Every now and again, a movement arises to repeal a law that, on the face of it, looks like it was a bad idea when it was enacted.  Some people would say that raising the drinking age to 21 was one of those laws.  The argument goes that if a person can vote, go to war, and be treated as a legal adult in all other areas at the age of 18, they should be allowed to drink at that age if they so choose. 

For many states, this was indeed the case in the 1970s.  In 1984, however, Congress raised the legal age for consumption and possession of alcoholic beverages to 21 for ALL states, with the threat that if any state did not comply, they would not receive federal highway funding.  It didn't take long for the respective state legislatures to fall into line.

This heavy-handed policy, egged on by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (one of the earlier examples of nanny-state groups forcing their views on the American public), has now been in place for 23 years.  Supporters of this law can point to statistics showing a drop in driving fatalities by those under 21 and under the influence.  MADD has, then, had an effect on national behavior.  BUT...it is not a complete success, and never will be so.

While studies have shown that binge drinking has declined dramatically among high school seniors, it has not done so among college students.  This is due to the fact that collegians are out on their own for the first time in many cases, and they don't have the parental support and instruction that high schools seniors would have.  Therefore, peer pressure comes into play much more strongly now for a 20-year-old college sophomore than it would for an 18-year-old high school senior back in 1982, and the likelihood of illegal consumption increases as a result.

Note the wording of the first sentence of the previous paragraph.  "Binge drinking has declined dramatically"...but it has NOT gone away completely.  Equally so, drunken-driving fatalities for drivers 16-19 years old involved in accidents is still about 2000 a year.  Had the raising of the legal age to 21 been effective, this number would be zero, and binge drinking percentages would also be zero.  Since they are not, we can conclude that, just as in the 1970s, teenagers can still lay hands on alcohol, consume it, and go out and do stupid things like driving under the influence.

America tried to outlaw alcohol consumption completely back in the 1920s.  All that accomplished was to put a lot of money into the pockets of gangsters, drive respectable citizens into backroom speakeasies, and kill a fairly large number of people with homemade brews that could have been used to strip paint.  The repeal of Prohibition was a recognition that people are going to drink whether the nanny-staters like it or not, and the government might as well get tax money out of that.  It is demonstrated that the 18-to-20-year-old group will drink whether their elders like it or not, and we might as well come to grips with it.

The Cold Hard Fact is that once an American turns eighteen, THEY ARE AN ADULT IN THE EYES OF THE LAW, and denying them the full privileges of that majority is a violation of their civil rights.  It is true that the Constitution limits the ability of a person to run for Senator until they are thirty, or for President until 35, and one might argue that the corollary should be true for alcohol (the life experience necessary to be a good Senator or President reflects the age stricture, and a person does not have enough life experience to make good choices regarding alcohol until they turn 21).  This does not hold true in my mind.  The age was 18 when I attained my majority in 1979, and I managed to survive it, along with many of my peers.  My brother missed the cutoff date by 98 days when the 21 restriction was put in place...but it never stopped him from getting a beer in any saloon he entered.  Parental and role-model guidance are the best ways to guarantee responsible consumption (or no consumption) of alcohol, and it is my belief that that guidance is much more readily available at the age of 18 than it is at age 21.  It is time to repeal Prohibition for our young adults.