A South Carolina judge has ruled that the state’s drinking age limit of 21 or over is unconstitutional. Looks like I found the enterprising kid I was looking for in January (his name is Jesse Gottlieb, in case you were wondering. This might be him on Facebook).

As a parent I am concerned about kids drinking. That said, an 18-year-old is no longer a kid: she’s an adult. She can vote, marry, be sent to war, and tried as an adult in court, among other things. In every case except alcohol consumption, in the eyes of the law she is an adult and responsible for her own decisions. A restriction on alcohol consumption is inconsistent with being considered an adult. Period.

When Ronald Reagan and Elizabeth Dole supported the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 which withheld federal highway funds from any state which didn’t raise their drinking age, I thought it was unnecessary meddling in the affairs of states. True, I was nearing the 18 drinking age at the time, but I still feel that way. Now, if anyone wants to get an amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed that declares the age of majority as 21 and not 18, be my guest.

That said, magistrates in South Carolina don’t have to be attorneys, so let’s see if the South Carolina Court of Appeals upholds this ruling.