by Michael Clay Smith

About the author: Michael Clay Smith is a professor of criminal justice at the University of Southern Mississippi.

In the 1980s, in an ebullient bid to curtail drunk driving by teenagers, the government imposed a nationwide minimum drinking age of 21. It was a kind of second Prohibition, albeit for young adults only. The law’s goal, of course, was to make young people happier, healthier, and safer.

By now it is obvious that the law has not succeeded in preventing the under21 group from drinking. The popular press and higher-education media are filled with reports of high-visibility, alcohol-related troubles on our campuses. Serious riots by students who want to do their boozing unhindered have broken out at many institutions. Some of the melees, such as those at Ohio...