Utah takes liquor laws for granted

In July, the Utah Alcoholic Beverage Commission instructed staff members to draft sample legislation that would abolish state-mandated membership fees for drinking establishments and remove the wall partitions in restaurants that separate the bar from dining areas. Currently, locals and tourists must pay club membership fees to have a drink, and since tourism is big business for Utah, the state hospitality commission is pushing for looser laws.

According to Alcohol Alert, a drunk-driving watchdog, Utah trails the nation’s alcohol-related fatality rate at .27, compared with .58 per hundred vehicle miles traveled. Although state laws seem stringent and odd to Utah tourists, overall they are keeping Utahns safer.

This new push for looser laws seems to fall within the same vein of last month’s media circus surrounding the Amethyst Initiative, which is supported by more than 100 university presidents seeking to reduce the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. Rather than fight the battle against underage drinking, these university presidents are giving ground because it’s become too difficult for them to police their students.

However, the battle is still worth fighting. The National Center for Statistics and Analysis estimates nearly 25,000 lives have been saved by minimum drinking age laws since 1975.

According to a 2004 report from the Committee on Developing a Strategy to Reduce and Prevent Underage Drinking, the cost of alcohol use by youth was $53 billion in 1996, including $19 billion from traffic crashes and $29 billion from violent crime. Although alcohol-related youth motor vehicle fatalities have decreased substantially over the past decade or so, youth are still overrepresented in alcohol-related fatal crashes compared with the older population.

Also, the same report says new research on adolescent brain development suggests that early heavy alcohol use may also have negative effects on the actual physical development of brain structure. Youth with alcohol use disorders also performed worse on memory tests than nondrinkers, further suggesting that alcohol was affecting brain function. Alcohol use during adolescence may have other negative effects, including decreased ability in planning and executive functioning, memory, spatial operations and attention.

Aside from the effect on students, should the drinking age be lowered? More concern should be given to what it is already doing to the general population. Utah should think twice about the benefits of the stringent liquor laws it enjoys before throwing them out.

http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/opinion/utah_takes_liquor_laws_for_granted