Changing the drinking age....

As I read this story in the Denver Post, I started to think to myself. If the age for military drinking is dropped to 18 are more incidents like this possible because drinking would be legal and even more accepted? Or would it make it less likely because if they were drinking legally it would have been more in the open and the chances of it not going that far would be reduced?

Air Force Academy - A woman allegedly raped by a fellow cadet consented to sex but does not remember doing so because of a "textbook case of alcohol blackout," a defense psychiatrist testified Tuesday in the court-martial of the senior cadet.

Dr. William Kenner, a psychiatrist from Nashville, Tenn., said cadet Benjamin Kuster's accuser claims she was sleeping when the sex occurred during a scuba club trip. The alleged victim, however, was in a state of alcohol-induced amnesia, Kenner said. She could remember some things but not others.

Kenner said the alleged victim, now a second lieutenant in the Air Force, could remember Kuster rubbing his hand near her bellybutton ring and touching her bra but not having her clothes removed or having sex.

"What she has done is fill in what has happened in terms of how she would feel the next morning," Kenner testified.

I'm not sure any of these Airforce cadets were old enough to legally drink anyway, the article doesn't state that but one can make a valid assumption that they were not old enough to be drinking, yet were old enough to be in the Air Force.

The reality is the same as college drinking, get a bunch of young adults together, mix in some alcohol and you can almost guarantee stupid behavior. I know, I was 18 when it was legal to drink and trust me I did my share of stupid behavior while drinking.

So what's the answer? Are you magically more mature the day you turn 21? Of course not. Is there hypocrisy in being old enough to vote and serve your country, possibly even die in service while not being "old" enough to drink? Yes.

However if we are going to change the age from 21 then it should be changed to reflect everyone, not just those who serve in the military. I think there is enough evidence out there that demonstrates you can be just as stupid when drunk at 21 as you can be at 18. There is no magic date when a person becomes "mature" or "responsible". The law has to try to find a median, an acceptable compromise. If they at 18 are not mature enough to drink, are they mature enough to vote or serve in the military? Why call them adults once they reach the age of 18 if they are not truly adults in the full legal sense?

Lots of questions, the same ones that were asked when they changed the drinking age to 21.....