibility to high school educators. The science simply does not support lowering the drinking age” (MADD).

We obviously see that minors cannot handle their alcohol, and that’s the cause of the problem. I believe "responsible drinking" is not an option right now, the law needs to be used to prevent deaths and injuries in young people. We cannot lower the drinking age and hope it will work, this would only create more problems, “States that previously lowered the drinking age to 18, such as Massachusetts, Michigan, and Maine, experienced an increase in alcohol-related crashes among the 18 to 20 age group” (procon.org) It makes no sense to me to give 18-year-olds this power when they will be set up for failure. New Zealand is also in the center of this controversy, in 1999 the drinking age was lowered from 20 to 18. According to a study in the American Journal of Public Health, the amount of traffic accidents increased significantly in young adults from ages of 15- 18, it is believed that a higher MLDA would have prevented these problems.

The laws cannot just be changed because it's being abused, it should be looked into and find a better option. If the drinking age is lowered then we will see the same problem in kids younger then the newly designated age. I believe better education on alcohol should be set fourth and more conversations about drinking should take place at home and at school. As the Amethyst Initiative suggests, maybe we should put in place a drinking license and have to take a class to get you're license just like drivers ed. But instead of making the license available at 18, it should still be at 21. Then, before turning 21 you are more informed about drinking and know the consequences of supplying to minors. I believe there are other options rather than lowering the drinking age, I think this will only cause more abuse of alcohol and send the future of our society down the wrong path.

Works Cited

Alcohol and the Teen Brain. Why 21?. 2007. No pag. Web. February 2, 2010.

Amethyst Initiative. 2010. Amethyst Initiative. Web. February 2, 2010.

Engs, Ruth. Forbidden Fruit. Indiana.edu. No pag. University of Indiana. Web. February 2, 2010.

Kypri, Kypros. Voas, Robert. Langley, John. Stephenson, Shaun. Begg, Dorthy. Tippetts, Scott. Davie, Gabrielle. “Minimum Purchasing Age for Alcohol and Traffic Crash Injuries Among 15- to 19-Year-Olds in New Zealand.” American Journal of Public Health 96. 1 (2005): 126-131. Print.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving. 2010. MADD. Web. February 12, 2010.

Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to a younger age?. Procon.org. Web. February 3, 2010.