Inside Report (6)

Quashing evidence? Michigan boosted its drinking age from 18 to 21. Now a state-financed study indicates that in 1979, under the new law, the number of alcohol-related car crashes involving young people dropped 18 percent.

But the state is sitting on the report, compiled by Dr. Richard Douglass of Michigan's Highway Safety Research Institute. That's important now because state voters will be asked Nov. 4 if they want to lower the drinking age again to 19. The Governor, secretary of state, and director of the Office of Substance Abuse Services all favor a lower age.

If the state doesn't act soon, says Dr. Douglass, he will release the evidence at a meeting in Detroit of the American Public Health Association.