2D COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL May 18, 2016
MADD
WHY21
Addressing Underage Drinking
More than 25,000 lives have been saved
in the U.S. thanks to the 21 Minimum
Legal Drinking Age.
This law continues to prevent trag-
edies—decreasing crashes by an esti-
mated 16 percent9 and keeping young
people safer from many risks.
Sometimes, without knowing all the
facts, people assert that youth shouldn’t
have to wait until they’re 21 to drink.
James C. Fell, a public health researcher
at the Pacifi c Institute for Research &
Evaluation, responds to their questions.
Why do we make young people wait until
21 to drink alcohol?
Many activities have ages of initiation.
A person must wait until age 16 to start
driving, age 18 to marry without parental
consent, age 35 to become president, and
so on.
The age limit for alcohol is based on
research which shows that young people
react differently to alcohol. Teens get
drunk twice as fast as adults, but have
more trouble knowing when to stop.
Teens naturally overdo it and binge more
often than adults.
Enforcing the legal drinking age of 21
reduces traffi c crashes, protects young
people’s maturing brains, and keeps
young people safer overall.
Can’t parents teach their teens how to
drink alcohol responsibly by giving them
small amounts—under supervision—be-
fore they reach 21?
Some states permit parents to do this
with their own child (rarely, if ever, with
someone else’s child), but there’s no evi-
dence that this approach actually works.
As matter of fact, there is evidence to
contrary. When teens feel they have their
parents’ approval to drink, they do it
more and more often when they are not
with their parents. When parents have
concrete, enforced rules about alcohol,
young people binge drink less.
Would lowering the legal
drinking age make alcohol
less of a big deal, and less
attractive to teens?
History says no. When
states had lower legal
drinking ages in the U.S.,
the underage drinking
problem was worse. For
example, before the 21
minimum legal drinking
age was implemented by all
states, underage drunk driv-
ers were involved in over
twice as many fatal traffi c
crashes as today.
dition, there are
clear health risks
associated with
underage drink-
ing.
History speaks
for itself
For almost 40
years, most states
voluntarily set
their minimum
drinking age law
at 21. In the late
60s and early 70s,
29 states lowered
their drinking age
to more closely
align with the
newly reduced
military enlist-
ment and voting
age.
The results
were immediate
-- drunk driving crashes and alcohol-re-
lated fatalities increased signifi cantly in
those states. And not just in those states
-- "blood borders", where young people
would drive to a state with a lower
drinking age, drink, and crash on their
return, cropped up across the country.
As a result, 16 states had increased their
drinking ages back to age 21 by 1983.
Confronted by the failure of the 18 mini-
mum drinking age, the President Com-
mission on Drunk Driving recommended
establishing a national 21 minimum
drinking age. President Reagan agreed
and on July 17, 1984, he signed into law
the Uniform Drinking Age Act mandat-
ing all states to adopt 21 as the legal
drinking age within fi ve years. By 1988,
all states had set 21 as the minimum
drinking age.
Since that time, the 21 minimum
drinking age law has saved about 900
lives per year as estimated by the Na-
tional Traffi c Highway Administration
(NHTSA). In short, there are more than
25,000 people alive today because of the
21 minimum drinking age law in every
state.
Additionally, underage drinking rates
also fell and continue to fall. From 1991
to the present, annual use of alcohol
among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders has
dropped 56%, 33%, and 18%, respec-
tively.
Teen Brain
The Developing Brain
Alcohol and the Teen Brain
The human brain continues to grow into
a person's early 20s. Drinking alcohol
during that time can damage short and
long-term brain growth and that dam-
age can be permanent. And it's not just
heavy drinking that can impact teens --
teens who drink half as much alcohol as
adults can still suffer the same negative
effects. Teens are more likely to suffer
blackouts, memory loss, and alcohol
poisoning from drinking, as well as to
cause damage to their ability to remem-
ber things in the future. All parts of the
growing brain are impacted negatively
by alcohol, but the memory function is
especially hard hit.
So, what impacts does that have on a
teen? Well, adolescent drinkers perform
worse in school, are more likely to fall
behind and have an increased risk of
social problems, depression, suicidal
thoughts and violence. Also, because the
brain (specifi cally, the regulation of the
brain through serotonin, which provides
balance and impulse control) becomes
used to the use of alcohol, people who
begin drinking in their teens are not only
at greater risk for developing alcoholism
sometime in their lives, they are also at
greater risk for developing alcoholism
more quickly and at younger ages, espe-
cially chronic, relapsing alcoholism.
Looking Glass
Community Services
We serve youth ages 11-17 with;
• Family Reconciliation
• Emergency Shelter and Basic Needs
541-767-3823
508 E Whiteaker • Cottage Grove • www.lookingglass.us
Manufacturer of
High Grade Domestic
and Export Douglas
Fir Lumber
541-942-0168
I thought Europeans have
fewer underage drinking
problems … is it because
their kids drink from an
earlier age?
That’s a myth. European
countries have worse prob-
lems than America does,
as far as binge drinking
and drinking to intoxica-
tion. Studies show that
Europe has more underage
drunkenness, injury, rape,
and school problems due
to alcohol. Since alcohol
is more available there, it
actually increases the pro-
portion of kids who drink
in Europe.
Some people propose a
40-hour alcohol education
course for teens that would
entitle teens to drink before
21. Is this a good idea?
Research shows that edu-
cation alone doesn’t pre-
vent risky behaviors. For
example, driver education
by itself does not reduce
youth car crashes. Begin-
ning drivers need other
restrictions in place, such
as curfews and passenger
limits, to stay safe. In ad-
P.O. Box 547
Cottage Grove, OR
w w w. s t a r f i r e l u m b e r. c o m
Jeff Williams, LTC
Deanna Mathis, LTP
T: 541-942-7790
F: 541-942-7811
E: taxmanjeff@gmail.com
taxladydeanna@gmail.com
575 North 9th Street, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
Don’t ruin your very bright future
catch a cab, get a lift sleep over or
just stay sober
WHATEVER YOU DO….
DON’T DRINK & DRIVE
Let us serve
your driver
education needs.
We train all ages
with a permit
2775 Row River Rd
Cottage Grove
541-942-4415
bradschevy.com