Old enough to do everything but.

Mexico more or less has no rules regarding drinking ages. Europe ranges from 14 to 18 as the first age where you can start drinking. The U.S. has the age set at 21, but new attention is being brought to that rule, and it may actually change soon.

So who is bringing this new attention? It is not the 19 year olds who want to go party at a bar. It is actually a group of University Presidents, over 100 Presidents total, who have gathered together to send a message to the lawmakers in our country that it is time to lower the drinking age. Now I was a little confused by this, as I would have guessed that college presidents would be pushing to raise the age of legal drinking, but here they are trying to get the age lowered.

The long standing argument for lowering the drinking age has been basically that if you are 18, you are old enough to vote, old enough to sit on a jury, old enough to serve and die for your country in military service, shouldn't you be old enough to drink? This argument is not what the Presidents of all these universities are saying though. They are saying that the current law actually encourages those under 21 to be irresponsible in drinking.

The group's website states "Twenty-one is not working. A culture of dangerous, clandestine, 'binge-drinking' -- often off-campus -- has developed." A lot of people agree with this idea.

Europe is often cited in arguments about lowering the drinking age. The reason: drinking is not taboo over there. A college president who was born and raised in England, starting drinking wine with dinner at the age of 15, had this to say: "If it is out in the open, much of the allure is gone. I never thought it was cool to drink. It was never an exciting or daring thing to do because it was not illegal."

Another University President grew up in Australia also states, "Drinking was merely a small part of socializing, compared to here where drinking is often the main theme of a party."

MADD is arguing that lowering the drinking age would increase the number of accidents and deaths due to drunk driving. Many disagree and stats prove it. Over 97% of DUI arrests and accidents are caused by those over the age 0f 25. A mere 3% are from 16-24. The shocking number is actually 37% of accidents are caused by those age 45 - 55. So does age really make you more responsible in regards to drinking? It appears not.

Over 500,000 university students were surveyed and 88% had reported drinking on or off campurs before reaching the age of 21. A shocking 42% reported knowing a restaurant or bar to go to without being carded.

I think the bottom line is drinking is going on with or without the law being changed. As far as DUIs are concerned, maybe we need to stop drinking at the age of 40 because we apparently get less responsible with alcohol as we get older, not more responsible. If lowering the drinking age would cause alcohol to lose its luster and would actually cause fewer problems with drinking with those under the age of 21, then I say go for it.