<p>consumption of alcohol is not inherently immoral, or “illegal” in the sense of violationg natural law; assault is. That is why it is irritating to many people if SBPD are targeting the violation of what might be considered merely regulations or what are considered purely penal laws, ethically speaking.
And heycow, presuming to know what would happen to tens of millions of teens were the drinking age lowered smacks of arrogance, especially when droves of well-educated people very aware of the issue think better(look up the amethyst initiative). Also, you speak of whether the student chooses to act as an adult or a child–when he is not even given that choice because it has been made for him by “people who know better” it is pretty difficult. It is exactly this false sense of superiority which causes tension between older and younger adults. College students are clearly adults by multiple standards of measure. Prosecution of drinking should not be age-based in this case, but rather behavior based, as we all know of many “adults” who act like complete morons when they drink, yet it is seen as their prerogative and ignored because they have reached this arbitrarily mythical barrier of 21.</p>