Age is just a number, right? Well, apparently to those who control the flow of alcohol in this country it is more than that. It appears that those who shape the laws of this country have never realized that a twenty-one year old can be more immature than a fifteen year old, and that a fifteen year old can be more mature than a twenty-one year old. But let’s look at the history of the drinking age law in the United States before I indulge myself by expressing my position on this matter.

It turns out that each state, technically, can establish its own minimum drinking age. But thankfully our wise national politicians have decided that a state cannot make this decision on their own. Thus they have bullied each state into accepting a twenty-one year drinking age minimum by denying any state that refuses a large amount of its federal funding for state highways. And so now we understand why this ridiculous age limitation has been imposed on us.

But let us continue and discuss the issue of lowering the drinking age and some of the many reasons to do such a thing. Of course, this argument may well all be for naught because the group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, will fight any legislation to lower the drinking age down to its last mother. However, I’m addressing a group of even minded people, not a group of iron minded people.

Let us address the pros that are quite obvious. Firstly, if I’m correct, being eighteen qualifies you to do several other things that are potentially and definitely worse for your health than drinking. We have, of course, smoking cigarettes. Now, personally, I’m not quite certain why Congress in all of its wisdom has limited drinking to those over eighteen, but allows eighteen year olds to smoke. Smoking causes cancer, period. It even says that all over the packs. Alcohol bottles are labeled with warnings, but they do not bluntly say that you will get cancer from drinking. That is because alcohol is much safer than smoking. Common sense truly does reside within the halls of Congress.

Let’s move on to another eighteen and older activity that potentially is more harmful than consuming alcohol. What I’m thinking of is joining the military. I would like for our representatives to ask those who have been injured in our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the thousands of families who have lost loved ones whether they think drinking is more harmful than serving in the military. It appears that our Congressmen and women are more willing to allow us to be seriously injured or killed in wars than allow us to have a nice cold one.

After those substantial arguments, let us move on to yet another reason as to why we should lower the drinking age. Our lawmakers (again in their great wisdom) seem to want us to try more dangerous drugs and other illicit substances. Let us compare the drug use in the Netherlands to that of the United States.

The Netherlands has a drinking age of sixteen, while we have our age of twenty-one. Note as well that cannabis, or as it is more frequently called in the United States, marijuana, is, in essence, legalized in the Netherlands. Yet the interesting thing is that twice as many people use marijuana regularly in the United States than in the Netherlands. Perhaps this is because of the fact that legalizing alcohol discourages teenagers from seeking out other drugs, like marijuana. So pick your poison senators and congress people. Would you rather your children smoke an illicit substance, or consume a legal substance?

But I will agree that binge drinking is a much greater problem in the United States than in Europe. An alarming fact, yet it plays right into the hands of the pro argument. Rather than placing this taboo on this activity that almost all of us will engage in at some point in our lives, parents and educators should address this issue of drinking at an earlier age so that we are educated and become more responsible drinkers. Instead of wasting our tax dollars on enforcement of this ludicrous law forced upon the states, our tax dollars should be spent on education programs for teenagers. Not on programs to purely instill fear in students regarding drinking, but to educate teenagers on responsible drinking practices.

Drinking will always happen so why not prevent dangerous drinking by addressing the issue and bringing “underage” drinking into the open?  Fortunately, there is some progress in this arena. Seven states, including California, allow underage consumption of alcohol on private premises without parental consent. Just keep that in mind when you visit the Golden State. Perhaps Massachusetts will end up being the proud eighth state on that list.

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