The problem is undeniably a serious one. Alcohol abuse, especially amongst young people who are supposed to be succeeding at school and college, can be utterly destructive of a person's life, and this is the main thinking behind the drinking age of 21. This aim in itself is a good one; nobody would advocate the active encouragement of the youth of today to abuse alcohol.
However, it seems to me to be very much arguable that the drinking age of 21 has little going for it, and is instead an insulting paternalist restriction on the liberty of young people between the age of 18 and 21. Worse, I would argue that far from promoting its aim of reducing alcohol abuse amongst young people, it is actually damaging to this aim. As such I believe there is an overwhelmingly strong argument for a reduction of the drinking age in the US to 18.
First then, what are the advantages of leaving the drinking age at 21? The main argument for this it would seem is that people who are 21 are seen to be responsible in a way that 18 year olds are not; this makes drinking something that is restricted to adults who should be less likely to abuse it, and furthermore young people going through college will not fail their exams because of drinking problems.
Making the drinking age 21 makes it undeniably harder for people younger than this to obtain alcohol. Already though a problem has arisen here: one of the main arguments for not reducing the drinking age to 18 is that 18 years olds abuse the alcohol and therefore should not be given access to it. But first, they DO have access to it, otherwise they could not abuse it, and second, it is not clear that it is not actually the law itself that is contributing to the mystique and coolness of alcohol consumption, that in fact is inducing the 18 year olds to be irresponsible. By making alcohol only legally available to adults, you make it far more desirable to those who want to be mature - namely, the 18 year olds.
Immediately this suggests that the current system may not be working all that well. Before I examine this claim further, let me draw attention to the clearer argument that actually 18 year olds (and 19 and 20 year olds) are not nearly as immature as the drinking age would suggest. We already accept that 18 year olds deserve most of the responsibilities of an adult (and here I wheel out the well-used but nevertheless relevant cliches) that an 18 year old in the US is able to vote, die for his or her country, can enter into legal contracts, and can marry. But they cannot drink. They cannot even legally sip champagne at their own wedding.
This renders the argument that 18 year olds are too immature to drink ridiculous and very much demeaning to America's youth, for nobody denies that they are ready to take on adult responsibilities at this age, and yet they are nevertheless treated like children when it comes to drinking. Because they are treated like children, they act like children.
Offensive as this attitude is, it does not necessarily mean that a drinking age of 18 would be a better solution to the problem. What if it makes things worse? The experience of many other countries, particularly those in continental Europe, and a considerable amount of research, goes a long way to refuting this view.
The first advantage of showing respect to 18 year olds by lowering the drinking age is that they will show respect back, learning moderation because alcohol is no longer a mysterious enjoyment that is restricted only to adults. This kind of attitude, leading to an early education in the dangers and benefits of alcohol consumption, can clearly be seen in the cultures of European countries such as France and Germany.
There will undeniably still be a lot of drunkenness, but without the additional element of this being an adult enjoyment, the "cool factor" will be greatly reduced and so will the lack of knowledge about what alcohol does to you, and therefore serious drinking problems will also be reduced.
Research by Doctors Ruth Engs and David J. Hanson backs this theory up. Their study (which can be found here: http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1046348 726.html), took data from 3,375 students at 56 different colleges across the country, and found that after the increase in the minimum drinking age, consumption of alcohol amongst underage college students actually went up.
An interesting comparison can be drawn here with prohibition, where exactly the same problem occurred. Other studies that compare drinking problems before and after the change, find that the number of cases of drinking problems is pretty much the same whether the drinking age is 21 or 18. That is, those who want to abuse alcohol will find a way to do it anyway. A fake ID is not hard to come by.
Perhaps most telling of all is data that shows that although average alcohol consumption is going down amongst young people and the population in general, more young people tend to drink abusively when they do consume. This appears to be an illustration of the effect of a lack of education and feeling of mystique that the high drinking age causes - it may limit overall consumption, but what consumption there is, is far worse than having greater average consumption that is more moderate.
It is important to remember too that alcohol is not entirely bad, and consuming alcohol does not instantly and inevitably lead to alcohol related problems. Moderate drinking, far from being dangerous and undesirable, has been shown to be associated with improved health and greater longevity than either abstention or heavy drinking.
Quite apart from its potential health benefits, it is enjoyable to consume alcohol, and since we have already accepted that 18 year olds are not inherently too immature to enjoy this privilege, it seems to me to be pretty clear that when we ask whether or not to lower the drinking age, the answer must be a resounding, 'yes'.
There can be no sufficient justification for the lack of respect that the high drinking age shows to those between the ages of 18 and 21, and since it seems extremely likely that such a high limit is counterproductive, I think it is high time that the national drinking age be lowered to 18 years.