The Debate On Lowering The Drinking Age

60 Minutes: Some Say Age Should Be Lowered To 18, But MADD And Others Strongly Disagree

(CBS)  Last fall, a group of over 100 college presidents - including the heads of Dartmouth, Virginia Tech and Duke - signed a declaration stating that the 21-year-old drinking age is not working, and fireworks went off.

But the college presidents got what they wanted: a national debate about the drinking age.

When the age was raised to 21 in the mid-1980s, the goal was to reduce highway fatalities. But everyone knows that the 21 age limit hasn't stopped minors from drinking.

And now some experts believe it's actually contributing to an increase in extreme drinking.

This is what the former president of Middlebury College in Vermont, John McCardell, believes and it's why he started the movement dedicated to lowering the age back to 18. It may seem counterintuitive, but he argues that lowering the age will make kids safer.

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It's like the old days of prohibition: from the suburbs to college campuses to inner cities, kids find ways to get around the 21 year old limit. As McCardell puts it, it's so widespread, it's the norm.

"This law has been an abysmal failure," McCardell told 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl. "It hasn't reduced or eliminated drinking. It has simply driven it underground, behind closed doors, into the most risky and least manageable of settings."

Like basements, fraternity houses and locked dorm rooms, where kids go to hide from the law and from adults, including parents, who might teach them some moderation.

McCardell says the law has created a dangerous culture of irresponsible and reckless behavior, unsupervised binge and extreme drinking, like something called "Six in Ten" - downing six cups of beer in ten seconds, kids trying to perfect the art of getting drunk as fast as possible by playing drinking games.

And pre-loading - downing as much of the forbidden fruit as possible before going out in order to avoid getting caught drinking in public.

"It's bad law in that it is unwork[able]. It's bad social policy…," McCardell said.

Asked if it is unworkable or people just don't enforce it, McCardell told Stahl, "The issue of enforceability is present. But the fact is it is so regularly and routinely avoided, that enforcement results in two arrests or convictions for every thousand violations."

Mark Beckner, the chief of police in Boulder, Colo. - a college town - deals with underage drinking every day. "We're not in a situation where we can stop it. The best we can do is try to contain it," he told Stahl.

"So you're basically telling us that you simply can't enforce the law. They are drinking and you cannot enforce it," Stahl remarked.

"Well, we do enforce it," Chief Beckner replied. "But what we're seeing is it's not being effective."

Beckner has tried many different kinds of enforcement techniques over the years, including strict crack-downs.

"We'd find a party where we know there's underage drinking. We would seal the house. Surround the house with officers and we would write every single underage person coming out of that house. We wrote hundreds and hundreds of tickets those years. All we did is we pushed it further underground," Beckner told Stahl.

[timao11]

21 is rediculous... im in favor of 18 and to be honest, im in favor of not enforcing it at all... im in favor of enforcing drinking and driving policies. the problem is not drinking, but wut u do when u drink and where u drink. seriously, how many ppl actually like hard liquor? not many, they do it because its illegal, its "cool". im from a country where drinking age is 18, but no one cares if u r a minor and u consume alcohol. however, in my country there is zero tolerance on drinking and driving, not even the 0.8 content that america enforces. honestly, if u didnt hav a beer before u were 21, u r ether lying or u didnt hav a life. im tired of running from getting caught and getting an mip.

[hhudson14]

So if kids in high school now or college and have parties and there is someone there who is to wasted to stand on their own feet then they just leave them somewhere and dont check to see if they are ok or call 911 then why would they do if or when the drinking age is lowered why would they change their ways of helpping someone who is so drunk that they cant stand.

[Okami0719]

If I was in college and under the drinking age and drunk I would not call 911 and have cops show up. I would'v done the same thing and waited till the morning when I was sober. Now if the drinking age was 18 I would not of hasted to call 911 because I am doing nothing illeagle.

[Sparrow52606]

So the way I see it....... They should keep the 21 drinking age, and yes the under agers are still going to get alcohol but who cares we can at least make it harder for them to get it. A good reason why it should stay at 21 is because the younger you are when you drink, the more dependent you become of alcohol. It's as simple as that. Most people don't even know that, so kids who obtain alcohol, and even parents who give their kids alcohol, are ignorantly drinking themselves into a future hell of sickness and limited control of their own body in a sense that, your body is still growing and if you give it a substantial amount of alcohol (or any drug for that fact) during that time, you teach your body to function with it and then it becomes a part of you and eventually your body will know nothing else. And if this particular drug (including alcohol) is not there, your body will attack itself and torment you into giving it what it "needs" to function. And obviously it's going to affect your relationships, careers, and just your life overall. And the only reason kids are going out and binge drinking is because that's the only way they've learned how to do it. Any story involving alcohol comprises of how a person passed out, doesn't remember, did something crazy, and/or how much they've consumed (which is always a rather large amount). And these stories unfortuneately are not just kept between adults, our children hear these stories, they SEE their parents endlessly downing one right after the other, and sadly sometimes even joining in with them. If the government would make a mandatory Alcohol Education Class through schools, organizations, etc. etc..... and TEACH children the health risks involved, what a safe and responsible amount is to consume, and that the reason for a get-together is not just about getting wasted. Instead it's to simply spend time with family, friends, or getting to know new people. And they should really be shown how stupid they would look if they decided to embark on the life of binge drinking (because it really does damage the appearance of your intelligence level to an open minded, informed individual)......... They might find that binge drinking may very well decline quite significantly. And hopefully alcoholism will eventually fade out with it. So the higher drinking age is not in place to be unfair, it's in place to save you from yourself.

[repb_kory]

you are a ******* idiot. its those communist ideas that will ruin this country yet. continue spreading your trash. we all see through it mr. stalin

[DRINKINGAGEDOWN]

shut the hell up...ur stupid..research before u comment...ur completely wrong...if you allow kids to be exposed to alcohol at a younger age, they wouldnt use it irresponsibly. look at the european countries. they dont have a problem because theyre kids can drink at like 8 years old...its ppl like u that ruin this country...and another thing...ITS A FREE COUNTRY!!! it isnt right now though because all these stupid laws

[justbyluck13]

I think the real advantage of lowering the drinking age is that it pushes back the age of those who would be interested to an age where they can supervised. When you're out on your own for the first time at eighteen, the allure of alcohol is strong, and the fact that it's illegal makes it stronger. When you're 16 or 17 and still under some parental supervision, it at least keeps you from abusing it to the extent that young college kids do.

[yame12345]

Just read the 14th amendment. If you are against following the constitution, common sense should do it. Go to your local community college and take a statistics class, then take a second look at the claims that MADD makes.

[collegeopinion13]

This article has an excellent point. You cannot stop underaged teens from drinking, it is simply unfeasible. The United States has one of the highest legal drinking ages in the world and to be honest there I don't really see how we are benefiting from it.

Oddly enough, high school students in much of the rest of the developed world ? where lower drinking ages and laxer enforcement reign ? do considerably better than U.S. students on standardized tests. So that is obviously not the reason.

Many base their opinions on the fact that the human brain continues developing beyond the age of 21 yet these assertions reek of junk science. They're extrapolated from a study on lab mice, as well as from a small sample of actual humans already dependent on alcohol or drugs. Neither is enough to make broad proclamations about the entire population.


Many of the deaths similar to Gordie's could have been prevented if he had not been underaged, maybe someone would have gotten him help had they not been afraid of the consequences of being caught. Most teens and college students binge drink because they don't know the next opportunity that alcohol will be available to them, so they drink everything they have in one sitting this is a major problem

i feel that lowering the drinking age would be an excellent solution

[poncenbee]

What a joke these so-called self proclaimed experts and sactimonious deans of colleges. There are many laws that can be and are enforced, for example DUI. The only law in america where you are presumed guilty in court, thanks to MADD. So a law can be enforced and DUI is. Does it stopp drinking, yes but not completely, but it sure has worked on millions. Suggetsion: Upon acceptance to college, the studen must agree to not drink prior to age 21. If he does he is immediately expelled with no tuition refund. Fraternities and Sororities that provide alcohol to underage students lose their certification and must close. Any person in an official capacity at the University or College who refuses too or ignores these rules by failure to prosecute will be immediately dismissed with no tenure to protect them. Draconian Maybe, but these sactimonius leaders of our colleges who say they can't enforce rules are lying to save their collective ***** fronm lawsuits against the schools.
Prompt enactment of these simple requirements will stop 90%+ of the incidence of underaged drinking in higher education. You are guilty of DUI if your blood alcohol is equal to or above 0.08 whether or not you are impaired. There are thoudands of people who can drive safely at 0.10 but it doesn't matter you are guilty.
strick enforcement works.
We don't neea bunch of self proclaimed experts ????? to make dozens of excuses for this behaviour. One offense is suspension for one full year. Second offense is permanent expulsion and cancelling all college loans.

[bshanks]

> Perhaps if we lived in a society which only forbade things with the agreement of 70% of the population, rather than 50%, there would be less crime.

(clearly, if less things were forbidden, there would be less "crime", but I mean that there might also be less breaking of the laws which remained in place in both cases, for instance theft)

[bshanks]

Number of deaths is not the only thing to consider. The existence of laws which are not supported by a significant proportion of citizens breeds disrespect for the law.

In this case, a large proportion of the public is OK with people under 21 drinking, and covertly permits and even encourages them to do so. When people see that their parents and their friends' parents are OK with them breaking the law, the public perception of the law is changed. Instead of seeing the law as a set of rules which are written and supported by your community, people begin to see the law as some weird bureaucratic obstacle to be subverted, or possibly as laws written by some enemy faction of the community which is oppressing you.

The effects of this are harder to measure than highway deaths, but there is some scientific evidence that suggests that it's possible that sanctioning breaking the law in one case may lead people to break the law in other ways, too (http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1161405).

Granted, a majority of citizens seem to support the current laws; but the proportional strength of the opposition is substantial also. Perhaps if we lived in a society which only forbade things with the agreement of 70% of the population, rather than 50%, there would be less crime.

Another argument in favor of lowering the drinking age is individual rights. Assume for the sake of argument that it is better for the community if the drinking age remained 21. Should people be legally obligated to do what's best for the community? Or do people have individual freedom (defined here as the right to control their own lives provided that they don't hurt others). Note that, if people have a right to freedom, then the argument that you shouldn't drink because maybe you'll drive doesn't work. If you are free, then you have a right to drink as long as you don't drive while drunk.

[Revobution]

Hehe... I love how they use the idea of eighteen year olds buying beer for fifteen year olds. In most high schools they already have twenty one year old friends who buy beer for them regardless of how old they are, or they are friends with people who have buyers. So really they wouldnt gain anything out of the drinking age being lowered.

[ele1989]

After viewing this video, and conducting research of my own, I have come to the conclusion that the society would benefit should we lower the MLDA (minimum legal drinking age). Being a full time student at USF, I have witnessed first hand how the current MLDA has led to alarming problems that are occurring nation wide. Young adults, aged between 18-20 have formulated a new subculture on campus, one in which they drink excessively within the confines of their dorm rooms or fraternity houses, hidden from law enforcement. Statistics show that their is an increasing rate of young adults being admitted into the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Their has even been an increase in alcohol related deaths across campuses.
If the age were lowered, I believe that we will start to see these numbers change, students will not be forced to drink excessive amounts over short periods of time ( pregaming) and due to the legality factor, will not hesitate to seek help if needed.
The society will benefit from this change.

[kls314]

I am doing a paper on this debate. My paper is on the drinking age being 18 or being 21.
Through alot of my research i have found so many different views on this. If ny one has anything to help me with this paper I would love to hear from you.
email is [e-mail]
thanks!

[lmondra]

I will have to agree in that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 again. One I will be 21 in August and to tell the truth i already had a beet and hard liquor. My first drink was when I turned 15 since then i had drinks here and there. I drink in my own home i live with my fiance and he is older than me so he buys the alcohol for me.
So don't matter what is the drinking age most of us will get that first drink under 21 and 18 yrs of age. if we can smoke at 18 why not drink at 18. if you can get in a club at 18 why not drink at 18. you are consider an adult at 18 and can be trail in court as an adult at the age of 18 why not drink at 18? you can get a credit card at 18 why not drink at 18? so many things that you can do at 18 why not drink? makes no sense why you can do all of these other things but that.

[Scott_Wr]

The drinking age was rasied to 21 in very close time proximity to the enactment of mandatory seat belt laws, Consequently, the drop in driving fatalities might be due to seat belts, not an increase in the drinking age.

[pherri]

Is anyone seriously arguing that 18 year olds today cannot get their hands on alcohol? I snuck my first beer at 14. The parents knew we'd done it and kept an eye on us from then on. No one is fooling anyone, booze is widely available.

You can believe 18 year olds can handle alcohol and therefore teach your 18 year old how to handle it; or you can let them figure it out the hard way.

The rest of us cannot know which path you'll take, and the "hard way" becomes a public policy issue, whether you are 18 or 25 or 70. You give up your rights when you screw up, by becoming drunk, by driving drunk, by losing control of your senses and judgement. You are most welcome to drink yourself silly at any age, but when you stumble outside your property into a public space, now you're affecting others.

Interesting that 18 year olds who've killed others in drunk driving incidents rarely step up and say "I'm an adult, I knew what I was doing when I got behind the wheel, try me accordingly." Instead, they say the alcohol impaired their judgement and therefore they are not accountable for their actions. So which is it -- are 18 year olds accountable adults or not? You ready to go to jail for life because you tried to drive home from a party and you drifted across the centerline for just a fraction of a second and killed someone?

I had cool parents watching me from 14 to 21, and I still drove under the influence a few times. I got lucky, and I got my a** beat by my dad the one time he found out. Maybe you have better judgement than me, but what about 10 million other teens?

Stop signs are everywhere, and people roll them all the time. But if too many accidents occur at a given intersection, they'll put in traffic lights because statistics show it will reduce injuries and fatalities at that intersection.

And enough about being 18 and serving the country...you get months of training before you are ALLOWED to serve. You have to pass a driving test to drive a vehicle, plus you have to buy insurance in case you screw up and have an accident. To drink, you just have to find yourself in the same room with some beer, wine or booze. Stay inside and you're fine. If you kill yourself there, well, that was dumb. If you step outside, you are society's problem, and since you don't have control of your body or judgement, society gets to impose anything it wants.

[Wisguy]

A few quick thoughts...

-All of the dire things that I have skimmed so far in the comments and on the show are happening under the present-day conditions of *unregulated illegality* - very much like how things were all over the USA 80 years ago with the illegal 'speakeasy' bars and pretty much everything else, when beverage alcohol was illegal for everyone.

-The long-standing university campus cliché is ever true - one can easily tell which of his or her classmates were raised under strict prohibition - they're the ones always getting into the worst trouble with alcohol.

-The *ONLY* countries on the planet that are more bent out of shape over beverage alcohol than the USA are *ALL* in the Islamic world. Nowhere else in the 'western' world is there a legal minimum drinking age that even approaches that of the 21 YO one that we have here in the USA (if they have one at all) and in most other western countries that have minimum legal ages, enforcement is a LOW priority. They are much more interested in going after people who misbehave while drunk.

-With their much lower (if there are ones at all) legal drinking ages in Europe, Europeans learn YOUNG how to *properly enjoy* the stuff, the continent is NOT being overrun with drunk kids and if you are, let's say a late teens or 20ish German and your friends ask you to go out for a beer, it's 'no big deal'. (Beer is defined as a food item in Germany, BTW.) And instead of it being an excuse to out and get legally sloshed, one's 21st birthday is 'just another birthday'.

Mike

[bestgroupcrhs]

I think we should lower the drinking age to 18 because thats when you are considered an adult. You can be 18 to work at a bar. If you can serve your country you should be able to drink a beer...

However to drink at the bar you should be 21 to lower the risk of teenage drunk driving.

Also Kids can ask anyone who is of age to get alcohol for them regardless of what the legal age is so...

[maxcrhs1]

according to prior evidence we have come tro the conclusion that the age of maturity for drinking should not be decreased in any manner. Cuz we feel that there will be an increase in fatalities involving alcohol.keep it the way it was.eric wants to say that there should be new rules should be input, licensing for drinking. better education

[mikecrhs]

In America, you are viewed as an adult when you turn 18. You are allowed to shoot a gun, go to war, buy cigarettes, vote, and move into your own house. If you can do all of these grownup things, then you should also be able to decide if you can have a drink. On the topic of drunk driving, age will not make a difference. The only difference age makes is that teenagers will feel more comfortable calling authorities when someone underage is exessively intoxicated. If the goal is to reduce fatalities with drunk driving, the would be to make harsher laws concerning drunk driving, not keep a high drinking age. Nevertheless, what is age but a number? hmmm..

[ruthcrhs]

People will always disagree with the drinking age, because each age creates different issues. It is proven that lowering the drinking age to eighteen increases the amount of drunk driving casualties. At the same time, lowering the age to eighteen may result in a decrease in the amount of drinking at home deaths, because teens will not be afraid to call 911 for a friend who has consumed too much alcohol.

There is no answer for this issue, and policymakers must decide what is most important to them.

A possible solution to this issue could be setting the drinking age to 19. This way, teens have been out of high school and lived on their own in the world. This one year means a lot maturiy-wise. It is unreasonable to imagine kids not drinking in college, the army, or whatever they end up doing after they graduate. Setting the age to 19 should be seriously concidered, and may end up being the best solution.