Rep. Phyllis Kahn recently introduced a bill in the state Legislature, that would allow 18- to 20-year-olds to drink in bars and restaurants. Can you hear the cheers erupting from Tommy Hall?

This is not the first time this sort of proposal has been made.

But by 1998, every state had the minimum legal drinking age set at 21. And statistically, this is a good thing. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reported that the number of drunk drivers under the age of 21 involved in fatal crashes decreased by 61 percent from 1982 to 1998 once the age was raised. The agency also estimated that tens of thousands of lives were saved from 1975 to 2003 thanks to the raised age.

So, what is Kahn thinking?

We’ve heard the rumors that a higher drinking age leads to binge drinking, and there’s the argument that if 18-years-olds can marry and go off to war they should be allowed to drink. But on a cost-benefit analysis, we don’t buy it.

First, it’s a matter of money. If Minnesota were to lower the drinking age, the state could stand to lose up to 10 percent of its federal transportation funding. This amounts to more than $68 million, which could go to fixing winter potholes, repaving streets and, let’s not forget, reinforcing our bridges.

It’s also a matter of safety. A lower drinking age exacerbates driving fatalities and doesn’t make us safer. If the legal drinking age were lowered, hundreds of under-age people from Iowa, Wisconsin and the Dakotas would cross into Minnesota every weekend to drink legally and swerve their way home on the same roads our parents and little siblings use.

Those who rectify the waiting period between 18 and 21 by drinking like fish in their dorm rooms should get a life: it’s nothing to kill yourself over.

Finally, it’s a matter of practicality. Lowering the legal drinking age would do nothing but lower the age of anticipation. If we want to lessen alcohol’s stigma, the legal age would have to be much lower, which would produce even more serious consequences.

Be patient underclassmen, you will turn 21 eventually.

Filed under: Editorial by Tan Tuohy