(WRIC/ABC) — A new report from the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs suggests that lowering the drinking age may solve the binge drinking problem on college campuses.
Researchers studied data from areas where the drinking age dropped from 21 to 18. They say lowering the drinking age reduces the need to binge drink in secret.
But, there were also other consequences: more high school dropouts. The study said the dropout rate goes up when the minimum drinking age is 18. The impact was noted to be the highest among women, African Americans, and Hispanics.
Researchers are quick to point out that high school dropout rate is always affected by more than one thing, and there are many risk factors that the study could not control, such as childhood experiences, socioeconomic background, etc. An even more significant predictor of dropping out of high school and deviant behavior is parental alcohol problems and having peers who drink.
