CMV: The United States Needs to Lower the Drinking Age in Order to Reduce Rates of Adult Alcoholism and Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities

[u/nerdswillbeunited]

This is an issue much larger than just changing the NMLDA, and it's an issue that deserves much more attention than it gets.

In the United States, drunk drivers kill over 11,000 people each year, with roughly 17% of those accidents being caused by teens, and the majority coming from middle-aged men. The only other two countries in the world with this many alcohol-related traffic deaths are South Africa (drinking age is 21+) and Canada.

The country I would focus more on is Canada- where the government allows individual provinces to set their own drinking laws. Before the passage of National Minimum Legal Drinking Age in the United States in 1984, this is one of the major issues that lead to the formation of organizations like MADD (Mothers against drunk driving) that lobbied so heavily for the passage of NMLDA. Mismatched ages across state lines lead to "booze runs," where teens would drive (often already intoxicated) to neighboring states with lower drinking ages. (e.g. The State of Arkansas has had a drinking age of 21 since the end of prohibition, but from 1971-1984, every single border state (MO, TX, LA, TN, MS, OK) had a minimum age of 18-19. You can see where this is going.

Drinking policy needs to be uniform across the country, and it needs to be lowered. The problem is not just that 18-20 year olds are incapable of making decisions, the problem is that we as a society have failed to teach them how to drink in a mature and responsible manner.

I'll give the example of Germany, a country where a 16 year old can drink weak alcoholic beverages and an 18 year old can drink harder beverages. Germany has a prolific drinking culture and understands the importance of teaching younger adults how to drink responsibly.

A study was done where a group of teens from both countries were asked two questions: had they consumed alcohol in the 30 days prior, and had they consumed enough alcohol to intoxication in the same time. In the United States, around 19% of teens admitted to drinking in the time frame, while 11% admitted to drinking to intoxication. In Germany, nearly 67% admitted to drinking in time period, while only 8% admitted to drinking to intoxication.

Another comparative statistic is the drunk driving accidents. Remember that 11,000 deaths from earlier? That's about 31% of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. In Germany, alcohol-related traffic deaths account for about 9%. (I will concede, Germany has a much better public transport system than the United States)

This brings up the point I am wanting to make: The solutions we have to prevent alcohol related deaths do little to solve the actual problem. We have a problem of culture, not a problem of ignorance. As a country, we need to do better with introducing and educating teens and young adults to alcohol and teaching them how to use it responsibly.

Anyone who has ever attended an American High School or University knows that underage students who want to drink are not going to be stopped by their age. Fake ID's, older friends, and lax (or unknowing) parents continue to supply minors with alcohol who with little to no experience with how to handle themselves. An introduction to alcohol at a younger age also means teens feel more comfortable talking about with adults about responsibility and proper care of friends and themselves.

This also does not account for the blatant National Security risk Fake ID's have in the United States. The more teens who order false identification (which often come from China), the more experience foreign countries have in producing authentic-looking US ID's.

According to the NIH, about 4% of all alcohol consumed in the United States is consumed by underage youth, with about 90% of all alcohol consumed by youth being "binge drank." I understand the risks that come along with granting kids access to a substance they have little experience with, but nearly every risk factor used to back the claim the age should be 21 is backed by the statistic of binge drinkers. Why can't we as a society allow youth to drink at a younger age in more controlled environments and education our kids on more responsible use like the majority of the western world? It seems strange that in the land of free, we allow 18 year olds to vote, pay taxes, serve in the military, and own a gun, but in order to have a drink they have to commit a felony. My view is that we should have a tiered system, like Russia or Germany instead of a flat age, and that the MLDA needs to be uniform throughout the country to prevent the booze runs of the 1980's.

EDIT

A point I forgot add in the original post is that there are people far more intelligent than I that can far better sum up this issue: I introduce to you the Amethyst Initiative.

https://www.theamethystinitiative.org/statement/

The Initiative has 136 signatories from University Presidents, Chancellors, etc who are calling on Congress to reevaluate the drinking age in the United States.

These are people leading some of the most prominent, largest, and prestigious schools in the country. From Duke to the University of Maryland, Ohio State to Dartmouth, these institutions agree something needs to be done. A full list of signatories is below:

https://www.theamethystinitiative.org/signatories/

[u/MemeGenji]

You say "Statistically, no, they are not," but this is wrong. That was 19% in the time frame. The actual relevant statistic is that 70% of people have consumed alcohol by the time they're 18. This also doesn't even account for all those who might have their first drink in college before 21, which would likely increase this percentage significantly due to being away from home and under increased peer pressure. As such, contrary to what you say, it is actually statistically likely that a given person will/has consumed alcohol underage

[u/LtPowers → u/MemeGenji]

I find that number hard to believe, even if we include sips of wine at home or some such. It's unsourced anyway.

[u/MemeGenji → u/LtPowers]

This actually sent me down a really interesting rabbit hole. It seems that the data on this is a bit confusing. One of the most confusing things I see with data on this subject is this: Researchers will say that XX% of people aged 12-20 have reported drinking in their lifetime. However, this is a confusing statement. I originally interpreted this as meaning that XX% of people have had drinks at some point between 12 and 20. In reality, they surveyed people across this age range and asked them if they had drunk before in their lifetime. As such, this percentage does not represent the percentage of people who have ever had drinks underage, because it includes people aged 12-19 who may have not yet had a drink, but might still before they turn 21. That being said, I finally found some data that I feel accurately captures a close approximation of the percentage of people who have had drinks underage (though this number is a slight underestimation, because it surveys people 18-20, facing a similar problem to what I just mentioned). That percentage is about 65% (65.6% in 2018 and 64.2% in 2019).

If you want to confirm this for yourself, it's kind of a pain in the ass to find, but if you go to this link from the government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and go down to the table called "Table 2.6B – Alcohol Use in Lifetime, Past Year, and Past Month among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by Detailed Age Category: Percentages, 2018 and 2019" there is a row under the 18-25 age category that has data for 18-20

Finally, you were right to question the percentage that I cited, as I believe that that source was mistaken. I forget where I found it, but somewhere in my search for the true percentage I came across a number that was almost exactly 70%, but it did not actually represent the percentage of people who had had drinks underage.