By Gamal Hennessy
The Amethyst Initiative released a statement recently calling for a discussion on the drinking age in America. Battle lines were drawn immediately between the college students who felt that the current law led to dangerous binge drinking and the opponents who claim lowering the drinking law will increase binge drinking. The debate has focused on college campuses, but nightlife has a stake in this debate as well. Does it make sense to set the drinking age at 21? Should it be lowered? Should it be raised? Should drinking be based on age at all?
The Problem
The Amethyst Initiative, which is made up of college presidents and chancellors from around the country, claims that the current drinking age creates segregated communities on campus. The 21-25 group drinks on a regular basis in bars, restaurants and other places liquor is served. Since the 18-20 group can’t legally drink they pre-party heavily to compensate. This binge drinking leads to a host of problems. It promotes to criminal activity to get liquor to causes alcohol poisoning and other health problems once the liquor is consumed.
Officials from various government and civic organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) claim that the Amethyst Initiative ignores proven data on the benefits of legal drinking at 21. They say a lower drinking age will lead to more alcohol related fatalities and simply push the age of binge drinking down to the high school level. They have also exerted pressure on members of the initiative to withdraw their support.
The Nightlife Impact
Nightclubs and bars have a vested interest in the drinking age law. Once schools open again for the fall semester, the clubs will be teeming with drinkers. Some of them won’t be 21. These are the places that underage drinkers try to get into after the pre-party. These are the places that have to deal with fake IDs. Would it be easier for everyone if the same person who can go to college, get a license, and drive to the club also be allowed to drink there?
From an economic standpoint, there might be short term gains for nightclubs. There would be more potential people coming in and drinking, which means more money for the club. There would be less need for security to check ID’s at the door, which would free them up for other tasks (like dealing with the drunks who are already inside). There would be fewer violations for serving underage patrons, which could lead to fewer threats to liquor licenses since every violation goes on record against the club when it wants to renew its license.
However, the public relations impact outweighs the economic benefit. New York nightlife is already under attack in various parts of the city by community boards, police and possibly real estate interests. It doesn’t need to draw additional fire from MADD or other politically influential groups. It might take just one incident of a 20 year old girl being injured or killed to spark a new crusade against clubs. It probably wouldn’t matter if she was drunk before she got to the club or if she was even in or near the club when the incident occurred. The story would be about a young girl killed after going to a nightclub. The details would probably be missed.
New York Nights supports debate on issues like the relationship between age and drinking, but we don’t feel that lowering the drinking age would benefit New York Nightlife.
Have fun.
Gamal
The Amethyst Initiative released a statement recently calling for a discussion on the drinking age in America. Battle lines were drawn immediately between the college students who felt that the current law led to dangerous binge drinking and the opponents who claim lowering the drinking law will increase binge drinking. The debate has focused on college campuses, but nightlife has a stake in this debate as well. Does it make sense to set the drinking age at 21? Should it be lowered? Should it be raised? Should drinking be based on age at all?
The Problem
The Amethyst Initiative, which is made up of college presidents and chancellors from around the country, claims that the current drinking age creates segregated communities on campus. The 21-25 group drinks on a regular basis in bars, restaurants and other places liquor is served. Since the 18-20 group can’t legally drink they pre-party heavily to compensate. This binge drinking leads to a host of problems. It promotes to criminal activity to get liquor to causes alcohol poisoning and other health problems once the liquor is consumed.
Officials from various government and civic organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) claim that the Amethyst Initiative ignores proven data on the benefits of legal drinking at 21. They say a lower drinking age will lead to more alcohol related fatalities and simply push the age of binge drinking down to the high school level. They have also exerted pressure on members of the initiative to withdraw their support.
The Nightlife Impact
Nightclubs and bars have a vested interest in the drinking age law. Once schools open again for the fall semester, the clubs will be teeming with drinkers. Some of them won’t be 21. These are the places that underage drinkers try to get into after the pre-party. These are the places that have to deal with fake IDs. Would it be easier for everyone if the same person who can go to college, get a license, and drive to the club also be allowed to drink there?
From an economic standpoint, there might be short term gains for nightclubs. There would be more potential people coming in and drinking, which means more money for the club. There would be less need for security to check ID’s at the door, which would free them up for other tasks (like dealing with the drunks who are already inside). There would be fewer violations for serving underage patrons, which could lead to fewer threats to liquor licenses since every violation goes on record against the club when it wants to renew its license.
However, the public relations impact outweighs the economic benefit. New York nightlife is already under attack in various parts of the city by community boards, police and possibly real estate interests. It doesn’t need to draw additional fire from MADD or other politically influential groups. It might take just one incident of a 20 year old girl being injured or killed to spark a new crusade against clubs. It probably wouldn’t matter if she was drunk before she got to the club or if she was even in or near the club when the incident occurred. The story would be about a young girl killed after going to a nightclub. The details would probably be missed.
New York Nights supports debate on issues like the relationship between age and drinking, but we don’t feel that lowering the drinking age would benefit New York Nightlife.
Have fun.
Gamal
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