MADD Debunks Proposal by College Presidents

to Reduce Drinking Age to 21

Dear College or University President:

As State Youth Program Coordinator of the Kentucky Mothers Against Drunk Driving, I wanted to make you aware of an effort aimed at attacking the minimum drinking age law of 21 as ineffective and reminiscent of Prohibition.

This initiative, led by president emeritus of Middlebury College John McCardell, is called the Amethyst Initiative and is targeted at college and university presidents, tapping into their concern over the current binge drinking culture on college campuses.  So far, more than 100 college and university presidents have signed on in support, and MADD  believes the decision to side against a law that has saved hundreds of lives per year and has helped protect teenagers from the harmful effects of alcohol is dangerously irresponsible.  

We are not alone in our concern. According to a recent survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for Nationwide Insurance, 72 percent of adults think lowering the drinking age would make alcohol more accessible to kids and nearly half believe it would increase binge drinking among teens.  In addition, more than half say they are less likely to send their children to colleges or universities with “party school” reputations.

Underage drinking, particularly in the university setting, is a serious problem that requires serious reflection, which MADD is dedicated to addressing.  Some university presidents, by supporting lowering the drinking age, are shirking their responsibility and leaving the most difficult underage drinking challenges to our high school administrators.  In addition, many high school seniors will reach their 18th birthday before graduation, making alcohol more accessible to their younger classmates. 

Science show’s the earlier the onset of drinking occurs, the more likely a person is to become alcohol dependent later in life.  For example, children who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four to five times more likely to become alcohol dependent as an adult.  New brain research has also brought about enlightenments demonstrating alcohol’s highly negative effect on the developing brain which does not quit developing until the mid to early 20’s. 

The science is clear and there is simply no evidence that the 21 drinking age contributes to binge drinking and actually shows that since 21 has passed deaths on the roads and off the roads has declined since 21 became uniform nationwide.  We are working to find a responsible solution to the underage drinking problem, one that does not jeopardize a law that has saved nearly 25,000 lives since going into effect.  

On behalf of MADD and approximately 1500 MADD Youth in Action students and underage drinking prevention advocates, I would like to thank you for not signing onto the Amethyst Initiative.  I have enclosed more detailed information about the reasons MADD stands so closely behind the 21 Minimum Drinking Age Law, and how MADD plans to work with other state and federal agencies to continue reducing underage drinking.

If I can answer any questions, or offer any assistance to your campus in the form of speakers or allowing youth the opportunity to get involved in MADD’s programs, please contact me at Tara.McGuire@madd.org or 1-800-944-6233 (toll-free).   

Thank you for your time,

Tara McGuire

State Youth Program Coordinator

KY Mothers Against Drunk Driving

**   Information about the Support 21 Coalition and the current minimum legal drinking age is available at http://why21.org.

Members of the Support 21 Coalition include:

American Medical Association (www.ama-assn.org)

Center for Science in the Public Interest (www.cspinet.org)

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (www.cadca.org)

Governors Highway Safety Association (www.ghsa.org)

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (www.iihs.org)

International Association of Chiefs of Police (www.theiacp.org)

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (www.madd.org)

National Liquor Law Enforcement Association (www.nllea.org)

National Transportation Safety Board (www.ntsb.gov) 

National Safety Council (www.ncs.org)

Nationwide Insurance (www.nationwide.org)

Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (www.pire.org)

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (www.ncadd.org)

EVIDENCE BEHIND THE 21 MINIMUM DRINKING AGE    MADD REPORT:

August 26, 2008

Tara McGuire, MADD Kentucky State Office

Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s Mission Statement is to eliminate drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime, and to prevent underage drinking.  We are not all mothers or all women, nor are we prohibitionists.  MADD is not against the legal decision to drink alcohol responsibly by those above the age of 21.  We are against drunk driving and underage drinking. 

Next, MADD is against the Amethyst Initiative ultimately due to the overwhelming amount of evidence that 21 SAVES LIVES, and we aren't the only ones.  Also against lowering the drinking age are the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; the General Accounting Office; the Institute of Medicine; the Surgeon General; the National Institute of Health; the American Medical Association; the National Transportation and Safety Board; and many other state and federal agencies.  In fact, there is no government agency that disputes the effectiveness of the 21 minimum drinking age. 

Amongst the other reasons we discussed, the new research regarding brain development highly supports not lowering the drinking age.  The human brain continues to develop into the early to mid 20's, and while developing alcohol is particularly harmful to the brain.  http://www.why21.org/teen/ or http://parentsempowered.org/harms/ for MRI Brain Scans.

FACT #1: McCardell claims seat belts and road improvements caused traffic fatalities to go down, not the MDA.  If this were true, all traffic fatalities would have gone down.  Instead, following the MDAL, alcohol-related traffic fatalities involving 16-20 year olds dropped, while other traffic fatalities went up (1983-1989).  President Reagan stated, "Now, raising that drinking age is not a fad or an experiment.  It's a proven success.  Nearly every State that has raised the drinking age to 21 has produced a significant drop in the teenage driving fatalities.  In the State of New Jersey, whose Governor made it a very personal crusade for himself, the rate dropped by 26 percent; Illinois, it has fallen 23 percent; in Michigan, 31 percent.  And when the Commission on Drunk Driving submitted its report, it forcefully recommended that all 50 States should make 21 the legal drinking age. 

FACT #2:  The minimum drinking age helps combat binge drinking.  Training to drink does not work.  (1) Intoxication in past year among adolescents (age 15), only four (4) countries examined were below the U.S. (35%).  Countries above the U.S. were Austria (69%); Denmark (82%); Finland (64%); Germany (61%); Greenland (70%); Ireland (72%); Russia (52%); U.K. (66%); and some others, please note all percentages are estimated values.  One country below the U.S. is France, where youth binge drinking is more of an issue.  According to a report issued by Time in partnership with CNN, France has suffered a 50% increase in 15-24 year olds hospitalization for excess drinking since 2004.  50% of 17 year olds reported being drunk in the past month.  Alcohol is leading factor in deaths amongst French youth. 

(2) In a New Zealand Study where the MDA was lowered from 20 to 18 in 1999, alcohol-involved crash rates skyrocketed among 18 and 19 year olds (12% increase for males: 51% increase for females); and among 15-17 year olds (14% increase for males; 24% increase for females).  New Zealand is now considering raising their drinking age to 20 or 21, along with the U.K., Canada, Australia, the Scottish Government and others.  According to Matt Robson, a New Zealand Medical Professional (MP), "...In all areas studied, from hospitalizations to sexually transmitted diseases, the lowering of the drinking age was associated with greater alcohol-related harm."

(3) McCardell has held Wisconsin as an example of states that allow parents to teach how to drink, where state law allows parents to serve their children anywhere, including in restaurants and bars.  Yet, Wisconsin is the worst in the country: 49% of high school students currently drink; 39% drink underage; 22% of adults binge drink; and 8% of adults are chronic, heavy drinkers.  They are also the second worst in the country for underage binge drinking, this according to the Wisconsin Population Health Institute (2007). 

FACT #3: 21 MDA reduced underage drinking.  When we had different age states, those under 21 in states with lower drinking ages drank significantly more, and were drunk more often than students in states with a drinking age of 21. 

FACT #4: When the drinking age is 21, people are less likely to die due to alcohol-related injury.  As previously mentioned, alcohol-related crashes declined.  Non-traffic alcohol-related fatalities among those aged 18-24 have also dropped from about 1800 in the early 80 (MDAL passed in 1984), to about a thousand now.  Homicide, suicide, and other unintentional injury have shown decrease.  Although I do not have information on these events before the MDAL was put into effect, 95% of violent crimes on college campuses are alcohol-related.  In addition, more than 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are the victims of alcohol-related sexual assault and date rape.  The majority of college rapes (90%) involve alcohol. 

FACT #5: Old enough to fight argument..... One of the strongest advocates for the drinking age was the Pentagon, which was losing a battalion of troops per year to drunk driving. 

FACT #6: Given the overall support of the federal committee chair, dignifies the federal government will not lower the drinking age.  Therefore, any state which drops the drinking age below 21, will lose 10% of their federal highway dollars.  An example of this is Puerto Rico, who currently holds their drinking age at 18, and loses approximately $30 million dollars per year.  States cannot afford to lose 10% of these funds. 

MADD is calling for a renewed commitment to 21: more enforcement; better control of access; greater information about the effects of underage drinking (ex- impacts on the brain); educating parents; informing parents; and NOT lowering the drinking age.  All of the data shows that lowering the drinking age will only make the problem worse.  We know there is a problem, and we are glad the issue has been brought the forefront so we can talk about the facts, and the fact is that 21 saves lives.   

More information available at www.madd.org or www.why21.org.