Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion

In recent weeks The Spectator has run numerous columns about whether or not marijuana should be legalized, but what about alcohol?

Drinking is as much a part of college as prom is of high school - practically everyone does it, and by the next morning, you've probably done something you will regret for quite some time.

Unlike marijuana, however, alcohol is legal for those over the age of 21, so I raise the question: should that number be lowered?

Despite not being 21 years old, I have been known to enjoy a drink every now and then, and my police record will support that. I believe that if I can fight and die for my country and, in the event of a military draft, do so against my will, I should be allowed to have a few drinks. Some college students have a similar viewpoint as me, while others drink for the sake of drinking.

Alcohol has its negative health effects - it can lead to alcohol poisoning and numerous liver ailments to name a few - but that hasn't stopped students from downing a few drinks.

Drinking and college have become practically synonymous. With such commercial successes as the film Animal House, Asher Roth's song "I Love College" and the popular Web site Collegehumor.com, mass media has only helped perpetuate the stereotype of college drinking.

According to an Aug. 18, 2008 article featured in USA Today, approximately 100 of the best-known American universities - including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State - are calling for lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18.

The bigwigs at the colleges believe that lowering the drinking age will help curb students' rampant abuse of alcohol.

According to the article, more than 40 percent of college students reported at least one symptom of alcohol abuse or dependence, and 500,000 students suffer injuries related to drinking every year, approximately 1,700 of which are fatal.

Lowering the drinking age to 18 would enable college students to drink in bars which would be considerably safer than the alternative. These are places such as dimly lit house parties that typically have too many people crammed inside. People drink more than they should and are not as safe as bars that, on the other hand, offer a similar social atmosphere to parties, but have numerous advantages, such as bartenders and bouncers, that would help reduce the previously mentioned numbers.

The only drawback to an 18-year-old drinking age is the fact that it would make alcohol more available to high school students.

Here at UW-Eau Claire, the students that drink the most of all are juniors due to the fact that students typically turn 21 in their junior years at college. How would those who turn 18 under this hypothetical lowered drinking age react? Probably the same.

Drinking alcohol in high school and in college are two different things, too. College cities usually have everything a partygoer would need - bars, house parties, restaurants and friends - all within a walking distance.

In high school, most students find themselves spread around town with only their cars as available transportation which, when mixed with alcohol, is a dangerous combination.

There are two potential solutions to this problem. Instead of lowering the drinking age to 18, make it 19. That way, most people would be a year removed from high school by the time they can legally drink, yet the vast majority of college students could legally consume alcohol.

The other possibility is to lower the drinking age to 18 years old, but require people to take an alcohol education class, like those taken before driving. Increased fines for drunk driving and underage drinking would help deter those under the age of 18 from drinking.

Whether government officials choose to lower the drinking age to 18 or 19 is not important; what is important is that something is done to reduce the abuse of alcohol amongst college students.

Gordoux is a sophomore print journalism major and sports editor for The Spectator.

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