August 16 , 2009

A Look at Underage Drinking

After completing a walk along Riverfront Park Sunday evening, and walking to my car, I overheard a group of college students. “Tubing down the river was fun. Now let’s go back to the apartment and play beer pong. “ This drinking game is popular at bars, tailgating events, etc,and it involves ping pong balls, 16 ounce cups partially filled with beer, set up in equilateral triangles.

These students leaving the river Sunday may or may not have been 21, but it started me thinking about the recent discussions to lower the drinking age from twenty one to eighteen.

On July 17, 1984, President Ronald Reagen signed into law increasing the legal drinking age to 21. Dr. Morris Chafetz, a psychiatrist who was on the presidential commission that recommended raising the drinking age to 21, wrote that this action was “the single most regrettable decision” of his career. He says: “Legal Age 21 has not worked. To be sure, drunk driving fatalities are lower now than they were in 1982. …… But the law has resulted in ‘collateral, off-road damage’ such as binge drinking that occurs in underage youth and crimes like date rape, assaults and property damage. (LA Times, 7-27-09)

During my college years (when the legal drinking age was 18) binge drinking was rampant, beginning Thursday evening and lasting throughout the weekend. That appears still to be the case. Two years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a comprehensive survey of 15,240 students at public and private high schools and found that binge drinking is strongly associated with sexual activity, violence and other high-risk behaviors.

College leaders have found it impossible to stop the underage drinking, and are doing their best to contain it. Last year, college presidents from some of the best-known U.S. universities called on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, citing current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus. They were rebuffed by the organization M.A. D. D. (Mother’s Against Drunk Driving)

Over the years studies have been consistent sharing that the earlier one begins drinking the higher the rate of alcohol dependence at some time in their lives. So the debate goes on, and I suspect you will be hearing more about it in the coming months.

The United Methodist Church has an historic support of abstinence from alcohol as a faithful witness to God's liberating and redeeming love for persons, and a strong pastoral concern…Since the use of illegal drugs, as well as illegal and problematic use of alcohol, is a major factor in crime, disease, death, and family dysfunction, we support educational programs as well as other prevention strategies encouraging abstinence from illegal drug use and, with regard to those who choose to consume alcoholic beverages, judicious use with deliberate and intentional restraint, with Scripture as a guide. (The UM Social Principles)