Amethyst Initiative

While proponents of supervised underage drinking such as the Amethyst Initiative and Dr. Stanton Peele often point toward Europe as an example of how relatively lower age limits for drinking alcohol have been successful, new information is coming out that alcohol consumption by the young regardless of method will sharply increase the risk of alcohol dependency later in life may be swaying opinion in the opposite direction across the big pond.

A new study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIAAA suggests that any alcohol consumption by teenagers is a risk within itself regardless if it is properly supervised or culturally permissible. From the Timesonline, “We can see for the first time the association between an early ‘age of first drink’ and an increased risk of alcohol use disorders that persists into adulthood,” said Deborah Dawson, a research scientist at the NIAAA.

The study has many rethinking the policy of serving watered down wine to children in France and Southern Europe to teach responsible drinking. What good is this practice if it is jeapordizing a set percentage, those that will now be at a much higher risk of developing alcoholism? Over the last 20 years much of Europe has seen a spike in binge drinking and youth alcohol abuse fueled by unlimited media access and popular culture. This has been largely ignored by those in the US who often cite Europe as a model for moderate drinking.

So it seems to me that arguing over lowering the drinking age in the States for any reason is counterproductive. When it comes to young people and drinking we have been aiming at the wrong target; it shouldn’t be when, but why and how do we stop it?

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Every year companies, counties, and civic groups shell out millions to administer a flu shot to those they wish to protect, many times for free. It makes sense that those who will avoid extensive sick leave will not burden employers or the healthcare system and will continue to contribute to society. The vaccination is not foolproof, in fact it often fails but it is the only proven method to protect against the flu. Certain age groups including those under twenty-one and over 50 are highly recommended to get vaccinated because of their high risk of infection. Most of the high risk groups are willing to go through the trouble and slight discomfort of getting the shot to potentially avoid a miserable bout with the flu.

What if I told you that something similar existed for alcoholism?

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See the old guy with the deranged grin pouring beer down the hot college chick’s throat? He is Robert Paxton, the now-resigned president of Iowa Central Community College, putting the recently announced Amethyst Initiative into practice by preparing these “young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol use.” Yes, I'm being facetious.

I am amazed at the sacrifices being made by these stalwart warriors of academia like Mr. Paxton, who will risk career and dignity to make the less cerebral of us aware of how miserably the minimum drinking age limit has failed. Alright, no more jokes.

These higher education leaders have signed their names to a public statement that the 21 year-old drinking age is not working, and, specifically, that it has created a culture of dangerous binge drinking on their campuses… Amethyst Initiative presidents and chancellors call upon elected officials to weigh all the consequences of current alcohol policies and to invite new ideas on how best to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol use. ~ Amethyst Initiative Statement

A previously mentioned, once this picture surfaced Mr. Paxton thought it best to turn in his resignation. Personally I wish he would have kept his job, although he was not a signee this is just as bad a cop-out as the Amethyst Initiative's surrender on the minimum drinking age law. The incident would have made an excellent topic for the “informed and unimpeded debate” that academics of Amethyst Initiative would like to have on the subject.

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Hat Tip and thanks to unofficial TDA researcher AnnaZ for the heads up on this one!
A coalition of college presidents and chancellors launched the Amethyst Initiative in July of this year to support “informed and unimpeded debate” on the federal minimum drinking age. Actually they are calling it the 21 year-old drinking age which doesn’t really jive being the law has been in place since 1984. That sounds like a bleary-eyed mistake I might make updating my site at an ungodly hour, but I expect better from the esteemed halls of academia. It leaves one to wonder if they really have put much thought into their tagline, “rethinking the drinking age”. Is it just “me thinking” these eggheads have basically thrown in the towel when it comes to combating underage drinking?

Never mind the stats supporting the benefits of minimum age laws and the detrimental effects of alcohol on the developing brain, it shouldn’t take an advanced degree to understand that when you shorten the line for the bar that those left outside will begin their own campaign for entry. The very argument the Amethyst Initiative makes about underage “clandestine drinking” works just as well for a bunch of seventeen year-olds that have just found themselves at the head of the queue. Maybe next up to bat will be a coalition of high school principals and counselors “retinkering the drinking age”.

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