LOWERING THE BAR LOWERING THE BAR Seven states are considering lowering the legal drinking age, including: • Kentucky • Missouri • Minnesota • South Carolina • South Dakota • Wisconsin • Vermont Debate over lowering the drinking age is heating up in several states, fueled in part by legislators who contend that men and women who are old enough to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan are responsible enough to buy alcohol legally. Legislation introduced in Kentucky, Wisconsin and South Carolina would lower the drinking age for military personnel only. A planned ballot initiative in Missouri would apply to everyone 18 and older. An initiative in the works in South Dakota would allow all 19- and 20-year-olds to buy low-alcohol beer. Vermont's legislature is considering a task force to study the issue. A Minnesota bill would allow anyone 18 and older to buy alcohol in bars or restaurants, but not in liquor stores until they're 21. MORE: Vermont mulls lower drinking age "There's a public interest in reopening this debate … and the idea is picking up steam" says John McCardell, a former president of Vermont's Middlebury College who founded Choose Responsibility. The non-profit group supports allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to drink legally after they complete an alcohol education program. Proponents face opposition from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and a potentially costly obstacle: Congress voted in 1984 to penalize states that set the drinking age below 21 with forfeiture of 10% of their federal highway funds. That threat "may prove to be a deal-breaker" for his bill, says Minnesota state Rep. Chris DeLaForest. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says laws setting the drinking age at 21 have cut traffic fatalities involving drivers ages 18-20 by 13%. "We welcome the attention to the drinking age," says MADD CEO Chuck Hurley. "The data is in fact overwhelming." Those laws haven't ended underage drinking, says state Sen. Hinda Miller, who wants a task force to study the issue and report to Vermont's legislature next year. "I want to start talking about it," she says. A 2007 Gallup Poll found that 77% of Americans oppose lowering the drinking age to 18, but state Rep. Fletcher Smith, sponsor of a bill that would allow military personnel 18 and older to buy alcohol in South Carolina, disagrees. "If you can take a shot on the battlefield," he says, "you ought to be able to take a shot of beer legally." State Rep. David Floyd, whose bill would apply to Kentucky troops 18 and older, says it's "common sense to recognize as full adults the young men and women who serve in the military." At a U.S. Senate hearing last fall on the issue, deputy transportation secretary Thomas Barrett, a retired Coast Guard vice admiral, said, "I hear this bandied about that if you are old enough to fight for your country, you are old enough to have a beer. … I don't think it's the same type of maturity." Missouri 18 To Drink has concluded it can't collect the 100,000 signatures needed by May to put its initiative on November's ballot and is now aiming for the 2010 election, says organizer Michael Mikkelsen. South Dakota's legislature "is understandably apprehensive about the topic," says lawyer N. Bob Pesall, who drafted that state's petition. "We're going to need a groundswell," says state Rep. Terry Musser, sponsor of the Wisconsin bill that would allow troops 19 and older to drink legally. "We're going to have to have real people out there say 'enough is enough.' " Alexander Wagenaar, an epidemiology professor at the University of Florida who studies alcohol issues, doubts that will happen. Interest in lowering the drinking age is "a surprising trend," he says, because studies consistently show that raising it "has substantially reduced the amount of drinking and the amount of damage due to drinking." Enlarge By Lucas Jackson, AP 77% of Americans oppose lowering the drinking age to 18, according to a 2007 Gallup Poll. Still, many are seeking to lower the drinking age on account of underage military members. Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.