Dear Editor,

            In the last few years in the United States there has been talk regarding the issue of the legal drinking age.  In the past, decisions have been made to lower the age to 18 and then to raise the age to the current age of 21. I think the age should not be lowered back to 18.  I would like to offer two reasons for my position on this issue.  First, lowering the drinking age would make even younger kids want to start drinking.  Second, even grown adults can not handle themselves with alcohol, how can we allow the age to be decreased.

            To address my first point I would like for you to think about how old you were when you first thought of drinking alcohol.  My guess is that you were probably around the age of 18.  I think this is due to the fact that when kids feel that they are getting close to legal age they feel like they can push the issue and start experimenting early.  If the age were to be lowered back to, let us say 18, then I think the experimenting would spread into an even lower age bracket.  I feel that this would lead to kids not even of legal driving age to get their first tastes of alcohol before they even get behind the wheel of a car.  This will be a chain reaction to more people drinking and driving and, therefore, lead to more alcohol related accidents.

            The second point I would like to address is responsibility.  There are people of legal drinking age that can not be responsible when they drink.  How are we to think that even younger adults will be able to be responsible?  If the age is to be lowered the penalties are going to have to be stiffer for breaking the rules.  This will not only affect the young, but also the older drinking society.  Also affected by stiffer rules would be those who are responsible when they drink.   They may have only had a small number of drinks, but with stiffer penalties they could still get into some major trouble.  I think to justify lowering the legal age to 18 the current legal adults should have to demonstrate beyond a shadow of doubt that they can be responsible when they drink.  They need to set a good example for those coming close to the legal age.

            These points can be argued either way, but I strongly feel that lowering the legal drinking age is a very bad idea.  It will stimulate younger interest leading to more accidents and cause even more irresponsible people to be "out and about" on any given night.  Again to justify lowering the age society needs to show that they can be responsible when they drink.

Brandon Pettett ‘03