Alcohol - a Rant

Drinking is a huge part of our culture. We drink when we celebrate, we drink when we relax, we drink when we socialize and we drink when we grieve. Alcoholics crave it, abolitionists demonize it, and governments regulate and tax it.

Like many Americans, I first tasted booze before I was legally old enough to drink. I didn't like the taste but enjoyed the way it made me feel... until the next morning. The first time I experienced intoxication also brought on the pain of my first hangover. This quickly helped me learn the importance of moderation... a lesson that has carried over into many aspects of my life.

When I was a teenager, the legal drinking age in my state was 19. I remember the Federal Government's de facto establishment of a national drinking age of 21 by threatening to withhold federal highway funds from states with lower drinking ages. I recall when my state raised the drinking age to 21. I don't remember the exact time, but I remember it happening.

Not too long after that, I joined the Marine Corps. I was allowed to consume alcoholic beverages at my first duty station because that state permitted people under 21 to drink if they were active duty military. I was also allowed to drink on base at other duty stations.

Shortly after I turned 21, the Federal Government increased the pressure and the military abolished under-21 drinking even on base, and states closed the loophole. I disagreed then and I disagree now. I object even more now, since many of our military personnel currently serving are below the legal drinking age. We can order them to kill another human being, but will not allow them to consume spirits. Disgusting.

This brings me to my point for today's story. According to this article, there is a "nascent movement" to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 in some circumstances, and I support this change. I don't like the government telling my fellow citizens that they are responsible enough to drive a vehicle, elect a president, and fight in a war but not responsible enough to consume alcohol. An 18-year-old is expected to differentiate between right and wrong and can be executed for murder, but they are not allowed to decide for themselves whether or not to consume spirits.

I suspect that some M.A.D.D. mother will throw statistics my way about how traffic fatalities have decreased since the laws changed, but statistics do not consider causation. And even if they did, it's still the inconsistency of this "quasi-adulthood" to which I so strenuously object. It's time to revisit the current drinking age.