It’s time the legal drinking age should be changed. I mean, come on, weed is almost legal! Yet, we still have to be 21 years of age to purchase and consume alcohol? Being of the tender age of 19 and having a late spring birthday I have quite a bit of time to wait before I can legally purchase and consume alcohol. I will admit I had a fake but now that I recently have gotten it confiscated and do not want to go through the trouble of purchasing a new one, it’s time I write this article.
First off , why is the age to legally consume and purchase alcohol 21? As some people know, it goes back to Mothers Against Drunk Driving as a driving force for changing the law from 18 to 21. What some do not know is that the federal government forcefully shoved it down each state’s throat with the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. The Feds basically said, “make your minimum age 21 or you lose up to 10 percent of your federal highway funding.” Obviously all states complied with that one pretty quickly. Oddly enough, the law only prohibits purchase and possession and not consumption, but all states as of 1995 including Wisco have passed legislation prohibiting consumption, purchase and possession (damnit).
Next, what should that age be if we were to change it? Most people say right away change it back to 18! Eh, hold up a second. Yes, you are technically an adult at 18, but I can understand the resistance to having high school students getting drunk before or during school and then driving. So then what about 19? Seems like the next logical option right? It does, but the more I have been thinking about the age question, the more I realize how little age has to do with maturity to a certain extent. I know plenty of 18 year olds who are far more mature then people five or more years their elder. That is why in my opinion, let’s scrap the idea of having it based on age. Instead you go off of merit and achievement. I think you should be legally allowed to consume, purchase and possess alcohol based on the completion of high school or a comparable secondary education. If a high school decides you are educated enough to become an adult and possibly enter the work force, are you not educated and mature enough to drink a beer? I would hope so.
Some possible benefits I think of making this change are more responsibly drinking young adults. Freshmen do not need to pound eight shots any more than they need to black out in the middle of Broom Street when they are trying to find some party on Mifflin. Not saying this still won’t happen, but such a deterrence is worth a try!
Now, how to police this and limit drunk driving? Everyone is going to carry their high school diplomas around with them now are they? I don’t even know where mine is. Possibly a sticker that is on your driver’s license similar to an organ donor sticker? An additional identification? For limiting drunk driving you can always make the penalties stiffer for offenders as well. Add a mandatory alcohol safety class in high school? I don’t know. All I know is I am pissed I can’t drink a damn beer (legally) because I am damn sure I am mature enough.
Wanna crack open a beer and tell Jonah what you think about this topic? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
