By Roy York

The alcohol debate has come to the heart of the Bluegrass.

On Thursday, James Fell, senior program director with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, and John McCardell, founder of Choose Responsibility and former Middlebury College President, squared off in Worsham Theatre in a debate concerning lowering the national drinking age and the effectiveness of the current under-21 law.

McCardell cited shortcomings and unexpected consequences of the current system, while Fell cited statistics and argued the minimum drinking age has saved lives and reduced alcohol-related incidents across the board.

McCardell said states have the power to lower the drinking age below 21, but if states do, they forfeit 10 percent of their federal highway appropriations under the Uniform Drinking Age Act, passed in 1984. McCardell said no state is going to risk the loss, and therefore no data can be gained from younger drinking age experiments in the U.S.

He said today’s problems have shifted to another issue prevalent on college campuses.

“The problem of 2009 is binge drinking,” McCardell said. “The law has been effective at reducing drinking in public venues, but drinking is still taking place behind closed doors.”

He said between 1993 and 2001, there has been a 56 percent increase in binge drinking, and today 90 percent of alcohol consumed by underage drinkers is done so while binge drinking.

“Our current approach to binge drinking is as effective as a parachute that opens on the second bounce,” McCardell said. “Alcohol is a reality in the lives of young adults. We have tried valiantly for the past 25 years to impose prohibition on that age group. It hasn’t worked.”

Refuting points asserted by McCardell, Fell said there is no data to suggest that binge drinking is increasing.

He said raising the drinking age has no effect on binge drinking, but rather young people learn binge drinking from parents.

Fell cited statistics celebrating the successes of the current drinking law. He says the under-21 drinking age saves lives and reduces all alcohol-related incidents for those under and over 21.

Fell said after the Uniform Drinking Age Act was passed, the U.S. saw a 13 percent decline in 30-day alcohol consumption. He said between 1982 and 2004, alcohol-related automobile fatalities decreased by 33 percent for persons over 21, and decreased by 62 percent for persons under 21.

To rebut those who say 18-year-olds are considered adults in other facets of life, Fell said many rights have different ages of initiation, such as renting a hotel room, renting a car or being elected president.

Fell proposed strengthening drinking laws and better enforcement of current laws as solutions to keep students from drinking illegally. Fell said an increase in the tax on alcohol would also reduce underage alcohol consumption.

“When the drinking age is lowered, problems increase,” Fell said. “The drinking age saves lives.”