Dancing is my drug of choice. Anyone who knows me knows I love to dance. So, after a stressful week of school, I go to Sips to “shake it like a Polaroid picture.” Unfortunately, I have only been able to do this legally since last semester, when I turned 21. This law that limits entrance into clubs to only those over 21 is misguided, and it has led to people getting involved with other accessible drugs of choice. Marijuana and methamphetamines are some of the drugs that come to mind, because as the proverb says, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”

It is no secret that Iowa has a methamphetamine problem. Iowa is a place that does not have much recreation, fun or excitement. Lawmakers of this state need to consider this when proposing laws to deal with the meth problem. Perhaps kids and other people won’t be involved with meth if they had some more interesting stuff to occupy their time. Perhaps people won’t be involved with meth if they had other ways to have fun after a stressful week of school. I don’t want to oversimplify the meth problem in Iowa, but the lack of recreation in many Iowa communities needs to be considered as a factor. Reducing the age limit for entrance into bars would provide entertainment for more people — and that is a good thing.

Where there is a will, there will be alcohol. Everyone knows that any minor determined enough to get alcoholic beverages will get it. Wouldn’t it be better if minors handled alcoholic beverages in a more controlled environment — like a club? A few weeks ago, a girl who had entered Mojazz with a fake ID passed out in the club. An ambulance was called immediately and she was taken to the hospital. What would have happened if she had passed out in her room alone — or among other minors who felt threatened to call 911?

A proactive approach to dealing with irresponsible handling of alcohol would be to educate people about the dangers of alcohol poisoning and drunk driving. Trying to force people not to drink or not to go to a club to interact with their classmates doesn’t attack the core of the problem. People who use alcohol irresponsibly haven’t acknowledged or accepted the dangers involved. Applying force to them with misguided laws will only lead them to ignore the dangers because they will be too busy pushing back. Minors will be too busy trying to sneak beer into the dorms. Some of them will be too busy trying to get fake IDs.

Common sense and simple logic gets drowned in this sea of activity. No one who has to sneak alcoholic beverages into his or her dorm is going to pay attention to anyone telling him or her about the dangers of alcohol.

It is OK for the laws to be focused on preventing minors from consuming alcoholic beverages if the laws are effective — but current ones are not. Therefore, the laws are a waste of money, time and effort. These resources could be used in educating people about drinking responsibly — and that would be more effective in achieving the goal of reducing drunk driving and alcohol poisoning.

An article published in 1999 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol showed that alcohol laws had a reciprocal effect on teenagers. The expectancies of arrest actually led to more teens getting involved with drunk driving or riding with drunk drivers.

Drinking laws are reactionary, and the focus of the laws needs to be changed — for the good of everyone.