Perish the thought, but it looks like the utterly vile and ageist abomination that is the 21 drinking age will not be lowered to 18 (or even lowered at all) anytime soon. It's plain to see that the movement to lower it has completely run out of momentum by now, and the movement to raise the smoking/vaping age to 21 has unfortunately only gained momentum in recent years, and with no signs of stopping. In fact, the federal government recently raised the federal tobacco/vaping purchase age to 21. And while the cannabis legalization movement still has enough momentum, unfortunately all US states (though not Canada) that have chosen to legalize it so far have chosen 21 as their legal toking age.
Does that mean our movement is dead, never to rise again? Of course not, but our movement is in a sort of "dark night of the soul", apparently, and a very long one too. Depressing as it sounds, we must realize that it is always darkest before the dawn, and we must redouble our efforts to tackle the 21 drinking age while the country is hopelessly distracted by tobacco and especially vaping these days.
One bright spot among recent trends is the increasing tendency towards criminal justice reform. We may be able to use that to our advantage, in fact. If we can't lower the drinking age right away, we can at least reduce the harm by decriminalizing underage drinking (and smoking and toking), reducing it to a mere infraction (ticket) offense (if there are to even be any penalties at all) without any arrests, criminal penalties, or criminal record, bypassing the criminal justice system entirely. Some states, such as New York and DC, already have that in place for alcohol, while many other states are still quite draconian by comparison. We should also seize upon the trend towards reducing or eliminating driver's license sanctions for non-driving related offenses, and apply that to underage drinking (and smoking and toking) as well. We should re-prioritize law enforcement resources towards retail sellers rather than young buyers and users, and make "underage" drinking (and smoking and toking) by 18-20 year olds the lowest law enforcement priority. And of course, in our zeal to lower the drinking age to 18, we must not throw people under 18 under the bus in the name of cowardly political expendiency in that regard either.
And of course, we need to prioritize cracking down on drunk driving, drunk violence, drunk vandalism, rape and sexual assault, and other serious stuff like that at ANY age, not the mere victimless "crime" of responsible drinking by 18-20 year old young adults.
So what are we waiting for?
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I personally believe that the Democratic Party and its supporters are the main reasons why ageist laws are being implemented. The bill to raise the drinking age to 21 was introduced by a Democratic congressman back in the 1980s. The movement to raise the smoking age to 21 was mostly implemented in Democratic cities, counties and states. The movement to legalize Cannabis is composed mainly of liberals and progressives who do not acknowledge young adults aged 18-20 years old as adults with deserving civil rights and civil liberties. Liberals and progressives share this view of young people even when considering the idea of lowering the voting age to 16. Nancy Pelosi supports this bill but she is one of few Democrats to support it.
ReplyDeleteIn this regard, the Republican Party is more acknowledging of youth rights than the Democratic Party, it is the truth.
To make gains in the youth rights movement and in this related movement, we should sometimes support the Republican Party.