Experience, Science And The Drinking Age

Main Category: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Mental Health
Article Date: 12 Oct 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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Recently more than 100 college presidents surrendered their authority to do something meaningful about campus alcohol abuse by urging policymakers to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. There has not been so great a "hand-washing" of a significant problem since Pontius Pilate! Thankfully, this group did not include University of Wyoming leadership.

I have a unique perspective on this issue. I was a member of the Wyoming Legislature when it lowered the drinking age to 18 in 1973. In fact I co-sponsored the bill. We argued then, as do these college presidents now, that if you were old enough to go to war (then it was Viet Nam) you were old enough to drink. We railed that the law was not enforced and argued that learning to drink earlier in life would teach responsibility. I was just as wrong then as these college presidents are now.

Two matters have changed my mind since we experimented with a lower drinking age in the 1970s. One is simply that we tried that route and it didn't work. The other is the science and research available today that was not available then.

Any informed discussion must be based in part on our knowledge as state leaders, the experience of local community coalitions, and the extensive literature dedicated to underage drinking. This knowledge, experience, and research all point to an important conclusion: the current 21 year-old drinking age is consistent with human brain development and is an essential component of a comprehensive strategy to advance healthy lifestyles and address the negative consequences of youth alcohol use.

When the U.S. Surgeon General visited Wyoming this spring he noted "adolescence is a time when the developing brain may be particularly susceptible to long-term negative effects from alcohol use." The Surgeon General's research establishes the use of alcohol is a significant health issue for youth as their brains are not fully developed until well into their 20s "creating a significant and extended period during its development of potential exposure to alcohol's harmful effects."

Underage drinking has a devastating impact in this country:

Mortality: It is estimated underage drinking is responsible for the deaths of approximately 5,000 people under the age of 21 each year - including 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found drinking drivers under the age of 21 are involved in fatal crashes at twice the rate of adult drivers.

Student violence: Every year, alcohol is the cause of more than 696,000 assaults and 97,000 instances of sexual assault or date rape among college students. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 11 percent of students damaged property while under the influence of alcohol.

Academic problems: According to the U.S .Department of Education, alcohol abuse creates academic problems among 25 percent of college students.

Science also proves the earlier a person begins drinking, the more likely he or she is to become a problem drinker.

Among Wyoming youth, binge drinking remains a huge challenge with almost 30 percent of our high school students engaging in this dangerous behavior. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would mean many high school students could legally drink. No doubt some would provide alcohol to their younger classmates, siblings and friends.

The relationship between being "old enough to fight for your country" and being "old enough to drink" is perverse at best. The military may recruit youth partially because of their risk-taking characteristics, but commercial insurance companies also charge them higher premiums for the same reason. The impulsiveness of youth may make a good soldier but it does not mix well with alcohol use.

Gladly, we have made progress in prevention. Studies examining the impact of the minimum legal drinking age reflect a number of positive changes. In 1984, before the drinking age was 21, approximately 8 percent of high school seniors never used alcohol in their lifetime. In 2007, approximately 28 percent of high school seniors never used alcohol in their lifetime. In 1982, when most states still had an 18 year-old drinking age, 60 percent of traffic fatalities were alcohol related. In 2005, that number had declined by more than a third.

Yes, prevention is hard work and continued progress requires college presidents to become engaged. Waving the white flag and returning to a time when young people were allowed to drink legally would be to ignore all we learned from that failed experiment and all that we know now because of science.

by Rodger McDaniel
Wyoming Department of Health deputy director for mental health and substance abuse services

Wyoming Department of Health

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