Lower Drinking Age Won't End Binge Drinking

The 100 or so university presidents, including Butler's Bobby Fong, who have called for a national discussion about lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 are certainly right about one thing: The prevalence of binge drinking on college campuses is a health and safety issue of staggering proportions.

One study found that about 500,000 students a year suffer injuries related to alcohol consumption. About 1,700 students a year die in accidents or other incidents connected to drinking. The debate is especially timely given that millions of students are returning to campuses this month.

But is it really a good idea to push the legal standard for consumption to 18, an age when many students are still in high school? Would a lower drinking age provide younger teens with easier access to alcohol? Is there sufficient scientific research to support a legal change that could have significant ramifications for the well being of millions of young people?

The university presidents have been careful thus far to call only for debate on such questions. And a debate is always welcome.

Much of the hard evidence, however, points against lowering the age limit. Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, for instance, has found that most binge drinking takes place among adults older than 25.

That fact undermines the argument that removing the "forbidden'' label on alcohol consumption would somehow make it less enticing.

Research also indicates that raising the drinking age has helped reduce deaths related to drunken driving.

For his part, Fong says he only wants to be able to better educate students on how to responsibly handle alcohol, including the ability to model moderate consumption.

The need for more education on the dangers of binge drinking is indisputable. It's questionable, however, whether the style of behavior demonstrated by a university president or a professor at a dinner or reception will be replicated by freshmen let loose at their first Friday night keg party.

Perhaps a better approach would include more consistent and stricter enforcement of university rules and state laws against consumption by minors. On some campuses, dorms are awash in alcohol. Is it reasonable to ban consumption for all students on campus, regardless of age, just as cigarette smoking is restricted to certain areas now?

As Fong and other university leaders contend, an open discussion about binge drinking, and how to fight it, is very much needed. Lowering the legal drinking age, however, could carry unintended consequences that would make the problem worse.

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