Submitted by Dan, May 11, 2007 07:40

In every other country which allows drinking, the drinking age is generally 18. Yet we don't hear about all this "binge drinking" and other prohibitionist handwringing in Germany or France, or even Ireland, where 18-year-olds (and their elders) have been known to down a pint every now and then.

The main problem in the US is that a 21-year-old drinking age is unrealistic and unenforceable. You're an adult at 18. You can vote, join the Army, buy a car, and get married, all without Mommy's consent. But you can't (legally) have a Bud. If the drinking age is reduced to 18, there will be less of the "forbidden fruit" aspect tied to drinking and less binge drinking.

Up until the early 1980's, the drinking age in New York was in fact 18. The main problem was people coming over from New Jersey and other states where the age was 21 and buying large quantities of beer and getting drunk, not 20-year-old New Yorkers.

Reduce the drinking age to 18, where it belongs, and promote responsible drinking among college students, so they'll learn to enjoy alcohol in moderation, which is a wonderful thing.

By the way, Joseph Califano is well into his 80's, not 76 as the article states.

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