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The Pros And Cons Of Drinking

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In lieu of having a safe, supervised place to drink in moderation, college students have no choice but to conceal their drinking, “behind the closed doors of [dorms] and fraternity basements,” (Brown). Captain Yawn from the University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, stated that, “unlawful drinking obviously does take place in the dorm rooms,” even though there are no bars on campus to host alcohol related events. Hidden drinking often occurs on college campuses, and the drinking age of 21 makes monitoring illegal drinking much more difficult for college deans. For instance, at a college party, where most students look similar in age, it can be nearly impossible to differentiate between who is drinking legally and who is not. As a result, the enforcement of the drinking age is limited (“Underage Drinking Laws on Campus”). Captain Robert Yawn also stated that, “Statutorily, it [lowering the drinking age] would obviously be easier because you would eliminate roughly 75% of the potential offender population,” which makes regulating drinking on campus simpler. Many college deans and presidents have expressed their disapproval for the higher drinking age. A main reason many college deans disagree with a drinking age of 21 is that punishing students for underage drinking results in students hiding their drinking instead of limiting it (“Underage Drinking Laws on Campus”). In fact, a Resident Assistant in college, who has “experience enforcing alcohol policy,” claimed her

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