Amethyst Initiative

It may be hard to believe, but even college presidents and chancellors are pushing for a lower drinking age. These college presidents and chancellors see the negative outcomes of underage drinking on a regular basis. They are making an effort to lower the age to 18 with the Amethyst Initiative, which is their attempt to begin a public discussion and political review of the current legal drinking age of 21.

The Amethyst Initiative believes that college students have not stopped drinking in response to prohibition but instead, increased alcohol’s danger. The danger has increased because college campuses are unable to control the alcohol when it is in non-public places, such as dorms and off-campus houses. If the alcohol age was simply lowered back to 18, students would be drinking in public places, where officials could monitor alcohol consumption.

The main source of criticism that the initiative receives is from the evidence that lowering the age reduced alcohol-related traffic fatalities. However, the initiative believes that this argument is minor when compared to the number of alcohol-related deaths due to binge drinking. More individuals among the age of 18 to 21 died as a result of binge drinking than they did as a result of traffic fatalities. Since binge drinking is done by teenagers for the “thrill,” its frequency can be reduced. Binge drinking would be less likely to take place if the age were lowered because alcohol would not be such a “thrill” for young adults.

So why are we not listening to the Amethyst Initiative? They are the ones that see underage drinking occurring all the time and they are the ones that have to deal with its outcomes. If they are willing to push for a lower drinking age, they must be confident enough to know that lowering the age will lead to positive outcomes.