Should the government have a right to determine if adults age 18 through 20 have the right to consume alcohol? Just look at the list of things 18-year-olds can do. I don’t know about you, but that leaves me wondering why alcohol is excluded from the list. We can borrow money, and we can get into serious trouble for not repaying it. We can go to jail for the crimes we commit. We are given the right to vote. We can even make a binding decision to sign up for the armed forces and give our lives for our country.

We are adult enough to make all of those decisions, and more, but we aren’t adult enough to drink. Is there really that much of a difference between an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old? The government should not have the right to tell a legal adult of 18 years of age that he or she can’t drink.

In high school we were exposed to foreign exchange students from Europe, and at one time we discussed a legal drinking age there. I was told that in Europe there really was no age for certain types of alcohol. There was for liquor, but not for beer and wine.

Europe does not have an alcohol problem, and there are fewer alcohol-related deaths per capita than in the United States. Perhaps since Europeans have been exposed to alcohol before reaching adulthood, they have a respect for it. If people in the U.S. were exposed to alcohol at an earlier age, maybe we wouldn’t have the tendency to drink up and get in a car—and possibly kill someone.

I would suggest the idea of lowering the legal drinking age to 18, and allow parents to use their discretion on whether or not to let their kids drink at an earlier age. After all, what’s terribly wrong with a glass of wine to accompany dinner? It should be an individual freedom to decide whether or not to drink. However, to maintain sanity in society, there need to be consequences for alcohol abusers when they hurt someone else.

With an added privilege comes responsibility. If the right is abused, it needs to be dealt with. In some countries, driving under the influence is a capital crime, especially for a repeat offender. I’m not suggesting we go to that extreme, but we should punish offenders to the extent where people will learn to use moderation when they choose to use alcohol. If you are going to drink, then you have to realize that you are responsible for what you do.

I believe that young Americans can be responsible enough to make decisions about alcohol in their lives. If there is a clear choice with clear options, I don’t think we would have the problems we have with alcohol abuse. If we are to lower the drinking age, then there must provide a set of consequences for the people who are willing to hurt others and take advantage of a privilege.

This article originally appeared in the Franklin & Marshall College Reporter.