The presidents of such prominent universities as Duke, Tufts, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Maryland and Ohio say that abstinence is not the answer for younger drinkers. They believe that the time has come to rethink our drinking laws. They had hoped for an open debate, but have met with sharp public criticism.
What the Critics Are Saying
Critics abound from the ranks of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the American Medical Association, the National Highway Safety Board and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
"Why would you take the one thing that has been tried in the last 30 years that has been shown to be most successful and throw that out the window and say, 'I have a better idea?' said Alexander C. Wagenaar, an epidemiologist at the College of Medicine at the University of Florida in an August 21, 2008 "New York Times" article entitled "2 Withdraw From Petition to Rethink Drinking Age."
Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association told the “Washington Post” in an August 20, 2008 article entitled "Safety experts give failing grade to lower drinking age" that university leaders “are really just punting on the issue and leaving the high school principals to deal with it.”
On the other hand, the Amethyst Initiative's parent organization, Choose Responsibility, is suggesting that only high school graduates be eligible for the lowered drinking age, but this sounds nearly unenforceable to most parents.
What the Amethyst Initiative Is Saying
The Amethyst Initiative states that, in their experience as university presidents, they have observed, "Alcohol education that mandates abstinence as the only legal option has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students."
Both sides agree teen drinking is a huge problem.
The Size of the Teen Drinking Problem
According to a 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health by the Department of Health and Human Services, 28.3 percent of Americans aged 12-20 (about 10.8 million people) reported drinking within the past month; 7.2 million were binge drinkers (at least 5 drinks in one sitting).
"Associated Press" in an August 18, 2008 article entitled "College Presidents Seek Debate on Drinking Age" reported that "research has found more than 40 percent of college students reported at least one symptom of alcohol abuse or dependance. One study has estimated more than 500,000 full-time students at four-year colleges suffer injuries each year related in some way to drinking, and about 1,700 die in such accidents."
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) also accuses the colleges of "waving the white flag"--just giving in to student pressure on alcohol use. Safety advocates report (link) the legal drinking age of 21 saves about 900 lives every year.
The Public's Perspective
In a recent statement MADD wrote that most Americans do not want the drinking age lowered. They stated: "The public strongly disagrees with efforts to lower the drinking age. According to a new survey released today (August 19, 2008) by Nationwide Insurance, 78 percent of adults support 21 as the minimum drinking age and 72 percent believe lowering the drinking age would make alcohol more accessible to youth."
Laura Dean-Mooney, president of MADD, said it just looks like the college presidents "did not do their homework to look at the science on this". The debate goes on.
