文章基本信息

标题：Is the Glass Half Empty, Half Full or Dry?
本地全文：下载
作者：Tavis Glassman PhD MPH CHES
期刊名称：Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice
电子版ISSN：1934-4708
出版年度：2008
卷号：2
期号：4
出版社：Institute on Global Drug Policy & the International Scientific and Medical Forum on Drug Abuse
摘要：The Amethyst Initiative, a campaign to lower the legal drinking age to 18, garnered a great deal of attention since the proposal was launched in July 2008. John M. McCardell Jr., a former president of Middlebury College and founder of the nonprofit group Choose Responsibility, leads the movement. The organization seeks the support of individuals from higher education, among others, to publicly support the effort. To date, 134 college presidents and senior administrators have endorsed the initiative. The question is why, especially considering that a Gallup poll conducted in July 2007 indicates 77% of the public supports the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA).(1) The most obvious reasons for lowering the drinking age involve basic civil liberty issues. Proponents for lowering the drinking age maintain that if you're old enough to vote and go to war, then you should be old enough to consume alcohol. Some student affairs administrators may also want to lower the drinking age in an attempt to minimize liability. If the drinking age were lowered to 18, with the exception of a few 17 year olds on campus, underage drinking problems would be virtually eliminated. However, the health risks associated with alcohol use would still remain problematic, if not worsen.