Sunday Forum: Drop the drinking age?

Keep it up

Several university administrators urge a national debate about drinking policy (news story, Aug. 19). Perhaps they should look toward Europe, where teens lawfully drink at 18. Binge drinking and self-reported intoxication there are far worse than in the United States. Many in Europe now urge an increase in the drinking age.

Given culture and constant drink-for-every-occasion messaging by the alcohol industry, it's nonsense to suggest that the problem of binge drinking occurs because of the legal drinking age of 21.

It's appropriate to debate policy, but any reasonable debate must include a conversation about its health implications. Medical science confirms that underage drinking is a clear and present danger to teens. For their still-developing bodies, there is no such thing as a safe drink. If the health findings are accurate, it seems incomprehensible that these college presidents would urge a policy that threatens the health of their students.

The problem is not one of law -- it is a problem of a culture of abusive drinking that exists on virtually every campus. Maybe it's time to consider working to change that culture, instead of proposing a policy to make it worse.

Ronald E. Bogle

Chapel Hill

(The writer is a retired Superior Court judge.)

And banish the Boone's Farm

College presidents are to be saluted for initiating a debate about the folly of the U.S. drinking age.

I was in a North Carolina university during the 1980s when the age changed. It brings new meaning to the law of unintended consequences.

Drinking in apartments, dorms, fields, forests and so on has resulted in a stunted understanding of alcohol in today's college graduates. Partners in CPA firms and law firms tell stories of startling gaffes committed by young associates. If you are a parent of a recent graduate, I encourage you to review a few rules of drinking etiquette with your son or daughter.

1) A "Jack and Coke" or "Seven and Seven" is fine post prom, but not with a client.

2) A beer or cocktail should last longer than a minute.

3) Do not order a shot in front of a customer or someone senior to you in your firm. Ignore this rule if the person with whom you wish to do business has requested a trip to a strip club.

4) Daiquiris are super at the coast or at a resort conference, but not at a solid steakhouse.

In a perfect society, people would not be penalized for such innocent mistakes. In the real world, they are.

Sean Gilsenan

Cary

Why drink at all?

Regarding the Aug. 19 article "College leaders want debate on drinking age":

With multiple colleges starting back up, the debate to keep underage college students from dangerous alcohol drinking is once again heating up, but before we start alcohol education, my question is, why drink at all?

I'm 36 years old, and I've never had one drop of alcohol in my life, and no one who drinks can explain to me why it's so important to do it. Why do so many people under 21 have this eternal desire to consume such dangerous beverages? Is getting drunk that important?

I guess you have to lose a loved one to an alcohol-related death like I have to understand why you shouldn't drink at all, let alone when you're under 21!

Stephen Lynn

Willow Spring

It hasn't worked

Regarding the Aug. 19 article "College leaders want debate on drinking age":

Thankfully, many in academia are willing to admit what many adults already know, "you get what you resist." The selective prohibition on 18- to 20-year-olds has been effective only in turning them into A.L.E. criminals and not in the reduction of drinking problems at colleges or at high schools.