Margie Wrye is a photographer and broadcaster in Tucson.

Other articles by Margie Wrye:

Margie Wrye: Economy not so swell

Health Care
Dependable Health Services
Physical Therapists Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Construction
West-Press
Printing Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

As the mother of teenagers, I've been following the discussion of the Amethyst Initiative with great interest. Drinking while driving has rightly been demonized for the blight on society that it is. It seems, though, that in our quest for making the roads safer, laws have been passed that do not jibe with others on the books.

At age 18, our laws recognize that an individual can, among other things, get married without parental consent, obtain a credit card, travel without a chaperone anywhere in the world, buy a rifle or shotgun, own a business, vote, be elected to many state and local offices and, oh yes, join the military. Even at age 14, a person can be tried as an adult at a prosecutor's discretion.

Alcohol consumption predates recorded history. Laws to regulate it mostly fly in the face of longtime customs, and a law on the books that a majority routinely breaks contributes to an overall erosion of respect for other matters of law and order.

To put this in perspective, let's go back to Prohibition. It is a fact that otherwise upstanding and law-abiding people were still having a drink in spite of the 18th Amendment. The unenforceability and other unintended consequences of Prohibition led to its repeal with the 21st Amendment.

Most ardent supporters of Prohibition had to confess the futility of such morality engineering, including industrialist John D. Rockefeller, who wrote in a famous letter that appeared on the front page of the New York Times:

"When Prohibition was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before."

Fast-forward about 50 years, and we have the passage of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. This act set an uncomfortable precedent — a way for Congress to get away with enacting policy in areas that traditionally, and under the Constitution, were recognized as "states' rights."

Since alcohol sales and consumption are not referred to in the Constitution, its regulation is recognized as a state-by-state matter. To get around this, federal highway funds were withheld from states that didn't enact laws raising the minimum drinking age, essentially blackmailing states into compliance.

Twenty-four years later, I'm pleased that college presidents are raising this topic for debate.

I've asked myself, "Did I have the skills, at 19 (the legal drinking age of my youth) to deal with alcohol, and having a drink or two responsibly?"

My answer is: I had the same skills to drink responsibly as I did to rent an apartment on my own, manage personal finances, drive a car, go to college and work. To say I wasn't responsible enough to drink but was capable enough to live up to my other responsibilities makes no sense.

Lest we forget, there are strong drunken driving laws on the books. At any age, if you get behind the wheel drunk, you will pay the price for your irresponsibility.

But we can't have it both ways. Either we're adults at 18, or 21 or older. Any "exceptions" to the law amount to age discrimination, plain and simple.

The college presidents are on the front line and see firsthand what has resulted from this policy. I, for one, will take their recommendations seriously.