Candidly Canada: Lowered drinking age leads to heightened safety
For the most part, Canada and the United States are fairly similar to each other.
However, one major difference that’s especially apparent when on a college campus is the legal drinking age. When I’m back in the States, the legal drinking age of 21 doesn’t stop most people from drinking. Many people even go to college for the party scene.
Canada, on the other hand, has a drinking age set at 18. There’s even a student-run bar right on campus. Rather than people sneakily obtaining alcohol and having older friends buy it for them, people just casually have a little wine or vodka in their mini-fridge.
No matter how subtle that difference might be, if Canada and a majority of the world can do it, why can’t we do it, too? A lowered American legal drinking age might provide greater awareness and safety.
Some states are even considering such an idea themselves. According to RT News, New Hampshire, Minnesota and California have been reviewing pieces of legislation that would lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18.
The overarching logic concerns curbing underage binge drinking and educating young people to hopefully adopt an attitude toward alcohol that is more moderate and social like Europe.
Perhaps we can’t mimic the Europeans, as America has a much different and often louder culture. Canada might be a better case study in this example, because Canadian and American youth have a more similar culture.
According to the Canadian Centre of Substance Abuse, even with the drinking age at 18, use of alcohol by Canadian youth appear to be declining, and other statistics are very similar to that of the United States even with a lower drinking age.
A key argument in maintaining a higher drinking age is to alleviate impaired driving deaths. Canada and Europe, aren’t ignorant of this concern either. According to CBS News, America increased its drinking age to 21 in the mid ’80s in hopes of preventing drinking and driving deaths.
The National Post reports that while fewer people are dying from motor vehicle crashes in Canada, the proportion of deaths linked to alcohol impairment is 34 percent, with the United States a close second at 31 percent.
Some Canadian provinces are already responding to this problem. CBC found that Newfoundland is introducing a law that requires everybody under the age of 22 must have a blood-alcohol level of zero, even higher than the American drinking age. The minimum legal drinking and drinking and driving statistics don’t necessarily correspond.
Alcohol to an American under age 21 is “forbidden fruit.” It forces young people into risky behavior. It encourages people away from any controlled settings like bars and restaurants and forces them to drink and have parties wherever and whenever, no matter how safe.
It’s much more important to address important issues like sex education and alcohol directly to truly provide an all-encompassing education.
With a lower legal drinking age, alcohol loses some of that extra luster. Inevitably it will still run rampant around college campuses, but the new light shed on it encourages more moderation, better safety enforcement and more straightforward education specifically tailored toward drinking at a younger age.
If any action should be taken, let’s make impaired driving laws stricter. America shouldn’t focus on the drinking age itself, but the implications of drinking.
If you’re a USD student traveling abroad and would like to contribute to The Volante, please contact us at [email protected].
