College Presidents call for discussion on lowering drinking age - Are these people serious?
Posted by: in Your BusinessA bunch of presidents, mostly Baby Boomers I’m guessing, have called for a discussion on lowering the drinking age to 18 because “the current law isn’t working.”
Are these guys serious? So, the law isn’t working because people who are under 21 are drinking. So, lowering the drinking age to 18 will stop them from drinking? Huh? Or would it just relieve the problem on college campuses of having to deal with policing underage drinking? Seems to me that the college presidents just want to make the drinking problem go away, so they can focus on sports education.
As a boomer, I can remember that drinking on campuses was a problem back in the 60s. I went to a small private (Methodist-based) school in the Midwest. The campus was dry, so we just walked to the nearest bar and drank. The police came around each so often (not very often, actually) and cleaned out the place. For a few weeks, no underage drinking at the bar. Then, soon, things were back to usual.
Binge drinking certainly is a problem on college campuses, and it seems to be much more of a problem now than when we were in college.
I do NOT buy the “if they’re old enough to die in Iraq, they’re old enough to drink” baloney. That is a specious argument. It doesn’t address the problem that if they’re in Iraq, sure, they’ve the possibility of getting killed. But if they are drinking in the US, I and MY FAMILY have the possibility of getting killed - by them- while they’re drinking. And I don’t care if they have the ability to vote at 18 - voters don’t kill people, drunk drivers kill people.
If just a few of these under 21- year olds can be persuaded not to drink, and if the law keeps them from driving while they are drinking - illegally or not — I’m in favor of keeping the law as it is.
What do you think? Comment, or use the Poll to vote.
Tags: Amethyst Initiative, college presidents, raising legal drinking age
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