Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Keep legal drinking age where it is – at 21

If there’s a deeply compelling reason for dropping the minimum legal drinking age to 18, the distinguished academic supporters of the Amethyst Initiative haven’t made it yet.

Granted, the statement signed by 100 college presidents – including Pacific Lutheran University’s Loren Anderson – doesn’t come right out and say they want a lower drinking age, only that they seek “an informed and dispassionate debate” over the issue. But it clearly states that they believe the current legal drinking age of 21 isn’t working.

They note that “clandestine binge-drinking” is pervasive on college campuses and that in order to buy alcohol, many underage students resort to using fake IDs, a choice that erodes “respect for the law.”

The presidents fail to show how making alcohol easier to get at a younger age would have a dampening impact on binge-drinking. If anything, it would almost certainly worsen the problem and shift it to an even younger age group – high school seniors.

As for using fake IDs, that should become less of a problem as the states comply with tougher federal rules on identification. Much of the fake ID problem could be addressed by getting tougher with drinking establishments that don’t adequately check customer ID. And since when do we do away with good laws just because there are those who choose to break them?

While the proponents fail to make the case for a legal drinking age of 18, those arguing to keep the legal drinking age at 21 are highly persuasive.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving cites a number of well-supported studies that show raising the drinking age to 21 has significantly reduced drunk-driving deaths. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it saves about 900 lives a year. And the National Institutes of Health reports that delaying the legal age of drinking reduces future rates of alcoholism; binge drinking; and alcohol-related traffic accidents, injuries and violence.

Dealing with a college population whose ages vary widely can be a hassle for school administrators – no doubt about it. Their lives would be a lot easier if they could treat all students the same. But lowering the drinking age is a wrong-headed solution. It would only result in more deaths, more ruined lives.

That’s too high a price to pay for convenience.
_________
source: The News Tribune, http://www.thenewstribune.com

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Why Choose Inpatient Treatment Centers?

According to studies, inpatient treatment centers provide the most effective means of treatment for addiction. Statistics show that the longer a patient remains in inpatient treatment, the longer the patient will remain abstinent from drugs. Inpatient treatment centers are safe and effective. When you decide that it’s time to get help for your addiction, you’ll….

5 Ways to Make the Most Out of Alcohol Abuse Treatment

The decision to get needed alcohol abuse treatment often comes with more than a few concerns and doubts. No doubt, the alcohol-affected state of mind a person reaches by the time he or she considers getting treatment doesn’t make the process any easier. Of all the types of addiction treatment available, alcohol abuse treatment carries….

Treatment for co-occurring disorder

People with Co-occurring disorder face both mental problems as well as alcohol addiction problems at the same time. This is a condition that occurs very often and hence the first treatment for the co-occurring disorder is the medical detoxification. It generally takes three to five days for the alcohol detoxification in a medically supervised center….

Alcohol Addiction

Alcohol addiction can be simply defined as a habitual and uncontrollable need for the intake of a liquid that is derived from a fermented fruit, grain or some other natural material. These liquids include wine, beer, rum, or any other hard liquor. The intake of alcohol is termed as addiction when an individual craves strongly….

Drinking Makes You Dumber?

A new study shows that binge drinking may have far more significant effects than merely a bad hangover the next day. Researchers from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, reported that binge drinking can affect the brain in similar ways that are seen in chronic alcohol abusers. Binge drinking is defined in….