Published: August 24, 2008 12:55 am         

Undersheriff: Officials will uphold the law no matter the age of consent

Local lawmen say they are going to enforce laws related to underage drinking whether the drinking age remains 21 or whether it is lowered.

A debate was spawned last week when a group of more than 100 college presidents — none of whom are from Oklahoma — pledged their support in asking lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.

“We’re going to enforce whatever the law says,” Garfield County Undersheriff Jerry Niles said.

The movement, called the Amethyst Initiative, began quietly recruiting presidents more than a year ago to provoke national debate about the drinking age.

A 1984 federal law limits a state’s access to federal highway funds if it sets a drinking age lower than 21.

Niles said he will uphold the law, whatever it may be. On a personal level, Niles believes a lowered drinking age would reduce the liability of colleges. He said fraternities have been put on probation and have disbanded. Fraternity members have faced criminal charges for contributing to the alcohol-related deaths of other students.

If the drinking age is lowered, “we create more issues than we already have,” Niles said.

Amethyst Initiative, named for the Greek gemstone thought to ward off intoxication, already has faced criticism for its stance.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving says lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal car crashes. It accuses the college presidents of misrepresenting science and looking for an easy way out of an inconvenient problem.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says raising the drinking age to 21 has saved more than 25,000 lives since 1984.

The federal law making 21 the legal drinking age is up for reauthorization next year. Amethyst Initiative wants it changed so states can decide for themselves the best drinking age, without fear of losing federal money.

International Association of Chiefs of Police issued a statement opposing a lower drinking age, saying the idea is “both misguided and dangerous.” The group cites research that shows while underage drivers between the ages of 16 and 21 comprise just seven percent of all drivers in the nation they are involved in 15 percent of all alcohol-related fatalities. If these underage drivers were permitted to purchase alcohol legally this already unacceptable figure would grow dramatically, the group states on its Web site, www.theiacp.org.

To those who argue the fact teens can serve and die for their country at age 18 but can’t have alcohol legally, Niles said: “Dying because of alcohol, that’s an everyday occurrence.” Dying while serving your country isn’t, he said.

He said the U.S. has cultural freedoms many other countries don’t have, which makes problems associated with alcohol use among youths more prevalent.

“Other countries do not have the mobility we have,” Niles said.

Niles said an underage drinking party was discovered near Garber just two weeks ago.

“We have some members of our community that are going to condone (underage drinking) until someone gets killed or gets hurt,” Niles said.

Proponents of lowering the drinking age believe the current law only encourages binge drinking and pushes alcohol into the shadows.

The Enid area has not been immune to the dangers of alcohol use.

From 2002 to 2007, at least seven Enid-area teens died in alcohol-related incidents, including traffic accidents and a fall.