A beer at 18.

I just read an interesting commentary about lowering the drinking age from 21 years of age to 18. You can read it at CNN here.

I've never understood why 21 is the magical number. 18 makes much more sense, particularly in light of the fact that we allow men and women to be in the front lines of battle at 18, and perhaps even scarier, allow men and women to marry (he he) at that young age. Interestingly, a state could lower the drinking age on its own-but, the federal government will take away 10% of its highway funds if the state so chooses-so obviously no state will until that Act is repealed.

Obviously the consequences of drunk driving (the original impetus for raising the drinking age) are horrific. But those consequences are horrific no matter the age of the offendor. And I do believe that today we (and college students) are much more aware of the dangers of drunk driving than people were a quarter century ago.

Would binge drinking at colleges decrease by lowering the legal drinking age as the author seems to suggest? I'm not sure, but I think lowering the drinking age is definitely something to consider in order to completely overhaul the attitude most young Americans have about drinking. Other countries (where the drinking age is significantly lower) don't have nearly the issues with binge drinking-and the consequences from it-that we do in America.