Age-Drinking

At the age of 18, an American is an adult.

At the age of 18, an American man or woman can take a full-time job,

they can rent an apartment,

they can join a union, they can do all the stuff on the Internet that you're supposed to be 18 to do.

they can take that union card and get a job brewing beer, making wine, or distilling liquor, they can purchase and carry an 18" Bowie knife,

they can get married, or have consensual sex,

they can get a mortgage (okay, they can apply for a mortgage),

they can have children,

they can own and drive a car,

they can adopt children, they can buy a pornographic movie,

they can have an abortion,

they can act in a pornographic movie,

they can buy contraceptives (or get them free in school) they can buy cigarettes,

they can buy a semi-automatic shotgun or scope-sighted rifle, they can take codeine and morphine with a prescription,

they can sell booze in a bar, they can sign a contract,

they can own a bar in some states (including, apparently, PA) they can purchase and use dynamite in some states,

they can become an armed police officer in at least three states, they can work as a merchant sailor on a trans-oceanic ship,

they can shoot pool in public, they can enter a seminary to become a priest or minister,

they can own a business and employ other adults,

they can sue,

they can get a passport, they can be sued,

they can go see any movie in a theater, they can work as a prostitute in Nevada,

they can become volunteer firefighters and rescue squad members, be responsible for expensive equipment, save people's lives, and risk their own, they can play professionally in the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, or MLS for more money than you'll see in three lifetimes, Thanks to Ommegang's Larry Bennett for these two additions! (Um...the sports one and the firefighter one, not the prostitute one.)

they can get a pilot's license, they can join the military and fight, kill, and die for our country (1/5 of all combat deaths so far in the Iraq war were adults...under 21),

they can get a hunting license and legally carry a high-powered rifle,

they can serve on a jury and send murderers and terrorists to death row,

they can (they must) pay taxes, they can be sent to death row,

they can (and should) vote, they can run for political office, with some exceptions.

If you have any other bizarre additions to this list, send 'em in.

But they can't have a beer. And it's killing them.

The 21 legal drinking age is a mistake.

That's not just my opinion, either. A growing number of people across the country are questioning the wisdom of the 21 legal drinking age (LDA). Pete Coors made statements to that effect in his senatorial campaign in 2004, and was roundly denounced as being self-serving...rather than better-informed and concerned. Kenyon College president S. Georgia Nugent recently said that virtually all college presidents believe that raising the drinking age has increased the drinking problem on campus rather than decreased it. That includes Dartmouth president James Wright. It also includes Middlebury College president emeritus James McCardell, who wrote in an editorial in the New York Times (Sept. 13, 2004) that "the 21-year-old drinking age is bad social policy and terrible law." Fred Blevens, associate dean at Oklahoma University, was quoted in favor of lowering the drinking age in the Oklahoma Daily, saying, "The expectations we have for 18-year-olds are the same that we have for 21-year-olds."

FIVE states have recently or currently have legislation under consideration to lower the LDA to 18. Police chiefs feel that the 21 LDA contributes to binge drinking and is unenforceable. I've got some real stories taken from the news about this horribly misguided law; read them in the right column. I've got some good links to researchers who look at the issue without bias; peruse them at the bottom of the page.

REAL STORY #1 (from the Fargo, ND, Forum, 10/16/05): "Consistent enforcement is key to keeping the problem (of underage drinking) under control, said Lt. Pete Kerns with the Eugene (Ore.) Police Department (a student from ND at OSU died of alcohol poisoning last month). He said a lot of binge drinking occurs on or near the University of Oregon campus.

The worst time of year for police in Eugene is Halloween night, which has become a time for students to get drunk and riot in the streets. "Invariably, on Halloween, there are half a dozen cases of alcohol poisoning," Kerns said, adding the frightening tradition of running amok on Halloween ironically sprang from an effort to reduce drinking.

When the city passed a law banning beer keggers from fraternity and sorority parties about 15 years ago, it pushed the drinking into less-controlled environments, Kerns said. Only heavy enforcement seems to keep things in check, he said. "A lot of ticketing goes a long ways to make people think twice before they get bombed," he said. (It's obvious that this cop sees that "underground drinking" is a bad idea. Wonder if he realizes that the 21 LDA causes a lot more of it than keg laws?)

Neo-prohibitionists have no real answers.

This whole movement towards discussing an 18 LDA is driving the anti-alcohol forces insane with anger. The Marin Institute has declared that the "Age 21 Law [is] Not Open For Debate" (obviously incorrect, we're debating it right here) and that "No serious person doubts