Alcohol has been brought to the table of many college deans. College officials from Duke, Ohio State and Dartmouth are trying to get lawmakers to lower the drinking age to 18.

They are calling this the Amethyst Initiative: to start a national debate over the subject of lowering the age.

The law/statute that restricts drinking via age limit is up for renewal during the 2009 Congressional year.

They believe that lowering the drinking age will help solve many of the problems that go along with under age drinking, like binge drinking, which is the intention to drink alcohol to get drunk.

Not only college officials are joining the lowering the age band wagon. Many people, including students at college, would find this helpful. Would it be helpful to lower the age?

Many people believe being exposed to alcohol at a younger age would help them be more responsible and hope to reduce binge drinking.

“There isn’t that much difference in maturity between 21 and 18,” a Duke University sophomore explains. “If the age is younger, you’re getting exposed to it at a younger age, and you don’t freak out when you get to campus.”

The main idea of lowering the drinking age is to stop the mass amount of binge drinking that happens on college campuses every weekend during the school year.

The thought of lowering the drinking age also pertains to military persons. They are allowed to fight on the war front, but they may not legally buy alcohol in the United States. And the idea that you may vote for a President, yet may not buy or drink alcohol legally.

“Our latter-day prohibitionists have driven drinking behind closed doors and underground,” says John M. McCardnell, a retired president of Middlebury College.

Is this a good idea? Could lowering the drinking age be beneficial to students transitioning from high school to college? Some people don’t think so.

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) think that lowering the drinking age would cause many more deadly car crashes. Also, the fact the human brain does not finish developing until the early to mid 20s. If alcohol is consumed, it could really take a toll on the way the brain finishes developing and how the brain works.

But what will the legislation think? Would it be better for college students and even high school students to be able to drink. Would it make them more responsible, be able to handle college more efficiently.

Or will it just be a relapse of when the age was eighteen many years ago, were the death rate of alcohol related crashes were extremely high?

Leavitt’s own Mr. Ouellette gave is thoughts on the idea of lowering the drinking age, “To me stopping binge drinking by lowering the law, isn’t a good idea. Because it is making it easier for them to get alcohol. And it wouldn’t just effect college but high school. And I think more kids would drink that wouldn’t usually.”

Could this be the answer for a better college life. Its up to the legislation to decide, with a flip of a bottle cap.