White Paper
In 2005 John M. McCardell Jr., President Emeritus of Middlebury College, was commissioned to undertake a study on the effects of the 21 year-old drinking age. Fifteen months later, McCardell and a team of student researchers presented their 220 page White Paper to the commissioning foundation.
The White Paper’s goals are threefold. First is to place the 21 year-old drinking age in an historical and cultural context: it assesses Americans’ attitudes toward alcohol over the course of our history, examines immediate concerns expressed by those who ultimately secured the passage of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, and compares America's drinking culture to that of many nations worldwide. Second is the goal to summarize succinctly the numerous data generated by many different sources seeking to measure the effectiveness of the law. The final goal of the White Paper is to offer a new paradigm rooted in the realities of the present.
The White Paper is currently under review for publication.