Great weekend and the legal drinking age

My brother and sister-in-law came down Saturday and Sunday. It was a great weekend filled with good drink, good food, and good conversation.

We went to a chic local coffee and dessert bar after dinner. I picked up a local paper and read an article on the front page. It was about a local beer-fest that was to take place soon. Something caught my attention. A student was about to turn 21 and was planning on going to the beer-fest first thing when he was of age. The article published him saying things like, "Well they're supposed to have about 300 beers to sample...I plan on not being able to count that high afterwards..." and, "After waiting 21 years I can finally go out and get wasted with my friends..."

Publishing strategies aside, this seemed to highlight the common topic of drinking age. Proponents routinely argue that the 21 year old's mind is much more suited to handling alcohol more responsibly than that of an 18 year old. Well...the 21 year old in this newspaper article isn't exactly helping this argument, and I have a feeling he's not the only soon to be 21 year old out there that is thinking along the same lines.

I wonder if society's pressure to stifle a young person's ability to consume alcohol legally ends up having a negative effect on that individual when it finally comes time to drink. Do I think that changing the drinking age to 18 will magically stop the "let's just get drunk to get drunk" mentality? No, but I think a much healthier relationship between young person, alcohol, and society could be possible if it was seriously considered.