Spring Break
The Daily OrangeCantor supports national debate on lower drinking age
By Megan Saucke
Posted: 8/26/08, 12:36 AM EST Section: News
Both Dellas and the initiative statement also argued that 18 year olds can get married, vote and go to war, but can't legally have a drink.
Dellas has also seen drinking students become more responsible over the years, he said.
"I've seen students come along and people are acting differently, making sure there's always a designated driver," he said. "Education works better, not punishment."
Julia Mazerov, a freshman advertising major, thinks the drinking age should be lowered, and pointed to Europe as an example.
"I think the fact that it's 21 over here encourages dangerous behavior," she said. "Especially because it makes people a lot more afraid to get help if you're under 21 and something goes wrong."
Junior religion major AJ Landau agreed, and said underage drinking is out of control because the illegality carries a stigma.
"Underage kids make drinking a big deal because it's illegal," he said. "But it's not that special if it's not illegal."
Landau said some young adults could handle a lower drinking age and some couldn't, like people of any age group.
"There are some people who would just use it as an excuse to get ripped off their minds every night and then there are people who would be mature about it," he said. "But it would eliminate a lot of hassle."
Mothers Against Drunk Driving immediately condemned the initiative. MADD President Laura Dean-Mooney recommended parents "think twice" before sending their children to the colleges that signed onto the initiatives and said the higher drinking age has saved 25,000 lives.
The American Medical Association also supports the higher drinking age. According to its page on the minimum legal drinking age, alcohol-related death and injury rates decline when the minimum age is higher. Studies also show that Europeans, who have a lower minimum drinking age, have similar or higher rates of alcohol-related diseases.
Other signatories of the Amethyst Initiative's statement include Dartmouth College, Duke University, Colgate University, Ohio State University and the University of Massachusetts System.
Despite acknowledging the ineffectiveness of the drinking age limit, Cantor said Operation Prevent, a program aimed at preventing underage drinking in Syracuse through bar raids, will continue.
"We've got to continue to make sure our students are safely obeying the law," she said.
mcsaucke@syr.edu
Dellas has also seen drinking students become more responsible over the years, he said.
"I've seen students come along and people are acting differently, making sure there's always a designated driver," he said. "Education works better, not punishment."
Julia Mazerov, a freshman advertising major, thinks the drinking age should be lowered, and pointed to Europe as an example.
"I think the fact that it's 21 over here encourages dangerous behavior," she said. "Especially because it makes people a lot more afraid to get help if you're under 21 and something goes wrong."
Junior religion major AJ Landau agreed, and said underage drinking is out of control because the illegality carries a stigma.
"Underage kids make drinking a big deal because it's illegal," he said. "But it's not that special if it's not illegal."
Landau said some young adults could handle a lower drinking age and some couldn't, like people of any age group.
"There are some people who would just use it as an excuse to get ripped off their minds every night and then there are people who would be mature about it," he said. "But it would eliminate a lot of hassle."
Mothers Against Drunk Driving immediately condemned the initiative. MADD President Laura Dean-Mooney recommended parents "think twice" before sending their children to the colleges that signed onto the initiatives and said the higher drinking age has saved 25,000 lives.
The American Medical Association also supports the higher drinking age. According to its page on the minimum legal drinking age, alcohol-related death and injury rates decline when the minimum age is higher. Studies also show that Europeans, who have a lower minimum drinking age, have similar or higher rates of alcohol-related diseases.
Other signatories of the Amethyst Initiative's statement include Dartmouth College, Duke University, Colgate University, Ohio State University and the University of Massachusetts System.
Despite acknowledging the ineffectiveness of the drinking age limit, Cantor said Operation Prevent, a program aimed at preventing underage drinking in Syracuse through bar raids, will continue.
"We've got to continue to make sure our students are safely obeying the law," she said.
mcsaucke@syr.edu
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