<p>I’m quite skeptical about the claim that lowering the drinking age would reduce binge drinking, but in fairness, I’m not sure Wisconsin’s experience is going to tell us much about this subject. In the first place, Wisconsin didn’t lower its drinking age; it just continued to allow parents to serve alcohol to their underage children in bars and restaurants, as it always has. Eighteen-year-olds can’t go out and legally purchase alcohol on their own in Wisconsin, which is what the debate is about. Second, Wisconsin is a state with a drinking problem, period. Drinking–and not just “social” drinking but binge drinking, drinking to get drunk–is a popular recreational activity in Wisconsin among persons of all ages, deeply embedded in the local culture. Because it’s so popular, politicians don’t want to tackle it, so the state has probably the laxest drunk driving laws in the nation—and the authorities are loath to enforce even those. This is a huge problem. But it’s neither caused by a lower drinking age, nor necessarily indicative of what would happen in other states were they to lower their drinking age. And I doubt it would change much even if Wisconsin were to outlaw the serving of minors accompanied by their parents—which it’s not likely to do anytime soon, by the way.</p>
<p>Anecdote on the social drinking/binge drinking thing: I once briefly dated a young woman from Wisconsin who enjoyed knocking back a few in the evening, then knocking back a few more into the wee hours. But she absolutely refused to have a glass of wine or beer with dinner, saying she couldn’t stand that & thought anyone who “had to have” beer or wine with dinner must really have a drinking problem; that’s where she drew the line. Apparently it never occurred to her that a beer or a glass of wine with dinner might be an appropriate place to stop, and that the point of a drink with a meal was not necessarily to start the process of getting drunk. Now I don’t mean to suggest that all the good people of Wisconsin share this woman’s views and habits, but that kind of approach to alcohol consumption is not uncommon in Wisconsin. And a lot of other places here in the Upper Midwest, for that matter, though I think Wisconsin has it worse than most.</p>