Lowering the legal drinking age would cease binge drinking to some extent, an estimated 100 college presidents agreed

If 18-year-old students would be allowed to drink alcohol, the amount of binge drinking on college campuses would diminish, they said.

The presidents, who come from high-status universities, such as Duke University, Dartmouth College, and Tufts University, adhered to the Amethyst Initiative, which asks lawmakers to lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18.

Supporters of the Initiative draw attention to the fact that the current law – the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 – which prohibits the purchase and public possession of alcohol by those under the age of 21, is usually disregarded.

The movement started last month and was initiated by John McCardell, president of Middlebury College and founder of Choose Responsibility. Shortly, more than 100 college presidents and chancellors gathered up and signed a petition proclaiming “It’s time to rethink the age drinking.”

Several health experts, transportation officials and government leaders disagree with the Initiative. Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD), the American Medical Association, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety count among them. “Top science, medical and public health experts as well as congressional and state leaders agree on the effectiveness of the 21 minimum drinking age law in saving lives,” MADD stated.

According to Cornel Morton from California Polytechnic State University, allowing students to drink at an earlier age would not solve the problem, making students stop drinking. On the contrary, it would result in more casualties and car-related accidents. “One unfortunate perception is that drinking in college is expected, OK, cool,” Morton asserted. “Lowering the drinking age doesn’t resolve that issue for us.”

The findings of a survey carried out last year by the U.S. Surgeon General revealed that 45% of high school students drank alcohol within the preceding month, and more than 25% admitted they were binge drinkers.

 In 2005, almost 7,500 traffic deaths involving 15- to 20-year-olds have occurred. More than 2,000 of them had been drinking alcohol.

Researchers disclosed that 40% of all college students presented at least one symptom of alcohol abuse or addiction.

As maintained by Amethyst supporters, lowering the drinking age may lead to changing the drinking culture into one similar to Europe’s. The signatories claim that the revision would eliminate the impulse to drink furtively and the excitement caused by this type of activity.

“I would predict that lowering the drinking age would have little impact on binge drinking behaviors, as alcohol is already easily available on most college campuses,” David Creswell, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon affirmed. “I think a better intervention would be to consider campaigns that promote and reinforce other activities at college, and in drinking in moderation.”

The Initiative advocates also say that if a person is allowed at only 16 to have a driving license, it should be able to consume alcohol too. But the minimum age for that was set with a reason. An individual’s brain develops until the mid-20s. Alcohol consumption while the brain hasn’t stop developing can have terrible effects, such as learning and memory deficits.