Progressive Wednesday

Choosing booze responsibly.

June 3rd, 2007 by Matt

Okay, as social libertarians, we believe that one of the most important purposes of the government is to protect civil liberties. Amongst those liberties, we believe, is the right to consume alcohol. The current laws in all 50 state prevent adults under the age of 21 from purchasing alcohol. I say “purchasing” because the parents of adults and children under the age of 21 are permitted to serve their own offspring alcohol. Also, I mention that we’re talking about state laws, because there is no national law preventing adults under the age of 21 from purchasing or consuming alcohol.

I keep hammering on the word “adult” for a reason. Our culture has clearly decided that at age 18 Americans are adults. By the time an American is 18, she or he can legally:

1. Own a gun.
2. Rent a car.
3. Join the military.
4. Vote for any elected office.
5. Run for school board.
6. Gamble.
7. Buy cigarettes.
8. Get married.
9. Adopt a child.
10. Drive a car.
11. Sign a binding contract.
12. Own a business.
13. Serve on a jury.

The logic of allowing 18-year-olds to do all of the aforementioned, and not allow them to consume alcohol seems like the not-so-perfect reasoning of a four-year-old. “Why don’t you want to eat your spinach?” you ask your wee one. And your kid answers, much like the state governments, “Because.”

Okay, we’ll grant that our various governments give “reasons,” but these are easily dissected with information besides those I’ve already given. To see for yourself, check out this link and this link. The only real reason behind these state laws is The National Minimum Drinking Age Act. And why did this federal act make the states kowtow? Because if a state didn’t change the drinking age to 21, they lose “10% of annual federal highway funding.” So, essentially, the federal government, which should be protecting our civil liberties, twisted the arms of the states because they thought it would reduce drunk driving and binge drinking.

All this is to say that we wholeheartedly agree with a new campaign called “Choose Responsibly.” This organization proposes:

Allowing states to pilot alcohol education programs for 18-to-20 year-olds who are out of high school and then issue so-called “drinking licenses” to young people who successfully complete the course.

As John M. McCardell Jr., former president of Middlebury College and founder of Choose Responsibly, puts it: “If binge drinking has never been worse, why do we think legal age 21 has been successful?”

Educating young adults, instead of irrationally penalizing young adults, seems far, far closer to the kinds of freedoms we ought to expect in our country.