Final blog!

An Intoxicating Controversy

New think tank compels colleges to reconsider the drinking age.

By Adrienne Saia Isaac [mailto: adrienne.isaac@colorado.edu]

A new initiative to discussing change of the legal drinking age has ignited controversy on college campuses. The Amethyst Initiative supports open and constructive discussion of the pros and cons of lowering the national drinking age to 18.

John McCardell, President Emeritus of Middlebury College, began the initiative in June 2008. So far, 134 college and university presidents and chancellors have signed their names to the initiative.

According to the Amethyst Initiative, “twenty-one is not working.” It calls for the following: “to support an informed and dispassionate public debate over the effects of the 21 year-old drinking age, to consider whether the 10% highway fund ‘incentive’ encourages or inhibits that debate, to invite new ideas about the best ways to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol.”

University of Colorado (CU) Chancellor Bud Peterson is not among the signatories.

According to CU’s Health Promotion Services department head Jane Curtis, “the issue of binge drinking on most college and university campuses exists and is a complex health issue that many of us are working on.”

“We are making significant efforts to engage students, parents and the entire community [in the discussion],” Curtis said.

So far, student reactions to lowering the drinking age have been mixed.

“Some consistent points I hear include: many students won't change their behavior if the age were 18 [and] they are concerned for high school students,” Curtis said.

Commander of the CU Police Department Brad Wiesley does not take a stance on the Amethyst Initiative. He believes his job is to enforce state and federal laws, not to comment on them.

“The people’s will is spoken through the legislature and it’s our job to enforce the laws on the books,” he said.

Both he and the department commit to educating students on the consequences of underage and binge drinking through dorm meetings and cooperative efforts with police officers of the City of Boulder.

He approximated that alcohol factors in 60% of crime in the city and on campus.

A list of Amethyst Initiative signatories can be found here.