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Imagine if on the same day you became old enough to vote, get drafted, buy lottery tickets and legally purchase tobacco and pornography, you were also considered old enough to go to your favorite restaurant and order a drink to celebrate these newfound freedoms with your friends. Passing the Amethyst Initiative would place that right within reach of all those who are expected to take on responsibility for all the other “adult” situations that they may encounter as a result of their coming of age.
The Amethyst Initiative, a movement promoting the lowering of the U.S. legal drinking age from 21 to 18 years of age, was set into motion in July. So far, it has garnered the support of 130 presidents of universities and colleges from across the United States, including Tufts University, Syracuse University and Colgate College.
“Looking at the issue, people will say that a large number of college presidents are in favor of it, when really 130 out of over 4,000 colleges and universities is really a small percentage,” said Robert Dana, dean of students.
The movement does not specifically state the legal drinking age in the United States should be lowered from 21 to 18 years of age, but rather indicates it would be best if the law were re-evaluated and open to discussion and debate.
University of Maine’s President Kennedy is not in favor and will not sign the petition supporting the initiative.
“President Kennedy will not be signing it. I think that it [the drinking age] is a tremendously important issue; however, raising or lowering the age doesn’t address environmental and cultural issues surrounding alcohol use,” Dana said, explaining the reasoning behind UMaine officials’ rejection of the initiative.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving argues that lowering the drinking age would cause an increase in alcohol-fueled fatalities and crime.
“People look at statistics through the years and see that fatality rates are lower with the drinking age at 21 than they would be otherwise. What they don’t take into account is cars have become safer as air bags have and other safety features are improved,” said President of System Student Government Sean Rankin, who supports the initiative. “I think that it would encourage better education about alcohol use at the high school or even elementary level if the drinking age were lowered. Alcohol is really a drug and needs to be treated as such.”
Some supporters of the Amethyst Initiative hope lowering the legal drinking age would lead to a decrease of incidences of binge drinking on campuses nationwide.
“I think [the Amethyst Initiative] is a good idea because restricting the age makes people want to do it even more, and they aren’t as safe about it because they have to sneak around and do it and don’t know how to be responsible about it,” second-year journalism major Betsy Caron said.
Opponents of the initiative are not opposed to the lower age, but rather to the idea of focusing on one small aspect of what is really a much greater problem regarding alcohol use and abuse, Dana said.
“In our culture, we are encouraged to drink heavily – anyone can look around and see this just in advertisements alone. What we really need to address is the drinking culture, not just the drinking age. Lowering the drinking age will simply be a transmission of alcohol abuse into a younger age group.”
The Amethyst Initiative, also referred to as the Presidential Statement, was composed by John McCardell, the former president of Middlebury College in Vermont and eight other college presidents from across the United States.
