Responsible Drinking

Back in the 1980’s, the government decided to raise the legal drinking age to 21, stating that doing so would lower the number of deaths attributable to alcohol related crashes, especially within the population of 18-21 year olds. And there are many studies that purport to show a correlation between lowered deaths and the lower drinking age. But raising the drinking age to 21 just put a band-aid over the real problem: we don’t teach our children to drink responsibly.

Our kids grow up watching TV and movies where drinking is associated with having fun, sex, having friends, being popular, looking cool and all those things that teenagers crave. They see beer commercials while watching football games and beer and sports become intertwined. We dangle all this apparently fun and exciting things in front of our kids for 18 years and tell them at the same time, “No! You can’t have this!” That’s like telling a two year old “Don’t touch that!” The minute you turn your back, the two year old’s gonna stick their finger out and touch it!

Underage drinking, particularly binge drinking, has been on the increase in the US for many years.  Just recently in my neck of the woods, a star soccer player at a local university was found dead after a night of binge drinking. Another young man was found lying dead at the bottom of a stairwell after being reported missing for more than two days. Apparently, he’d been drinking and had fallen down the stairs. Universities across the country have their own security forces— most often students of the university— whose job (in part) is to go around to the dorms and break up parties.

States are passing zero tolerance laws for those who are under 21. If you get caught behind the wheel of a vehicle, even if you are not above the legal limit for intoxication for someone over 21, you can actually be charged with a misdemeanor in some states, which means you now have a criminal record (often one that does not have the option of being wiped from your record at a later date) for doing what the vast majority those under the age of 21 do: drink when they get the chance. It’s obviously not a deterrent, but it IS filling the coffers of the state with increased fines, fees for getting back a suspended driver’s license, and court costs associated with the charges. In college towns, police look for any reason they can to pull over a young driver, even something as simple as not having a light on your license place. And these officers often get paid overtime for appearing at court hearings for those they ticketed for underage drinking. Some cops have more than doubled their salary with this overtime compensation. And of course, all that overtime comes from the pockets of the taxpayers.

In European countries like France, Ireland and Spain, there is no minimum drinking age. Alcohol consumption is a part of family time during meals and on other special occasions. Alcohol use is not a carrot hanging in front of the face of every child from the day they’re born, tempting them over and over again. They’re taught to drink responsibly and as a result, there are fewer alcohol related deaths in accidents even though there is more alcohol consumed per capita in these countries. They also don’t have the same problems with binge drinking and the related deaths associated with alcohol poisoning.

One of the best definitions of insanity I’ve ever heard is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results each time. The laws on underage drinking aren’t working. It’s not deterring kids from drinking: they’re just finding ways of doing it that aren’t likely to get them busted. Yes, it has saved lives on the road, but it hasn’t really saved lives in the long run because kids are still dying because they don’t know how to drink responsibly.

Of course, that doesn’t even touch on the constitutional aspect of preventing someone who is of legal age from drinking. Or using any drugs for that matter. But that’s another post at a later date.