In the interest of full disclosure, first I must admit the following:

—I am a former binge drinker.

—It was in college that I began to drink alcoholically.

—Today I am in long-term recovery from my alcoholism.

—I work for a facility that treats people addicted to alcohol, some of whom are as young as 16.

—I know and respect the former college president who is leading a nationwide effort to lower the drinking age. And I strongly disagree with him.

In other words, all of the above make it impossible for me to take an objective position in the debate to allow people to drink legally on their 18th birthdays.

But that's the point. When it comes to the consumption of alcohol, there is no objectivity. Beer, wine and distilled spirits skew people's conscious ability to consider and then make proper choices. That's why they drive drunkenly or drink until they black out, cause injuries to themselves or others, lose their jobs and shatter their families, compromise their morals or even die when their organs are overwhelmed by intoxication. And researchers have found that alcohol is more potent on the impressionable brains and bodies of young people, who have not learned life's hard lessons yet.

The Amethyst Initiative is a statement that's making news. It's signed by 100 college presidents, led by former Middlebury College President John McCardell. In part, it says: "Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer."

The argument is like comparing water to whiskey. I voted in my first election in 1977, a few months after I turned 18. That same year, I signed a contract to deliver newspapers in my hometown on Long Island. Though I wasn't required to register for military service and it would be decades before I ever was called to jury duty, I was deemed responsible enough to hold a driver's license and a passport, get a job, and pay federal and state taxes long before I turned 21.

But none of those activities or obligations fostered the propensity to drink and get drunk or the irresponsibility that followed. And while I did consume my first beer legally on my 18th birthday in May, that magic date didn't trigger my spiral into alcoholism. It was only when I entered Washington and Lee University in the fall after I turned 18 that I discovered I could drink as much as I wanted, whenever I wanted.

My freshman year, I often threw up after alcohol-fueled parties. I engaged in risky sexual behavior. Fortunately, I did not have a car, but I often rode with drivers who had imbibed as much as I had. The decimal point of my grade-point average was on the wrong side of the first digit, and academic probation followed. I was John Belushi's Bluto in "Animal House." But there was nothing funny about my character. It was the real me.

What happened to me was caused by the simple fact that alcohol was readily available in an environment where the checks and balances of home life suddenly had vanished. Drinking was part of the culture on campus, in the fraternity house and at mealtime. That it was legal only helped to foster that culture, especially among newly minted 18-year-old college freshmen like me.

Nine years after I graduated, I hit bottom and was treated for my addiction to alcohol and other drugs. I don't blame my alma mater for my alcoholism. But there's no doubt my spiral downward was jump-started during the four years I was a student at a reputable institution of "higher" learning.

"Twenty-one is not working," according to the college presidents' statement. But from my own experiences a long time ago, 18 never worked, either.

William C. Moyers is the vice president of external affairs for the Hazelden Foundation and the author of "Broken," a best-selling memoir. The paperback edition was released in August 2007. Please send your questions to William Moyers at William@WilliamMoyers.com. To find out more about William Moyers and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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