College presidents from about 100 of the nation’s best-known universities, including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State, are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving says lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal car crashes. It accuses the presidents of misrepresenting science and looking for an easy way out of an inconvenient problem. MADD officials are even urging parents to think carefully about the safety of colleges whose presidents have signed on.
But the statement makes clear the signers think the current law isn’t working, citing a “culture of dangerous, clandestine binge-drinking,” and noting that while adults under 21 can vote and enlist in the military, they “are told they are not mature enough to have a beer.” Furthermore, “by choosing to use fake IDs, students make ethical compromises that erode respect for the law.”
Source: CNN Health
So I’m straight-edge, I seriously hate drunk people and I don’t know why 21 is the minimal required age in the US to drink. I’m pretty sure that an high percentage of 18yo already drink alcohol that their parents or their older friends buy. Or that fake their IDs. And they are old enough to vote, but not old enough to drink?
In Portugal, where I live, the minimum age for drinking is 16 (and you see 14 yo drinking in discos). Most of the young people drink when they go out at night, but it’s not that serious, since they can’t drive until their 18. And the serious problem is driving drunk. And maybe start drinking before would teach them something.
So why wouldn’t a 19yo like me drink? I won’t, but I don’t see why not. I am perfecty aware of the dangers, as well as everyone else my age.