<p>We have been conducting a sort of controlled experiment with the drinking age for quite awhile, since Ontario and Quebec have drinking ages of 19 and 18, respectively, and places like the Universities of Toronto and Waterloo and McGill University not only resemble American universities but have a sizable number of American students. They are all diverse, more or less urban universities without really substantial sports cultures (but some).</p>
<p>I have no idea what the statistics are. My impression from friends and relatives who have recently attended or currently attend them is that there is a lot less drinking culture there than at equivalent American universities. (Although on Day 3 of her McGill orientation four years ago, my daughter’s BFF – not an abstainer – called to say she had joined the Communists because they were the only campus group not serving liquor, and if she never spoke to another drunk boy again it would be too soon. Things calmed down within a few weeks, however, and the boys got coherent enough to be entertaining again.)</p>