New Jersey Senate President Richard J. Codey, a critic of the Amethyst Initiative's efforts to consider a lowering of the drinking age to combat binge drinking on college campuses, has asked New Jersey colleges to report their alcohol policies to lawmakers, the Newark Star Ledger reported Sept. 11.

Codey sent a letter to all public and private colleges with on-campus housing requesting copies of alcohol policies along with reports of campus-related law-enforcement activities. In addition, the New Jersey legislature will conduct hearing this fall to investigate college underage drinking.

The presidents at Drew, Montclair State and Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey have signed on to the Amethyst Initiative. Most of the colleges in the state have indicated they would comply with the Senate's request for information.

"Even to raise the specter that we should lower the drinking age to 18 is wrong," Codey said, adding that policymakers should work to find "real ways to educate our students on acting responsibly."

State Sen. Shirley Turner, chair of the Senate Education Committee and a cosigner of the letter, said that "the schools, the parents and then the college campuses have to accept the responsibility for protecting students."

Dave Muha, a spokesman for Drew University, said that student safety is the reason the school signed on to the Amethyst Initiative. "We're looking forward to examining what different institutions are doing with regard to this problem, getting a lot of ideas on the table and seeing what's working elsewhere," Muha said.

State Attorney General Anne Milgram also has announced the formation of a coalition consisting of state agencies, law enforcement and nonprofit groups working in opposition to lowering the drinking age.