My own take on this issue will appear in the forthcoming Carolina Journal; however, I will quote from my draft of it here:
The initiative declares a fact that has been bemoaned by 18-to-20-year-olds since 1984; namely, “Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer.”
It notes that under the current state of the law, “A culture of dangerous, clandestine ‘binge-drinking’?often conducted off-campus?has developed.” Indeed, it has often been observed that the problem with problem drinking on campus is that it is most often by students who are below the legal drinking age, leading many to speculate that the taboo factor gives underage drinkers the perverse incentive to “maximize” their consumption while they have the chance; carpe diem, or carpe vinum, as it were.
Terry will appreciate my opening line: “‘They took the bar! The whole [expletive common to universities] bar!'”
