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Bill to lower drinking age criticized
BY MIKE McGRATH
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
iISSUE: 78/26
TYLER SWEENEY / STATESMAN
Underage students might be giving up keg parties and start heading out to the bars as Phyllis Kahn, DFL representative, proposes to change the drinking age in Minnesota to 18. Kahn’s bill would lower the drinking age in bars and restaurants only, and keep the current restrictions on off-sale liquor. She explained that by lowering the drinking age Minnesota would be able to monitor drinking more closely and stop the growing problem of binge drinking.
“It’s like drinking with training wheels on, in public and with other people,” said Kahn. “It’s no longer this great forbidden fruit that is held out until you’re 21. It [binge drinking] has become a new college sport, and I think that is because of total prohibition.”
The bill was introduced and discussed late into this year’s legislative session, Feb. 28, but will be put on hold until next year. Kahn said she would like to pass the bill next year and use Minnesota as an experiment. She said that if the statistics look better in Minnesota, the Federal Government should let everyone else do it. Minnesota is not the only state considering 18 as their drinking age. According to Kahn, South Dakota is petitioning to allow 19- and 20-year-olds the ability to purchase 3.2 percent beer, and lawmakers in South Carolina and Wisconsin have proposed letting underage military personnel purchase alcohol.
These states and Minnesota have one large hurdle to jump in order to get more support. By lowering the drinking age from 21, the state would lose 10 percent of their Federal funding for highway maintenance, according to the 1984 National Drinking Age Act. “We have already shown we don’t care about loosing Federal funding for highways, because we have not enacted a primary seat-belt law,” said Kahn. “So the first thing I would do is enact the primary seat-belt law.” According to the Minnesota Safety Council’s official Web site, the primary seat-belt law would provide $17-25 million in federal incentive funds.
Binge drinking is defined as having five or more alcoholic beverages on the same occasion, and, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, alcohol is the most commonly used substance in the United States. Senior Matt Drown believes the proposed bill will result in more responsible drinking, because bars would be able to monitor the person and stop serving them, if they have had too much to drink. “I noticed when I turned 21 years old, I tended to be less reckless with my drinking,” said Drown. “When you go to bars, you have to control yourself.”
University police Sgt. Tim LeGarde deals with alcohol related offenses on campus. These crimes include DWI’s, car crashes, property damage and fights. He explained that most of them are a result of drinking. “If you are increasing the number of people drinking in one area, it’s logical to assume you will see an increase in problems that go along with it,” said LeGarde. Another concern LeGarde has is out of state 18- to 20-year-olds crossing the border into Minnesota for a night of drinking at the bars. He compares this to problems Wisconsin had in 1984, when their drinking age was 18 and hopes it is taken into consideration by the state of Minnesota.
“To me, it’s just inviting a larger number of drinkers into the area, and by consequence, a larger number of drunk drivers and people who are going to cause problems because they are drunk,” said LeGarde.
