About the Drinking Age...

 This is the full version of my op-ed in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago.

Many are watching with undisguised amusement as Democrats spend $20 million to understand the great mystery of young men—probably the simplest creatures on earth. Here’s an idea for you, Democrats: lower the drinking age, at least for beer.

Here's an idea for you, Democrats: lower the drinking age. For beer, anyway. Frat boys will write epic poems in your honor. 

Well, perhaps not. But they might vote for you. Right now, your brand is toxic.

Out of 190 countries, only 12 have drinking ages as high as ours. We are keeping company with cool kids on the block like Iraq, Oman, and Equatorial Guinea.

Some history.

Congress established a federal drinking age of 21 in 1984 to combat drunk-driving fatalities, of which there were 21,000 in 1983. States were coerced with the threat of withheld highway funds. They caved in quickly. Louisiana was the last holdout.

Since then, the rate of drunk-driving deaths has dropped almost 50%. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a powerful lobby, will tell you it’s because of the age increase, but does anyone really think college-age kids have stopped drinking because it’s illegal?

In reality, drivers of all ages have responded to much tougher enforcement and severely increased penalties. Back in the day, it was, “Get home safe, son.” Now it’s the slammer for a night and huge fines. Technology has also changed, creating safe alternatives. Uber wasn’t an option in the 1980s.

It’s time to lower the drinking age. Current law is not a deterrent, and it has had negative cultural effects, particularly on our nation’s campuses. Start with the binge drinking of hard alcohol. Beer, the college beverage of choice since the first student was forced to read Sartre, has faded away. It’s too bulky to sneak into your dorm room. Vodka is today’s poison. It’s clear and mixes with about anything.

Not surprisingly, this has made campus drinking a bigger problem than ever. When I was in college, I didn’t hear of anyone going to the hospital because he drank too much beer—and people tried (I am reliably told).

The higher age has also affected college culture, and not in a good way. In the halcyon early 1980s, we had big, campuswide events. It was very social and egalitarian.

In fact, my very first day, Yale’s president, Bart Giamatti, welcomed all freshmen to his house with an open bar. Imagine! Now, students squirrel away, pregaming, consuming what they want in places they won’t be caught by resident assistants and other mandated busybodies. This has made college social life cliquey and balkanized, self-selecting mostly along demographic lines. DEI administrators, take note.

In 2008, 130 college presidents signed a petition that declared “twenty-one is not working” and urged “an informed and dispassionate public debate.” They saw the damage firsthand and have been forced to set up expensive compliance regimes. Complicating matters, most seniors and some juniors can legally partake, creating a schism between haves and have-nots.

A change is needed. Democrats, this is your opening. Republicans, it could be yours too. Lowering the drinking age is consistent with your support for personal liberty and will resonate with libertarian-leaning youth. Let Democrats continue to be society's scold!

And lowering it for beer only will steer college kids toward safer forms of consumption.

The best part is that it’s the right thing to do. Eighteen-year-olds can legally drive, sign contracts, get married, take a bullet in foreign wars—everything except have a beer. It’s inconsistent and patronizing, and it’s time to change it. As long as we treat alcohol like forbidden fruit, the thrill remains.