College Heads Unite to Debate Drinking Age
The pursuit of an 18-year-old drinking age saw new light today, as more than 100 college presidents called on lawmakers to reconsider the current minimum. The movement is called the Amethyst Initiative, which is named after the gem the ancient Greeks credited for warding off drunkenness. It contends that the "21-year-old drinking age is not working, and, specifically, that it has created a culture of dangerous binge drinking on their campuses."
The group has been quietly gaining ground over the past year, recruiting presidents and chancellors to sign on to its mission of provoking debate about the drinking age, and it now plans to take out newspaper ads over the next few weeks.
Critics of the initiative include Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who accuse the presidents of misrepresenting science and looking for an easy way out of an inconvenient problem. MADD even goes as far as warning parents to think about the safety at colleges represented on the list, the Associated Press reports.
Prominent universities on the list include Dartmouth, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Morehouse, Ohio State, Spelman, Syracuse, and Maryland.
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Reader Comments
drinking age
I'm 21 and a first year college student at a major university. I think that the drinking age should be lowered. Once you turn 21, the "fun" of it wears off. You're not doing anything illegal anymore and you don't have that rush that you could get caught. I personally think that the drinking age should be lowered to 16 and the driving age raised to 18. That way, your crazy get drunk all the time years are done before you can get behind the wheel. Oh, and Rachel... drinking in high school doesn't get in the way. I did it and graduated with honors at the top of my class of 400 and got into a highly credited university after taking two years off.
drinking age
I'm a middle school student researching this for health and i find that 21 should stay the leagal age. this way students finishing their last year of high school and possibly the most important wont fail and not get into better college. i say we keep it at 21. who is it hurting
a teen's view
I am 17 and have never drank, never will drank, and don't like it when others my age drink. THe problem is that most teens think that the only way to have fun is to be drunk. Wrong! but by making it legal then those who actually follow the rules will now be found wasting thier lives away will the bottle.
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