BoomerGirl Diary

Thanks to the Amethyst Initiative, a national debate has ensued on lowering the drinking age to 18. It's about time!

Interestingly, the campaign is being spearheaded by a college history professor who claims the current law "has created a culture of dangerous binge drinking." (I had forgotten why the laws changed in the 80s until this Wall Street Journal story reminded me. Wouldn't you know, it all boiled down to money.)

Until now, I have been four-square in favor of the lowering the age to 18. After all, in MY day (you knew that was coming), we could go to bars and drink 3.2 beer in the state of Kansas, starting at age 18. An ample selection of beer halls gave college freshmen, sophomores and juniors places to hang out on a Friday night. House parties were still around, of course, but they weren't the neighborhood-rumbling ragers they are today.

Still, I can't ignore the numbers. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the number of teen-age drunken-driver fatalities has decreased by half since the law's passage in 1984. That's a meaningful statistic, even if you don't have kids.

On the other hand, I was more than annoyed when my then 20-year-old son was slapped with a MIP (Minor in Possession) in Boulder, Colorado, while he sipped a beer on the sidewalk in front of his house. (This was a month before his 21st birthday. The kid always had rotten timing.) Good Lord, I thought, here's a young man who's old enough to fight for his country and vote for president, and he can't enjoy an amber ale in front of his own home?!

I imagine this national discussion - and my personal "point-counterpoint" - will continue for quite some time, and I'm glad it's begun. I'll be watching it evolve. In the meantime, I invite you to weigh in. What say you?