OUR VIEW: ‘Legal age’ should be a consistent one

Staff Editorial
Published: September 8, 2008

» SUMMARY: The age to be considered an adult — whether for drinking, voting or serving in the military — should be consistent.

Should the legal drinking age be lowered?

A group of college presidents recently came out and said they think it should happen, so we asked local folks the same question as our “Issue of the Week.”

Those who responded to the Star-Exponent’s poll think it’s the way to go. Nearly three-fourths of the people who responded said that 18-year-olds should be able to drink legally. Twenty-five percent said they didn’t think lowering the legal drinking age was a good idea.

But should this happen?

College presidents say that even though the current drinking age of 21 has made it illegal for most college students to drink, it hasn’t stopped the practice. Instead, they insist current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus, the use of fake IDs and other illegal activities.

Opponents of lowering the drinking age,  such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, say that more fatal car crashes would be the result of allowing 18-year-olds to drink legally.
Who’s right?

Both are and that’s why this issue is so sticky. To make matters even more com-plicated, the states can set their own drinking age, but federal highway dollars can be withheld from any state that lowers the age.

That’s a pretty big hammer.

Here’s the bottom line as to why public sentiment is often in favor of allowing 18-year-olds to drink: They are allowed to vote, legally sign contracts, serve in the military and are called to be on juries. But they can’t legally drink a beer.

The law should be consistent.