Representatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) are labeling the recent national campaign to reopen debate on lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 a threat to public health and safety, the Dallas Morning News reported Sept. 6.

A panel discussion titled "Why 21?" conducted at MADD's annual conference in Dallas, focused on the Amethyst Initiative, launched in July and signed by 130 university presidents.

The initiative arose as a result of college administrators' inability to control the problem of on-campus binge drinking, said Chuck Hurley, MADD's chief executive officer, adding that the initiative "has become an embarrassment to the presidents who signed it."

One of the signers of the initiative, Louis J. Agnese Jr., president of the University of the Incarnate Word, argued that the issue revolves around fairness. "An 18-year-old is allowed to vote, get married, enlist in the military and enroll in college because society accepts her or his ability to make decisions as an adult," he said, adding that society should be consistent when it comes to granting the right to drink alcohol.

MADD president Laura Dean-Mooney disagreed, saying the issue isn't about individual rights. "It's about public health and safety," she said.

Hurley encouraged researchers to present to the public results of any studies related to the issue, citing the need for independent scientific data to counter any bias against MADD-related findings.