Should Drinking Age Be 18?

April 14, 2005 — -- Vermont native Kyle Gilbert was killed in Iraq almost two years ago, but before the 20-year-old shipped out to war he couldn't join his buddies at a local bar for a goodbye drink. And one lawmaker from the Green Mountain State thinks that's wrong.

"It just doesn't sit right with me that people [at the age of 18] have the right to do everything else, including serve their country, but don't have the right to consume alcohol," state Rep. Richard Marron said. "It's a form of age discrimination."

The Republican has proposed a bill to lower the drinking age in Vermont to 18. He has gained support from other lawmakers -- 17 others have signed on as co-sponsors -- but many others are against it.

Wendy Hamilton, the national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, disagreed with Marron's comparison of drinking at 18 to gaining the right to vote or buying cigarettes.

"The right to vote isn't going to kill you; drinking at age 18 could," she said.

MADD and the Chrysler Group on Wednesday launched a "21 Turns 21: Lifesaving Milestones" campaign celebrating the anniversary of the 1984 law making 21 the legal drinking age nationwide.

The proposed bill is not likely to pass in Vermont because the state would lose about $9.7 million in federal funding for highways, a provision of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984.

The act required all states to raise their minimum age for purchase and public possession of alcohol to 21. Non-compliance would have meant a reduction in highway funds under the Federal Highway Aid Act.

Marron argues this law is an example of the "federal government intruding where it doesn't belong. Federal highway funding shouldn't be tied to whether or not someone is able to drink."

Hamilton, of course, disagrees, and says the law "has been the most effective drunk driving law in history."