Reopening of drinking-age debate decried

A spokesman for the Massachusetts chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving lashed out at a statement signed by 130 college presidents - including three north of Boston - that calls for a new debate to rethink the national minimum drinking age of 21.

"It is kind of irresponsible," said David DeIuliis, of MADD. "Perhaps they're forgetting history. It's not as if we haven't tried this before. It's a failed experiment."

While DeIuliis and area law enforcement authorities point to a reduction in fatalities since the federal drinking age of 21 became law in 1984, Patricia Meservey, Richard Wylie, and Ghazi Darkazalli believe the current minimum age law is not working. Meservey and Wylie, presidents of Salem State College and Endicott College respectively, support debate but not lowering the drinking age. Darkazalli, president of Marian Court College, said the drinking age should drop from 21 to 18.

"If students entering college at 18 years old can join the military and have the right and responsibility to vote in democratic elections, they should also have the right to make responsible and informed decisions about alcohol consumption," said Darkazalli, who heads the two-year Swampscott college.

The statement, known as the Amethyst Initiative, states that a culture of binge drinking has developed concurrent with the minimum drinking age of 21. The initiative also states that attempts to educate students about alcohol by promoting abstinence are not working, and the law encourages some to make ethical compromises by choosing to use fake identification cards.

But since the Amethyst Initiative was proposed in the summer, MADD has taken the lead in criticizing the initiative. DeIuliis points to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's data, which report that the law saves approximately 1,000 lives a year. He predicted more alcohol-related accidents if the drinking age is dropped. "We've been there before, and what we had were more alcohol-related traffic fatalities among that 16- to 20-year-old age group," DeIuliis said.

DeIuliis was referring to the brief time when it was legal for 18-year-olds to drink in the state. Between 1970 and 1975, more than 25 US states lowered their legal drinking age, and in 1973, Massachusetts dropped its drinking age from 21 to 18. In 1979, the state raised the drinking age from 18 to 20, and in 1984, Governor Michael Dukakis raised the drinking age from 20 to 21.

Since raising the age, drunken driving fatalities have dropped significantly in the state and throughout the country. State officials reported a 39 percent reduction in teenage alcohol-related fatalities in 1980, when compared with 1978. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, national alcohol-related traffic fatalities have dropped from 24,761 in 1984 to 16,919 in 2004.

Even with data like this, Salem State's Meservey said more research is needed to determine who is drinking and why underage drinking occurs. "I think we've got a long-standing problem and that we still have not found good solutions to rectify the problem," she said.

"Let's work with the researchers that are exploring this area; let's learn about what programs work, what programs don't; let's understand the experiences in other societies as to how they manage alcohol, and then let's look with fresh eyes at our own policies to determine whether they are correct policies."

"I think it is time for a national debate," said Wylie, of Endicott College. "We have serious alcohol problems in this country, starting in elementary school and going all the way up through adulthood. We cannot be afraid to have the discussion and the debate. Whether dropping the drinking age is going to make a difference, I don't know. But I think if we stay the way we are, we're not acting responsibly."

Currently, only one of three colleges - Endicott College - has a pub (open one night a week) that serves alcohol, and drinking is allowed only in over-21 residence halls at Salem State College and Endicott College.

Both schools have alcohol education programs for students, along with strict policies that penalize underage drinkers.

While the three local college presidents have spoken out for the need for a debate on the subject, many say the national reduction in alcohol-related traffic fatalities since the drinking age was raised to 21 in 1984 is enough proof that further review of the law is not needed.

"We would be very concerned relative to underage alcohol use and driving," said A. Wayne Sampson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association. "We would not be able to support it based on what we have seen in the past."

Paul Wetzel, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators' Association, also said his association opposed any change. "It clearly would cause more problems. You'd have some high school kids legally able to purchase alcohol and share it with underage students," he said.

At Salem State, students had mixed opinions about rethinking the law.

Jasmine Bigby, 22, a nursing assistant who commutes from Boston, said she had seen too many alcohol-related accidents to endorse any change.

"I think it's a bad idea. I don't think people are responsible enough, educated enough to understand the risk that you take drinking at such a young age."

But Juan Arredondo, 18, of Revere, said reducing the age would cut down on binge drinking. "It would be more controlled and safer."

He also said the law doesn't make sense to people who can vote and fight in an army but not drink legally. "At 18, I can go to war. Why shouldn't I be able to have a beer at a bar?"