Toasting the Federal Drinking Age

As I made my way through the infamous Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFS), I flipped the page to question twenty-two, “All males between the ages of 18 and 25 must register with the Selective Service.” In the context our fifth year in Iraq, the Vietnam-era question asked by so many draftees crossed my mind: If I can die for my country, why can’t I raise a glass in its honor?
I think the federal drinking age, as set by the National Minimum Drinking Age (NMDA) act, should be lowered from 21 to 18. As a teenager who has, and still feels the illicit grandeur of alcohol, I know that if the underage prohibition on alcohol were to be removed, the attraction would leave with it.
Without a doubt, the drinking age encourages underage bingeing. Since minors are unable to consume alcohol in the social obligations of a public setting they are forced to take drinking ‘underground’. This underground world of underage consumption means minors must hide their drinking from others and often leads to irresponsible actions. A Center for Disease Control study showed that 40 percent of underage drinkers surveyed either drove an automobile after bring-drinking, or rode with an intoxicated friend. This fact runs counter to statements made by groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) who claim that somehow “the NMDA has lead to a drop in drunk driving.” This hollow platitude ignores the fact that the same CDC study also cited a 24 percent increase in underage DUI arrests. This shallow argument is further rebuked when the advance in safety technology such as seatbelts and airbags that ran concurrent with this drop is considered
Alcohol-related sexual abuse is an established problem for users over the age of 21. Why is the same phenomenon ignored within the context of the underage drinking debate? Of the 33.7 percent of adolescents who reported unwanted sexual episodes, one in four reported the consumption of alcohol before the sex. If alcohol is not the most ‘forbidden fruit’ of society, than sex surely takes the cake It is no wonder that there is such a prevalence of alcohol-related sex as long as the drinking age remains higher than the age of consent.
I would hope to be able to make one last toast. I want to raise my glass above the haze that has since 1984 obstructed the view of the American people; a haze that perpetuates hollow claims, semantics, and fear-tactics. Cheers.