Alcohol is not an inherent evil. While it is perfectly acceptable to rally against binge drinking, drunk driving and the like, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with drinking. People have been drinking for thousands of years as a socially acceptable (albeit adults-only) activity. Ben Franklin was quoted as saying that "God made beer because he loves us and wants us to be happy." Drinking is not a moral wrong, like murder or stealing. Current drinking laws in the United States are ridiculously unfair and must be amended.
The point can be made that drinking alcohol should wait until one is an adult - that is, when one is responsible enough to do so. It is absurd to, at age 18, say that a person can smoke cigarettes, own a rifle, buy property, vote or enlist in the army, but they cannot drink a beer. What about alcohol makes it so special that you must wait an additional three years after legally becoming an adult to use it? I can pick the next President of the United States, but I can't drink a glass of wine? Come on! If you're going to say, well, you're not really a responsible adult at age 18, then that's fine. But then you should make it 21 to vote, enlist in the army, etc. Why have a double standard regarding adulthood? There's nothing about alcohol that makes it necessary to have a gap between it and the rest of legally becoming an adult.
Parents are always worried about drinking at college campuses across the nation. They should be worried - students, free from the influence of mom and dad for the first time, often engage in binge drinking. This can lead to anything from risky sexual behavior to death from alcohol poisoning. If students were exposed to alcohol in a controlled and responsible manner, most wouldn't feel the need to overdo it at college. If the drinking age were lowered to 18 (as it is in most countries throughout the world), then there wouldn't be as many problems with teen drinking. Kids often do what they shouldn't simply because it's "forbidden." We put such an aura around alcohol by giving it a higher age before it can be consumed legally that it just makes kids more anxious to try it. If the drinking age were 18, then most kids could drink by the time they got to college. Most wouldn't feel the need to drink excessively, because they could do it whenever they wanted to.
Colleges would be able to monitor underage drinking if the drinking age were 18. With the exception of schools such as Brigham Young that expel for underage drinking, few schools have the resources to effectively keep thousands of undergraduates from drinking illegally in their dorms or off campus. A lower drinking age means it's OK for kids to have a party with some friends and serve some beer. Wouldn't parents rather have that than their kids all meeting in a dark fraternity house where there's no responsible (or sober) person around because of fear of getting caught?
The current policy on underage drinking is simply preposterous. The United States should make a choice. Either they make 21 the legal adult age, or they lower the drinking age to 18. The double standard that is currently in place is not fair, not safe and not smart.
Caleb Enerson is a sophomore in the
School of Public affairs and a conservative
columnist for The Eagle.
