Reader comments at The New York Sun - College Presidents Want Lower Drinking Age

Recent Blog Posts

Reader comment on:
College Presidents Want Lower Drinking Age

Submitted by Kim, Aug 20, 2008 08:35

The alcohol that is being consumed on college campuses is hard liquor, not beer. Students are "pre-gaming" before they go out. This means that they drink as much as possible in a short amount of time since they are not allowed to drink at any of the local establishments. Naturally, the alcohol related traffic accidents are down; students usually walk to where ever they are going. However, they are waking up in strange places, getting raped, getting accused of rape, and overdosing on alcohol to the point of death.

My son's campus (Radford University) is surrounded by bars. There is very little to do in that town for fun. I'm not advocating that drinking is the only way to have fun, but we have to face the facts. With marijuana illegal and beer illegal, kids are turning to hard alcohol and prescription and/or OTC drugs. I was in college in the 70s and we would go out to hear local bands, have a couple of beers and go home. Or, go to a football game, drink a couple of beers and go home. I suggest we go back to beer and wine at 18, hard liquor at 21. I believe we would see a dramatic decrease in alcohol poisoning among our teens.

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.

Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
I am currently a college student in NYC. What many people don't realize is that students are doing FAR more... [MORE]	Anthony	Sep 28, 2008 20:19
Research has shown the lower the drinking the age the earlier kids start drinking. An important book to read on... [MORE]	Maureen Calmes	Sep 2, 2008 14:09
18 year olds are already drinking. College Presidents can't figure out how to run a football league - when they... [MORE]	R. Schumacher	Aug 26, 2008 19:42
Let's just raise the age of joining army to 21, then we can settle this once and for all. [MORE]	J J Jones	Aug 24, 2008 18:42
If young people can vote, be sent to fight wars and be prosecuted in our legal system as an adult,... [MORE]	blackbird21	Aug 23, 2008 13:14
We can send 18 year olds off to foreign lands to potentially die. We can by cigarettes which are going... [MORE]	trevor	Aug 20, 2008 17:41
The alcohol that is being consumed on college campuses is hard liquor, not beer. Students are "pre-gaming" before they go...	Kim	Aug 20, 2008 08:35
Maybe they should tie it to high school graduation. Proof of age 18 and proof of high school graduation and... [MORE]	benji	Aug 19, 2008 23:25
This is another one of those laws like segregation, women's voting, etc. that's just silly and outdated. Of course we'll... [MORE]	Sweet Nectar	Aug 19, 2008 14:59
MADD should run shuttles to and from parties if they want to discourage drunk driving. When drinking is punished, it... [MORE]	Joel	Aug 19, 2008 14:11
I have three boys in their early 20s. Here is what I have told them about drinking (we never let... [MORE]	ray	Aug 19, 2008 14:09
By lowering the age, you have more young people having their first alcohol experiences while still living at home, under... [MORE]	Branden Mann	Aug 19, 2008 13:19
SRLucado wrote "Let's see...Academics claim that stricter laws against drinking have failed, so they now want to ease up on... [MORE]	Craig	Aug 19, 2008 12:22
There is no evidence to support Mothers Against Drunk Driving's claim that allowing 18, 19 and 20-year old adults to... [MORE]	Walter F. WOuk	Aug 19, 2008 10:34
I think a consideration for college administrators is revenue. Back in the early 80s when the drinking age was lower... [MORE]	Mattsky	Aug 19, 2008 09:22
Let's see...Academics claim that stricter laws against drinking have failed, so they now want to ease up on the restrictions.... [MORE]	SRLucado	Aug 19, 2008 09:11
May make sense to lower legal age a service establishments but not package stores. [MORE]	edh	Aug 18, 2008 22:20

Reader comment on:College Presidents Want Lower Drinking Age

Other reader comments on this article

Comment on College Presidents Want Lower Drinking Age

Reader comment on:
College Presidents Want Lower Drinking Age