underage drinking in st louis?

Question

my friend goes to washu (washington university at st louis) and her dorm allows drinking for all students regardless of age as long as the door is open. the police are call WUPD b/c they are employed by the university and if youre underage and drunk its ok as long as youre on campus and not driving or anything. the only thing that you can actually get in trouble for is if you have to go to the hospital or something and even then its just a warning. its like mexico but in missouri. is this even legal???

isnt it illegal to overlook it??? i mean, if theres vodka in a freshman dorm then somethings wrong. having your own police doesnt make it right to overlook it, nor does having a open door policy and 'trust'

Answer 1

washu doesn't encourage underage drinking. they do however believe that some kids are going to drink underage anyways. the open door policy is so that residential advisers know what is going on. it provides open communication and trust between residents and their RAs.
as a graduate of washu, i think their policy works well. if a student gets over-intoxicated and needs to call for help, they aren't scared to contact an RA or anyone else for help since they wont get in trouble. the policy seems to be working decently as there haven't been any alcohol related deaths. there are many schools with close door/dry campus policies which don't work so well. i think until some adverse event happens, the administration won't think about changing its policies.
also, it is legal because washu is not giving alcohol to underage students. i guess where the dilemma comes in is: does it encourage underage drinking?

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legally speaking, i think the school is doing nothing wrong. if they were, then something would be done about it. it isn't as if the school's policies are unknown to the city and state. other schools around the country have similar policies. i think your arguments about overlooking the illegal underage drinking are good ones. i'm not quite sure why city police can't come onto campus and arrest students...perhaps it has to do with jurisdiction (since it is WashU campus)...it may also have to do with the fact that WashU is private. I think you are not really asking a question of legality, but you're stating your opinion on the issue.

Answer 2

Underage drinking must be prohibited because the brain and body of the minors will be tremendously affected with the influence of liquor. It is definitely bad to health.