Wisconsin and Other States Considering a Lower Drinking Age
Missouri and Minnesota are considering legislation that would lower the legal drinking age to 18 years old. Wisconsin is also considering lowering the drinking age to 19.
The legal drinking age is currently 21 in all states but some lawmakers feel that since people who are 18 years old and older are able to serve the country in the military, they should be able to drink alcohol wherever they choose.
In South Carolina, Vermont and Kentucky, lawmakers are considering a lowered drinking age that would apply only to military personnel, and according to USA Today, an initiative in the works in South Dakota would allow all 19- and 20-year-olds to buy low-alcohol beer.
Not everyone is in favor of lower drinking ages. The Lake County News-Sun reported that U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park is opposed to lowering the drinking age because he feels that it would cause more drunk driving and alcohol related fatalities. Kirk fears that teenagers would cross borders to buy alcohol, resulting in drunk driving, DUI arrests and tragic traffic accidents.
The legal drinking age was raised to 21 in Wisconsin in 1986. Kirk says that by raising the drinking age, the state has saved more than 20,000 lives per year. If the drinking age is lowered, he says it will cause thousands of alcohol related traffic deaths that are completely avoidable.
Kirk's concerns are not unfounded. In 2007, Wisconsin had the highest DUI rate in the country. While he served as attorney general in 2001, Wisconsin's Governor Jim Doyle had said that he would support a lowered drinking age of 19 nationwide.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reported that fewer 18- to 20-year-olds have died in traffic accidents since the drinking age has been raised across the country to 21.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is also against a lowered drinking age. According to data compiled by MADD, teens who take a drink before the age of 19 are significantly more at risk to become alcohol dependent, to drink and drive and to sustain injuries that require medical attention than those who do not drink before the age of 19.
Although the idea of lowering the legal drinking age in Wisconsin has been batted around, the current legislative session has ended. As of yet, no legislation has been introduced. The bill is scheduled to be introduced in the state assembly this fall.
Before any state decides upon lower drinking ages, they must determine what the effect will be on federal highway funding. In 1984, Congress set a uniform legal age of 21, threatening to cut highway funding to states which did not comply.