PURCHASE - A panel of national experts convened at Manhattanville College last night to debate the issue of changing the legal drinking age.
"One of the issues that we don't talk about enough is alcohol and underage drinking. It's clearly a societal issue. It's not specific to colleges; it affects our high schools, our parks, our colleges, our businesses," said Manhattanville College President Richard Berman. "It's like the elephant in the room."
The panelists represented a wide range of interests and perspectives, from the president of Alcohol and Drugs Historical Society and the director of Traffic Safety and Enforcement Programs to the director of the National Youth Rights Association, in addition to other organizations.
A crowd of close to 200 people filled an ornate ballroom in the college's Reid Castle, where the panelists presented their arguments before opening up the floor for questions.
Many in the audience were students, who said they attended the debate to help sort out their own views on whether or not the drinking age should be changed from 21.
"I'm not really for or against it, but I'm more for making it lower," said Melissa LaCroce, 19, a sophomore from Pleasantville. "Kids are drinking because it's illegal, doing it to go against what people say they can't do. I don't think kids would go so overboard if it was legal."
Manhattanville College recently conducted a poll of 513 residents from Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, finding that they solidly opposed lowering the drinking age.
Of those surveyed, 66 percent said they opposed lowering the drinking age; 30 percent said they supported doing so; and 4 percent were undecided. Younger residents between the ages of 18 and 34 were most in favor of lowering the drinking age, but overall were opposed 61 percent to 36 percent.
The idea of changing the drinking age has attracted headlines and sparked controversy over the past few months, especially after the launch of a national campaign aimed at opening the debate about the possible effects of changing the legal drinking age.
The Amethyst Initiative, which launched in July, comprises chancellors and presidents of colleges and universities across the United States. So far, 134 of these leaders have signed their names to a public statement saying that there is an unacceptable culture of dangerous binge drinking on many campuses, and that the issue must be examined.
John M. McCardell, founder of the Amethyst Initiative and former president of Middlebury College, participated in the debate last night. He commended Manhattanville College for hosting the forum, saying it was exactly the type of event the initiative sought to bring forth.
"Every campus today is having difficulty coming to grips with alcohol in the lives of students," he said. "We have to ask ourselves the degree to which the drinking age is involved in that problem."
The panelists each came armed with data to support their claims that the drinking age should or should not be lowered. They asked questions such as how many deaths are acceptable, how do you prevent addiction and is the 21 drinking age fundamentally fair?
Adrian K. Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, answered the question with numbers. Approximately 900 deaths each year are prevented with the 21 drinking age, he said.
"We're basically saying we'll bring those back if we lower the drinking age," he said. "I'm disappointed because I'd like to think we've done this experiment and we know what happens if we lower the drinking age. But at the same time, we're in a democratic society and it's good to debate our laws and why we have them."
Reach Diana Costello at dcostell@lohud.com or 914-694-3528.
Photo thumbnail by Seth Harrison of the Journal News