Should The Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18?

When you turn 18, you can vote, buy cigarettes, join the military, and get married without parental consent in the US -- but you can't buy or drink alcohol. But some people (and not just teens!) think that should change. Nonprofit organization, Choose Responsibility is calling for the national drinking age to be lowered to 18. "Legal age 21 has not worked. Most people at the age of 21 have already consumed alcohol," John McCardell, current head of Choose Responsibility tells ABC News. "The current drinking age has just driven the drinking out of public view. It has meant that instead of drinking in bars or restaurants where there is supervision, it's happening in dorms and dark corners." Therefore, he argues, young people should be able to get a drinking license at the age of 18, after taking driver's ed-like alcohol education classes, explaining that, "It's about preparing young adults to make responsible decisions and promote alcohol education."

Not many people are behind Choose Responsibility, however -- a Gallup poll from July shows that 77 percent of Americans would oppose a federal law to lower the drinking age. And now, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the American Medical Association, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have formed a coalition called "Support 21," which stresses scientific studies showing that fatalities have dropped since the legal drinking age was raised to 21. "Science speaks for itself," says Glynn Birch, national president of MADD. "The 21 law saves lives on the road and keeps countless youth from starting to drink at early ages." Echoes Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: "If we lower the drinking age we will be killing more children on the highways. Clandestine, underage drinking is a problem, but lowering the drinking age is not the solution."