Under 21 too irresponsible for alcohol

The drinking age is justified by the correlation between physical, mental and emotional maturity and a higher age level. It is debated whether age affects activity of alcohol dehydrogenase, a key enzyme in ethanol metabolism, but it cannot be argued that mental and emotional maturity increase with age. Persons over 21 hold greater responsibilities, providing stronger incentives to avoid irresponsible behavior when drinking. Irresponsible behavior includes 3 out of the 5 Tuesday Police Beats that involved alcohol. Real world consequences exceed those found here. There are no visits to the Dean’s office or MIPs – there’s loss of employment and jail time. Of these expressions of Wildcat energy, all were midweek. Nobody’s against a midweek buzz, but debuting on Tuesday’s Police Beat can’t be as glamorous as it seems. As an institution of higher education, these incidents contradict our aim.

This aim might highlight how the drinking age “”has clearly failed at what it is presumably set out to do: prevent students from drinking,”” but the law extends past our campus – try across the entire state. Students are not all 18-20 year olds. For us, the Community Standards, distributed by ResLife, states the privileges of those 21 or over. The limitations are, however, strict because we demonstrate an inability to handle drinking as well as “”the millions of adults in America who consume alcohol in moderation.””

The 18-20 population does, however, include soldiers. We owe our soldiers a hell of a lot more than a beer, but at the end of the day they were not drafted. They enlisted, and for that I thank them. I would gladly break the law to share a good time with them.

Surreptitious drinking is fun. I get a rush like I get a rush hauling ass down Speedway. Is it right? No. The dangers are in potentially harming ourselves and others. But are students avoiding help for fear of legal action? I doubt it; otherwise University would be empty late nights when it is occupied by more police than Campus Health will ever see. Embarrassment? Negative; Facebook showcases us all. The issue is maturity.

Tomas Navarro
agricultural economics senior

We only received one response for our new feature “”Other Voices,”” in which we invite readers to submit their opinions about a question we pose. If you’d like to participate, look for next week’s question on Monday and write your response to letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.