A legislator in South Carolina has pre-filed a bill to lower the legal drinking age in the state to 18.
According to WMBF, State Rep. Todd Rutherford pre-filed a bill on Wednesday (November 10) that if passed would lower the drinking age in South Carolina from 21 to 18. As the state General Assembly is not currently in session, the bill will be considered when it reconvenes in January.
"This is a personal freedom issue. If you are old enough to fight for our country, if you're old enough to vote, if you're old enough to sign on for thousands of dollars of student loans for a college education, then you are old enough to have a drink," he said.
This wouldn't be the first time South Carolina has adjusted the legal drinking age, the news outlet reports. Back in 1984, the age was raised from 18 to 21 after the federal government threatened to withhold highway funding to states with a lower age restriction.
Rutherford believes now is the right time to discuss lowering the drinking age due to the state's budget surplus and funds received from the federal government that he said will lead to economic growth.
"Rather than criminalize adults for doing something that is otherwise legal, we can show the rest of the country that there is a better way."