This past St. Patrick's Day, my friend and I walked down a Montreal street with cans of Guinness, in honor of the Irish bishop. We were not alone all along Rue Crescent were Qubcois from 18 to their mid-30s doing the exact same. Something amazing happened that night. The 18 to 21-year-olds did not vomit profusely along the streets, nor did they brawl or inflict property damage. If these adults were allowed basic rights in a country that practices abhorrent socialism, certainly our land of the free and home of the brave is not more oppressive.
Unjust minimum drinking age laws haven't always plagued our nation. After a failed attempt at prohibition, it wasn't until 1984 that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed. While supported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the law did not directly address drunk driving; rather, it focused on setting an unreasonable drinking age. In doing so, Congress ignored the age of emancipation set by the Constitution of the United States and failed to reconcile with our nation's minimum age for military service.
With the recent threat of sting operations, many Dartmouth students lashed out against Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone. Actually, Giaccone is just doing his job enforcing laws set in place by state and federal government. But few of those students have spoken out against the actual issue at hand: President Barack Obama's support of the drinking age law.
At a debate held here at Dartmouth College in 2007, Obama stated he would not lower the drinking age to 18. And when asked by a veteran why he could be of legal age to die for his country but not to enjoy a beer, Obama replied that the law helped reduce drunken driving incidents and should remain, CBS News reported at the time.
In doing so, he ignored the grave responsibility our nation gives to 18 to 21-year-olds by allowing them to enlist in the military, and the number of deaths already caused by current U.S. foreign policy. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, fatalities under 22 are higher than in any other age group as categorized by the Department of Defense.
In addition to denying them liberty while allowing them enormous responsibility, this policy has disastrous consequences. Former College President James Wright a signatory of the Amethyst Initiative, which calls for reopening the discussion on the current de facto drinking age explained that drinking has been driven underground and become an end in itself. This culture results in dangerous binge drinking and blacking out, with fear of legal recourse for seeking medical attention. At Dartmouth, we have tried to reduce the impact of these laws with the "Good Sam" policy, but the issue persists.
So yet another committee was recently formed on campus, College President Jim Yong Kim's Student and Presidential Alcohol Harm Reduction Committee, designed to propose changes to student alcohol policy. "Students need to play the central role in helping to analyze policies and shaping the conversation about campus life," Kim said of the committee's formation.
I certainly agree. It is necessary for students around the nation to play a central role in repealing a faulty law that has infringed upon our liberties with disastrous results. But in addition to calling upon our elected officials to fixing this issue of legislation, we should also seek leadership from our own administration.
Kim has criticized New Hampshire's alcohol policy in the past. He told The Dartmouth nearly half a year ago that he was considering joining the Amethyst Initiative ("Kim finds fault with state's liquor policy," Oct. 2). In doing so, he would commit to supporting an informed debate on the 21-year-old age minimum. We've all analyzed the butt end of this unjust policy. Now let's shape the conversation about how we are affected by calling on our leader to represent us in our fight.
