Campaign to lower legal drinking age irks safety advocates

Sep 14, 2008

A campaign to lower the legal drinking age has the support of more than 100 college presidents and has attracted the scrutiny of safety leaders and government officials.

Mark V. Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, issued an Aug. 28 press release urging the 125 college presidents who signed a statement in support of lowering the drinking age to reconsider and redouble efforts to help enforce current drinking age laws. Such laws have prevented more than 25,000 deaths since 2006, he said. Rosenker cited data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showing that, in 1982 – before most age-21 laws were enacted – 56 percent of teen drivers killed in traffic crashes had an illegal blood-alcohol concentration. By 2006, that figure was 25 percent, Rosenker said.

Members of the Amethyst Initiative want the legal drinking age of 21 lowered to 18. The organization was created in 2007 by John McCardell, president emeritus of Middlebury College. Amethyst Initiative members claim the current law encourages dangerous binge drinking on campus, and is restrictive to those who are old enough to enlist in the military and vote. Supporters of the initiative include presidents from Duke University, Dartmouth College, Johns Hopkins University and Ohio State University.

Meanwhile, Rosenker, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and government officials say the campaign is misguided and uses misleading information to confuse the public. Rosenker said other methods to curb binge drinking should be pursued.

In related news, findings from a study show legislation that limits the minimum drinking age to 21 saves lives.

The research, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Substance Abuse Policy Research Program and conducted by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, was published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention (Vol. 40, No. 4). According to a press release, researchers examined data from the Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System between 1982 and 1990 and assessed the strength of state legislation aimed at preventing underage drinking. Findings show:

• Laws that make it illegal for anyone younger than 21 to possess or purchase alcohol have led to an 11 percent drop in alcohol-related traffic deaths among youths.
• States with stringent laws against fake IDs reported 7 percent fewer alcohol-related fatalities among drivers younger than 21.