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>>If you are 18 and refuse to sign up to fight for your country, then you can wait until 21 to drink legally.<<

Why? The entire point of the college presidents' initiative is that 21 isn't working.

My perspective is from a somewhat different angle, high school. We have far more drinking among high school (and junior high) kids than we did before the 21 year old drinking age was established.

It's insane to have a law on the books that no one respects, is rarely observed, and is hardly ever enforced. The real problem is that under those conditions, younger kids learn only one thing; there really is no drinking age that people respect. So they drink just as often as their older brothers and sisters who are also drinking illegally.

The older among us still think there's something magic about the number 18, that it should somehow mark a proper drinking age. But if you're only 17, or 15 or 12 for that matter, you have no recollection of any dringing age other than 21 and all you know about that is that it's not observed, enforced or respected. So everyone drinks.

Here's another option, one that lets adults drink as they choose, but gets drinking out of the high school parties:

To legally drink in any state in the U.S. your driver's license must indicate that you are 19 years old OR have earned a high school diploma.

Then start taking away the property of those who supply unrelated minors with alcohol. If your car is loaded with beer for an underage party, seize the beer and the car and tack on a fine for good measure. If you're one of those idiotic parents who let the high-schoolers party at your house (so you can keep an eye on them) then it's bye-bye house if you're caught. Underage drinking would come to a screeching halt, and then if parents would introduce high schoolers to a small glass of wine at a meal occasionally, kids might even learn to drink responsibly. 21 is a stupid law. It's not working and it's causing harm besides.

First of all, I’d prefer limited supervised drinking as a child grows up. As it is now, a person rarely learns to drink responsibly until they’ve made all the mistakes short of DUI and vehiclular manslaughter.

If children were taught to drink responsilbly and in moderation then imo the allure of binge drinking would diminish as would the aspect of the ‘forbidden fruit’.

Second, if one wants to base changing the law to 18 because one might be called upon to defend the country in uniform, then make the rule state that those that actually do defend the country in uniform legally drink, not just those who reach the age. Make it on actual merit, not potential merit.

Third, I’d disagree with your penalties and punishments all the way to Supreme Court simply because they are too severe for the crime committed. Lose a house (upwards of $200k fine) for underage drinking? No way, Jose.