About a week ago, various news outlets started publishing articles about officials who want to lower the drinking age to 18. These officials are heads of colleges and universities in the US, and so far, about 100 colleges have signed on to this petition.
The schools that have signed on so far include Duke, Dartmouth, Tufts, Syracuse, Colgate and Kenyon.
These school presidents believe that the current drinking laws encourage binge drinking on campuses.
"It is a law that the people at whom it is directed believe is unjust and unfair and discriminatory," says John McCardell, former president of Middelbury College in Vermont.
The opposition comes from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who pushed for the "21" law back in 1984.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that driving fatalities of people ages 18-20 have been cut by 13% since the drinking age was raised to 21. That's the main argument for MADD.
State representatives in Kentucky, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Missouri are also fighting for a lower drinking age, but their argument is based on military service.
South Carolina state Rep. Fletcher Smith, who sponsors a bill that would let military personnel 18 and older to buy alcohol in South Carolina, says, "If you can take a shot on the battlefield, you ought to be able to take a shot of beer legally."
Amen to that. I mean come on, at least let the people in the military have a drink. Lord knows they need it. As for us regular college kids who aren't in the military, we might have to wait a little longer for our bill to get passed.
Right now, any state is actually allowed to lower the drinking age to 18. There is a catch, however: that state would have to give up 10% of their federal highway funds. That pretty much equals billions of dollars for one state to give up, which probably isn't worth it.
A 2007 Gallup Poll found that 77% of Americans oppose lowering the drinking age to 18. MAYBE because most Americans are over the age of 21 and are automatically biased. That poll needs to be analyzed a little better before it should be used in an argument.
If the mothers in MADD did a better job of raising their children and instilling better responsibility and morals in them, they wouldn't have to worry about their kids drinking irresponsibly.
In Europe, a drinking age barely exists and those people get along just fine, if not better. America has the highest drinking age in the world. Hopefully not for much longer.
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