Keeping the Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21

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Keeping the Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21

• Drug-Free Action Alliance

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Drug-Free Action Alliance

• strongly supports all states retaining 21 years
  as the minimum legal drinking age for alcoholic
  beverages.

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Science-based research confirms

• 21 laws help protect the health, safety and
  overall well being of our youth
• Are effective in reducing alcohol-related deaths
• Are effective in reducing alcohol-related
  injuries
• And while many youth under 21 may still consume
  alcohol, they drink less
• with the 21-laws

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• The Minimum Legal Drinking Age Laws (MLDA) are
  the most studied and successful alcohol-related
  laws on the books.

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Why taking a position is important

• This issue surfaced more than 2 years ago
• Drug-Free Action Alliance has been studying for
  more than a year
• Sound public policy is important to prevention
  efforts
• The research is clear that MLDA 21 is good public
  policy
• It is important to advocate and provide a vital
  voice to keep our youth safe and healthy

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Public Policy -

• Community policies shape norms and perception
  and it is important to retain policies and to
  advocate for policies that accurately reflect the
  dangers of the misuse and illegal use of alcohol.

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Alcohol consumption by those under 21 is
dangerous

• 5,000 youth under the age of 21 die from alcohol-
  related injuries each year

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Negative Consequences of youth under 21 consuming
alcohol include . . .

• More youth die from alcohol than all other drugs
  combined
• Nearly 5 college students are killed every day
• 600,000 college students are unintentionally
  injured each year
• 700,000 college students are assaulted yearly by
  other students under the influence of alcohol
• 100,000 college students are sexually assaulted
• Economic costs nationally are about
• 62 billion annually

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In Ohio . . .

• 2005 -
• Costs 2.7 billion annually
• Ohio ranks 14th highest in costs
• Violence and traffic crashes
• represent the largest costs
• In 2004, nearly 2,500 youth
• 12-20 were admitted for
• alcohol treatment
• 21.1 of all alcohol sold in
• Ohio was consumed by
• underage drinkers

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Then, why is this a difficult issue?

• It is an emotional issue
• Alcohol has permeated every part of our culture
• We use it to
• Celebrate
• Reward
• Console
• Based on belief system, often not facts

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Alcohol is

• Easily obtained
• Inexpensive
• Existing laws are not consistently enforced
• Culturally accepted
• Zealously marketed

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Cultural messages . . .
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Not always adult driven . . .
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What is the message?
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Additionally

• Age of majority and joining the military muddles
  the issue
• Many believe it is a rights issue
• A small, but vocal group believes
• it should be 18

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Choose Responsibility and the Amethyst Initiative

• John McCardell, retired President of Middlebury
  College leading the effort to lower the MLDA
• Started the nonprofit, Choose Responsibility and
  the Amethyst Initiative for college presidents
• Wants to repeal the National Minimum Legal
  Drinking Age of 1984
• Is not calling for a national MLDA
• law

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John McCardell . . .

• Proposes education, certification, and
  provisional licensing for 18-20 year-old high
  school graduates
• Believes binge drinking is a direct result of
  being forbidden to drink
• Has Washington D.C. office and has hired a
  lobbyist
• Attempting to build a movement
• among college presidents

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Amethyst Initiative

• Statement
• Its time to rethink the drinking age
• In 1984 Congress passed the National Minimum
  Drinking Age Act, which imposed a penalty of 10
  of a state's federal highway appropriation on any
  state setting its drinking age lower than 21.
• Twenty-four years later, our experience as
  college and university presidents convinces us
  that
• Twenty-one is not working
• A culture of dangerous, clandestine
  binge-drinkingoften conducted off-campushas
  developed.
• Alcohol education that mandates abstinence as the
  only legal option has not resulted in significant
  constructive behavioral change among our
  students.
• Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting,
  signing contracts, serving on juries and
  enlisting in the military, but are told they are
  not mature enough to have a beer.
• By choosing to use fake IDs, students make
  ethical compromises that erode respect for the
  law.

• How many times must we relearn the lessons of
  prohibition?
• We call upon our elected officials
• To support an informed and dispassionate public
  debate over the effects of the 21 year-old
  drinking age.
• To consider whether the 10 highway fund
  incentive encourages or inhibits that debate.
• To invite new ideas about the best ways to
  prepare young adults to make responsible
  decisions about alcohol.
• We pledge ourselves and our institutions to
  playing a vigorous, constructive role as these
  critical discussions unfold.
• Current count 134
• 3 known from Ohio

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No magic bullet

• Minimum Legal Drinking Age Laws are one effective
  approach to a multi-pronged need
• Availability must be examined
• Effective and consistent enforcement of laws
• Examining promotion and
• marketing
• Correcting community norms

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The Position Statement

• Drug-Free Action Alliance strongly supports all
  states retaining 21 as the legal drinking age for
  alcoholic beverages
• 29 States lowered the MLDA in the 1970s
• New Zealand lower its MLDA in 1999
• Europes lower MLDA problems
• The brain research

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The Minimum Legal Drinking Age should remain 21

• 21-laws help protect the health, safety and
  overall well being of our youth
• 21-laws are effective in reducing alcohol related
  deaths and injuries
• While many youth under 21 still consume alcohol,
  they drink less with the 21-laws
• MLDA laws are the most studied and successful
  alcohol related laws on the books more than 50
  peer reviewed studies
• MLDA 18 has been tried and has failed

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29 States lowered the drinking age in the 1970s

• Alcohol related traffic crashes rose
  significantly

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Many changes took place in the 1970s

• 18 year-olds were drafted into an unpopular war
• The voting age dropped to 18
• 29 states dropped the legal drinking age from 21
  years-old

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29 States Lowered the Drinking Age in the 1970s

• In those 29 states, alcohol traffic fatalities
  and injuries increased dramatically
• 16 of those states voluntarily raised their
  drinking age back to 21
• Blood Borders were created between states with
  different drinking ages prompting the
• National Drinking Age Act of 1984

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21 MLDA saves lives . . .

• From the early 1980s to 2005, the number of
  young people killed annually in crashes involving
  drunk drivers under 21 has been cut in half from
  more than 5,000 to not quite 2,000
• The National Highway Safety Administration
• The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates
  that the 21-laws have prevented 1,000 traffic
  deaths each year
• States that punish underage drinkers for using
  fake IDs had 14 fewer teen drunk-driving deaths
• than states without such laws
• Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation,
  Jul y 2008

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New Zealand lowered its minimum drinking age in
1999

• Rates of drunk driving and disorderly conduct
  increased

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New Zealand lowered the MLDA in 1999 from 20 to 18

• Now New Zealand law makers are considering
  raising it back up again.

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New Zealand lowered the drinking age from 20 to 18

• Researchers found that alcohol-involved crashes
  increased for 15-19 year-olds
• Trips to the emergency departments of intoxicated
  15-19 year-olds increased
• Rates of drunk driving and disorderly conduct in
  15-19 year-olds
• increased

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New Zealand rates of traffic crashes and
injuries. . .

• Increased 12 for 18-19 year-old males and 14
  among 15-17 year-old males comparing the four
  years before and after the New Zealand
  legislature lowered the drinking age to 18
• Increased for females 51 for 18-19 year-olds and
  24 for 15-17 year-olds
• The study estimated that 400 serious injuries and
  12 deaths each year among 15-19 year-olds could
  be prevented if New Zealand raised the
• minimum legal drinking age

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Europe's lower drinking ages do not reduce
high-risk drinking

• Compared to the United States, both the rates and
  frequency of drinking among youth are higher in
  all European countries except for Turkey

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The Great European Myth

• Research is showing that Europe has an even
  bigger problem with alcohol than the United States

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Europes lower drinking ages do not reduce
high-risk drinking

• A recent study confirms that both rates and
  frequency of drinking among youth are higher in
  all European countries than in the U.S. except
  for Turkey
• Ireland, Britain and Denmark have more than twice
  the level of high-risk drinking than the U.S.
• Alcohol-related deaths in the U.K. have doubled
  over the last 15 years.
• In the U.K. one in seven people taken to the
  hospital for
• binge drinking was under the age of 14

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Binge drinking comparisons
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Research reveals the damaging effects of alcohol
on the developing adolescent brain

• The human brain continues to develop into a
  persons mid-twenties

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The new brain research validates 21

• Alcohol on the developing brain can interfere
  with learning and memory
• The hippocampus in an adolescent who drinks
  heavily can be up to 10 smaller
• Teenage drinkers scores worse on vocabulary and
  memory tests are more likely to
• perform poorly in school

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Persons who start to drink at age 14 or younger
relative to those starting at age 21 or older are
. . .

• 4 times more likely to become alcohol dependent
• 7 times more likely to be drunk on a weekly basis
• 12 times more likely to be unintentionally
  injured under the influence of alcohol
• 7 times more likely to be in motor vehicle
  crashes because of their drinking
• 11 times more likely to be in physical
• fights after drinking

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Crafting Your Message

• And communicating it effectively

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Working from a message box

• Messages should be a 3 or 4 legged stool
• Bullets are too much like a to do list so they
  are hard to remember
• Start with the position statement
• Use 3 or 4 key or proof messages
• Use supporting points for each key message
• Always come back to your main premise
• ATM Answer, Transition, Message

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Key Message
Key message
Supporting points
Supporting points
MLDA should remain 21
Key message
Key message
Supporting points
Supporting points
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Charm School 101

• Tips for being a successful advocate

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Good AdvocateNatural qualities . . .

• Remain optimistic
• Functions well in chaos
• Loves people
• Passionate about the issue

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Good AdvocateQualities to acquire

• A keen sense of justice
• Deep sense of caring
• Knows the stuff
• Can be counted on and trusted
• Respected and respectful

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Good AdvocateHelpful qualities . . .

• Understands the rules of engagement
• Doesnt take the work personally
• Is resilient looks at more than one way to
  approach
• Is consistent to the position
• Finds the humor and can laugh

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Meeting the challenges of an advocate . . .

• Stay steadfast long term change takes a long
  time
• Believe the no end date rule
• Dont let obstacles stop you
• Keep your eye on the ball
• Understand that policy change isnt always a
  straight line
• Be patient with yourself and
• everyone around you
• Be professional and respectful

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The hard to win argument . . .

• If they can go to war . . .
• However
• 21 is the legal age to gamble in Nevada other
  states
• 21 is the age one can purchase a handgun
• 21 is the age for Ohios conceal carry
• 25 is the age to rent a car or to rent without
  extra fees
• 25 is the age to be a U.S. Congress
  Representative
• 30 is the age to become a U.S. Senator

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And . . .

• No one wants to put a young person in harms way
• Everyone wants them to be safe, healthy and reach
  their full potential
• Research shows us
• 21 MLDA laws reduce alcohol-related deaths and
  injuries among youth under 21
• 21 MLDA laws reduces alcohol consumption for
  those under 21 which reduces the risk of harm to
• the developing brain

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So . . .

• If we want to honor our soldiers for
  volunteering to serve and protect our country,
  then perhaps we should consider putting efforts
  towards getting them excellent pay, educational
  scholarships, training for good paying jobs and
  exceptional health and mental health care.

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Please advocate for 21 MLDA

• There is a growing number of groups of
  individuals supporting 21 MLDA
• Nationwide Insurance just released a survey
  indicating that 72 of respondents believe 21 is
  the right age
• In a July 2007 Gallup poll, 77
• believe the MLDA should be 21

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The U.S. Surgeon Generals Call to Action

• During his visit to Ohio in February 2008,
  Acting U.S. Surgeon General Steven K. Galson
  stated that as a physician entrusted to care for
  the nations public health, he could not
  recommend changing a law that has been shown to
  save lives.

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• There is no government agency or organization
  that disputes the effectiveness of the
• 21 MLDA
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• The General Accounting Office
• The Institute of Medicine
• The Surgeon General
• The National Institute of Health

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What 2 Ohio College Presidents have to say. . .

• "Abusive use of alcohol by some young people is
  a matter of concern to  all who work with this
  age group.  Open and honest conversation about 
  issues surrounding alcohol abuse is always
  appropriate.  Experience  suggests, though, that
  there is no "silver bullet" that will, by 
  itself, provide a remedy to this problem.  At
  this point, I have not  seen compelling evidence
  that changes in the legal drinking age  provide
  that silver bullet.  We need to remember that
  misuse of  alcohol is more than a college and
  university problem and affects both  non-college
  and pre-college populations.  Any effective,
  civic-minded  approach to alcohol abuse by young
  adults has to do more than simply  lessen the
  law enforcement responsibilities of
  colleges.Dr. Dale T. KnobelPresident Denison
  UniversityGranville Ohio

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And . . .

• I do not recall being asked to sign on to this
  movement by the organizers via e-mail or letter.
  If I had been asked to sign on to this movement,
  I would have declined to do so. I strongly
  believe that the actions Ohio University has
  taken during the past three years are appropriate
  responses to high-risk binge-drinking among our
  students. Clearly we need to continue to search
  for additional ways to reduce high-risk
  binge-drinking among our students
• Roderick McDavis
• President, Ohio University
• Athens, Ohio

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Supporters of MLDA 21

• American Medical Association
• Center for Science in the Public Interest
• Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
• Governors Highway Safety Assoc.
• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
• International Association of Chiefs of Police
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving

• National Liquor Law Enforcement Association
• National Transportation Safety Board
• National Safety Council
• Nationwide Insurance
• Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
• National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence

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Drug-Free Action Alliance

• Marcie Seidel
• Ohio College Initiative Project Director
• Assistant Director
• 614-540-9985
• WWW.DrugFreeActionAlliance.org