Commonwealth Senate Bill NO. 14 - Alcohol Purchasing Age

Commonwealth Senate Bill NO. 14 - Alcohol Purchasing Age

By Kassidy Smith - Castlewood High School

         Alcohol is a harmful threat to many American citizens’ minds and bodies, especially those who are underaged. According to The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, “4.6 million persons aged 12 or older had used alcohol for the first time within the past 12 months; this averages to approximately 12,500 participants per day” (2013). This is far less than the 10 million underage drinkers estimated in 2010 by a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration but is still a horrifying amount.

         The Commonwealth Senate Bill NO. 14 was presented to the Commonwealth Senate in the General Laws committee by Tuckahoe Family YMCA. This bill amended and reenacted 4.1-304 of the Code of Virginia, offering to change the sale of alcoholic beverages limited age from 21 to 25 because of the ways alcohol affects the brain. Some senators in the room suggested that instead of raising the age to 25, it should be lowered to the age of 18, as they considered alcohol’s effects on the brain to be similar to those of tobacco, which is commonly known to be legally sold to persons 18 and older. When asked what he thinks the legal drinking age should be, the Youth Governor Tommy Dannenfelser simply stated, “Twenty-one,” then explaining, “The drinking age used to be eighteen in the Commonwealth of Virginia until the government stepped in and said that it should be increased to twenty-one. That actually led to the dramatic decrease in highway driving deaths and so I stand by the policy of twenty-one as the drinking age.”

An amendment was offered and debated on the committee floor to officially strike 25 and insert 18 in its place. Senators in the room debated this amendment from many points of views, but the majority was in opposition, stating that if the age is 18, it hurts youths more because seniors in high school can purchase it, starting addiction early and also allowing them to purchase for underclassmen, and that will increase the urge to drink even more. It also introduces alcohol to be paired with tobacco at a young age, leading to even more mental and physical damage starting earlier in life. This amendment did not pass, leading to the final deliberation on the bill.

         This bill did not pass, failing in the committee as it was presented. It was a very intriguing bill, bringing much interest and debate to it. It was justified in its own right due to studies that say the human brain does not finish developing until a person is 25 but was not strong enough to pass due to the harsh grip that temptation holds on youth.

To leave you with a last thought on this bill, Commonwealth Senator Eden Taylor of Tazewell High School discussed the bill in an interview. The difference in maturity of a 25-year-old and a 21-year-old was brought up, and Senator Taylor offered a very thought-provoking statement. “My mom is thirty-nine years old. When my mom was twenty-five, she had a three-year-old, a one-and-a-half year old, and a newborn. If she was responsible enough to take care of three babies at twenty-five, I think that she would have been well-allowed to have alcohol before that.”

References:

“Results from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings” pg. 67, U.S.Department of Health and Services and Human Services 2013 https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUHresultsPDFWHTML2013/Web/NSDUHresults2013.pdf