College Presidents Call for Lower Drinking Age

College presidents from one hundred colleges and universities around the country are calling for a national debate on lowering the drinking age from twenty-one back to eighteen. Known as the Amethyst Initiative, their collective claim is the legal age requirement for drinking is not working at twenty-one, and is the major cause for the dangerous culture of binge drinking among college students. One problem seems to stem from the practice students have developed where they "tank up" (i.e., drink as much as possible) before going out to places where they won’t be legally served. Some claim having it be illegal for so long during a typical four-year college period makes it hard to have any official dialog when the students would have to admit they are breaking the law in order to participate.

Opponents to lowering the age claim all it would do is move the problem down the line and make it a bigger issue in high school and general society again. They also bring up statistics showing a drop in alcohol related deaths since the drinking age was raised. Other recent studies show there is a possible tie between the atmospheres and cultures certain colleges are known to have that create an enabling and attracting environment for binge drinking behavior.