So college presidents don’t want to be held responsible for upholding the law. Well, they can get in line with rest of the people who don’t want to be law abiding citizens. Alcohol as a legalized drug, that has a social acceptance, is unfathomable to me. The legal drinking age does not need to be lowered; the penalty for under-age drinking and providing a minor with alcohol needs to be enforced. More importantly, there needs to be a visible and severe impact on those who choose to not drink responsibly.
Before people start labeling me as a rabid teetotaler, let me disclose a few things. While it is true that I do not partake in any form of alcoholic beverage, I do not necessarily hold my friends to those same standards. I do, however, expect those around me to drink responsibly and not put myself or anyone around me in peril. I have seen the results of irresponsible drinking in the form of tragic accidents, fatal alcohol poisoning, alcohol related sexual assaults, and other common-sense inhibiting behaviors.
Families that have an alcohol-centric cultures make drinking a coming of age behavior and build a mystic around it that fosters the need to imbibe as soon as they can. When tragedy strikes, it is never their fault or the culture of drinking, rather always something else.
Let us also point out the romanticizing of alcohol in the media. The popularity of the spring break programming where everyone is expected to travel to some beach destination and be inebriated for the entire stay. The search for the perfect cocktail to unwind; as if that is the only way to blow off stress. My personal favorite, suffer a personal tragedy? Get drunk.
Look, whether or not the legal drinking age is lowered I can’t control. I can insist that the penalties be enforced for under-aged drinkers, for people who provide alcohol to under-age drinkers, and to those who choose to drink and drive.
People are dying by means of a legal substance and no one seems to see that a problem exists.
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