Youth and the Drinking To-do

Remember that time in our lives when the drinking laws for young people between the ages of 18 and 21 were different from state to state? It's how it was until 1984 or 23 years ago when MLDA or minimum legal drinking age law was made effective thanks to the U.S. Senate, citizen advocacy groups, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving or MADD. Between 1976 and 1983 as many as 16 states increased the legal age from 18 to 20, up to 21.

In Connecticut, for many years the "bought over the state line" contraband was a true demon of catastrophe. There were instances of carloads of teens, some with more than one family member as passengers, local high school students and friends, who drove drunk on the way home from close-by states that hadn't enacted the age-21 drinking laws yet. Yes, it was real, obituaries in the paper and classmates at the funeral. Agreed, many are very mature at the age of 18, while others are out with mom or dad's car rolling along the highway in reverie about how many bottles of beer are left "on the wall." Here we are many years later realizing why we wear seat-belts. We've come a long way with the enactment of drunk driving laws and we can thank the early lawmakers and lobbyists who started with the underage issues. The sad part is we can't bring back the young drinking friend and two brothers who died in the same accident, or the classmate who was in the next row in secondary school. Those who have been to the modern-day bereavements unfortunately discover that just like so many years ago, some under age 21 are still grabbing the bottle and losing their lives to drunk driving accidents, the surviving relatives and friends still with the ache of a deceased loved one.

MADD organization also holds meetings on regular schedules to allow interested people. To locate times and places visit www.madd.org or check the telephone book and listings in the local bulletins and newspapers. For fund-raising, the group of concerned mothers and affiliates often holds yearly raffles to let people know it's not the automobile or motorcycle that drives, but instead it's the drunk driver who does the damage. At least 23,000 more young people are alive, well, working and living since the enactment of the federal MLDA law. We can also thank Dem. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Elizabeth Dole for the passing of the age 21 or up requirement for drinking. All too many have been killed in drunk-driving accidents, not only drivers but also the victims in the vehicles hit. Once somebody's gone all the rehabilitation classes or manslaughter charges in the world can't bring the deceased back. It's bad enough to have it happen with adults, but the kids too? Most drunk drivers didn't mean for it to happen. Most anybody between 18 and 21 who survives a drunk-driving accident won't be able to live it down either. Liquor is like the lobster in the pot, the drunk driver not realizing how affected he or she is until it's too late.

Many teens and young adults between the ages of 18 and 21 are every bit aware and responsible as adults over 21, it's the result of misuses of liquor in our society and because of hazards from too much drinking that MADD, lawmakers, advocacy groups, and police departments allow young people a chance rather than a restriction with this law.