Drinking Age

A lower drinking age law would save even more lives and also stop minors from drinking under the limit. Having it higher will result in more traffic injuries and fatalities among youth. A lower drinking age is effective in preventing alcohol-related deaths and injuries among youth. Young people are particularly vulnerable to the effects of heavy drinking age. According to John McCardell, founder of Choose Responsibility, the legal drinking age does not eliminate consumption among young people. Instead, it only drives underage drinking underground, creating a dangerous culture of irresponsible and extreme drinking. Although the legal purchase age is 21 years of age, a majority of college students under this age consume alcohol but in an irresponsible manner. This is because drinking by these youth is seen as an enticing "forbidden fruit," a "badge of rebellion against authority" and a symbol of "adulthood."Keeping the minimum legal drinking age at 21 will not dissuade young people who want to indulge in reckless alcohol intake. If anything, the age limit encourages binge drinking. Lowering the drinking age could make it easier to regulate consumption among younger adults as well as encourage healthy drinking habits. “For example, 22% of all students under 21 compared to 18% over 21 years of age are heavy drinkers.” “Among drinkers only, 32% of underage compared to 24% of legal age are heavy drinkers.”

The legal drinking age in the United States is 21, while in other countries the legal age ranges from 16-18. The argument in the United States is “Should the United States lower its drinking age?” There are many sides to this argument but research has given many good points to back up both sides of the question. First thing is the difference between a teen’s brain with alcohol and an adult’s brain with alcohol. Another thing is drinking at a younger age can help teach culture. Lastly the more alcohol exposed the increase in death rate. I believe that it is a good idea to keep the legal drinking age at age 21 because in our past we have had many problems with death increases due to the drinking age being at different ages and the research used uses pathos, logos, ethos and Kairos to help persuade the reader support that 21 should stay the legal drinking age.

In 1984, the United States’ federal government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. Under this act, the federal government gives highway funds to States that forbid people under the age of twenty-one years old from “purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages”(23 U.S.C. § 158). The incentive created a sense of a standardized minimum drinking age when legally there cannot be a federal minimum drinking age. Even though this Act has been in effect for decades, there are many debates on whether or not the age should be changed. The minimum legal drinking age should stay the same because it prevents a large number of drinking and driving accidents; it reduces overall alcohol consumption; and it has very horrible health effects on youth.

The human body does not fully develop, both physically and mentally, until a person is in their early twenties. Several research organizations, including Mothers Against Drunk Driving, have found that, “Excessive alcohol abuse can lead to permanent brain damage while negatively affecting a person’s memory, motor skills, and test-taking abilities,” (Minimum Drinking Age). Since alcohol has such drastic effects on the human body and its ability to function properly, we cannot allow teenager full access to it under any circumstance. Supporters of the 21-and-over drinking age are quick to get behind research that has discovered, “Alcohol use could severely damage teenagers more-sensitive livers,” (Minimum Drinking Age). I think teenagers need to have a better understanding of what they are putting in their bodies, especially if they are ingesting alcohol. If they don’t understand what the harmful ingredients and chemicals in alcohol can do to them, they could end up with serious health problems. The United States has been debating this topic for such a long time that we have lost sight of what is truly important: the safety of the younger generation and how we can maintain

The Drinking age debate for young adults have been very controversial since the 1970s to the present days.The Drinking age have been very controversial between the age of 18 and the age of 21. For many years, Most people wanted the drinking age to be 18 because they believe since u are an adult u are mature. On the other hand the other side believes that keeping the legal drinking age at 21 causes less accidents and deaths. They have been many studies on why the drinking age shouldnt be 18. There are many benefits and risks of having the drinking age lowered from 21 to 18.

On most college campuses, they do not enforce the drinking age. (Wil Sharon). About more than half of the students that attend college are under twenty-one, but the campus does not force the law of drinking, so most students are into binge drinking. There are so many teens drinking underage that sneak off to places to drink and end up getting hurt, some people just get lucky and do not get hurt but end up getting caught by the cops. If the drinking age gets lowered to would help prevent these accidents from happening. ”Traffic accidents and fatalities are most common among newly legal drinkers, regardless of the MLDA.” ( procon.org). That fact, just proves that people get into accidents while drinking regardless of how old they are. Even though people do not want the drinking age lowered, it does not stop people from drinking and getting into accidents, regardless of

kids that drink before the age 21 are more likely to end up damaging their body. At a young age kids can end up getting alcholism which is a serious drinking problem. durning young adulthood someone can become an alcholic.This proves that most colleg students drink to have fun with their roomates and friends. If kids get addicted to alcohol they will most likely binge drink and that is all they will want to do. Its horrible for the school, community and themself. Researchers have came to the conclusion that alcohol kills a large number of people between the ages 18-21. It is killing most people under 18 and 21 because the brain is still fully not developed and people are still maturing. Also people over the age 21 are still not mature enough.

While the drinking age is set to twenty one the first drink many people have is at a party scene where heavy drinking is encouraged (Glaser, 2015). A person is not introduced to alcohol in a safe environment where they are taught how to properly use it, if the drinking age is set at twenty one. A parent has the opportunity to properly introduce and teach a person about alcohol if the drinking age is eighteen because they still live in their house, unlike when they turn twenty one. Parents are hesitant to talk about safe drinking because the eighteen year old technically not be drinking (James, 2016). Parents teach kids how to drive and have safe sex, so they should teach their children about alcohol also. Having the drinking age set to eighteen allows the parent to have ample time to talk to the child about safe drinking before they go to college and no longer live in their house. When a kid is introduced to alcohol in a binge drinking setting, they have no other idea about how to consume alcohol expect to binge drink. Once a person turns twenty one they stop going to parties and binge drink, instead they go to bars and restaurants to drink. Giving the parents enough time and opportunity to teach kids about safe drinking before they leave for college will help end binge and heavy

the legal drinking age should be and if it should be increased or lowered from the age of 21.

By the time high school students are seniors around 70 percent of students have had alcohol and the number will increase more as they begin college (IUPUI). With being in college one thing that I did discover is that underage drinking is part of the culture in college, also the friends that I had in high school who are 21 now I have discovered they drink some of the least amount now. Which has begun to make me wonder why people who are 21 drink less than people who are underage. I believe that when people are 21 they now do not have to worry about the next time they can get alcohol. Congress should lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 because at age 18 when they are in college, for some students it will be the first time of it being acceptable to drink alcohol. Most college students are putting their health at risk with binge drinking. They are not introduced to alcohol at a younger age and drink because they do not know the next time they will get alcohol, so they will start to binge drink drinking a high content of alcohol quickly and dangerously. Although it may introduce alcohol to people of younger ages, it will help them mature more quickly knowing they do not have to worry about the next time they will get alcohol. With lowering the drinking age, it will have positive effects on the economy and society, it will be beneficial because it will prevent younger people from binge drinking, and people are legally adults at the age of 18 can vote and serve for their

are many things he or she can do. Voting rights, signing financial contracts, military service, and the ability to buy tobacco products, just to name a few. In reality, if you have the funds, you can even buy a house or start a business! Nevertheless, one of the biggest ongoing controversies is whether the drinking age should stay at twenty-one or be lowered to eighteen. To young adults, this debate is especially important, as a common tradition in college is the social atmosphere of alcohol. However, as binge drinking and drunk driving among our young society continues to present itself as a consistent problem, it becomes increasingly evident that we need to reform the current drinking age. Drinking can be an enjoyable act, and lowering our current age would be a practical method in

Alcoholism affects so many people in the United States due to accidents and much more but, many people say once teens turn 18 they should be able to do whatever they want, If they are able to vote, purchase nicotine products and become our troops, etc. So why not be able to drink? The drinking age has become a more controversial issue lately. There are many reasons of why the drinking age should not be lowered but if the drinking age was to be lowered to eighteen, fatalities would increase and more death cases would occur and also create health issues. Statistics say “The strongest evidence in favor of keeping the MLDA at 21 comes from the research that shows that raising the MLDA in 1984 saved approximately 25,000 lives, primarily by reducing alcohol-related traffic fatalities” In a study made by Nancy Barnett, The minimum age debate, it explains how many lives were saves since the drinking age was raised to twenty one (U.S. D.O.T., 2007). Because of proof of how many lives were saved by the drinking age increased the twenty one, why would we lower the age instead of avoiding an increase of death mortalities and health issues. Also lowering the drinking age, it would give younger teens to get their hands on alcohol. For example, once a teen has gotten intoxicated they are going to attempt to drive while intoxicated and putting their lives in harm and others out there and this creates problems because they are not in the correct

The proportion of 18-24-year-old college students who reported driving under the influence of alcohol increased from 26.5% to 31.4%, an increase from 2.3 million students to 2.8 million. During both years more than 500,000 students were unintentionally injured because of drinking and more than 600,000 were hit/assaulted by another drinking student. Freshmen who enroll in colleges where many students engage in binge drinking are quick to adopt the binge-drinking lifestyle. Excessive drinking among college students is a public health problem that is larger than just the colleges and universities. It is a problem for our entire state. Drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18, to help confront what they describe as a hidden crisis in binge drinking among students. But they offer no convincing evidence that lowering the drinking age would reduce excessive alcohol use by college students.

Legal age of drinking is twenty five. I believe it is perfect. There is no requirement of decreasing it but, nothing is bad if it is increased. According to me, age of twenty five is perfect age for drinking because at this age a human is able to decide what is good for him. People of this age reach to a maturity level that they can decide on their own which thing is benefical for them and which is not.

There have been many objective conditions that have been documented with regards to alcohol. According to (Henslin, 2014). “Social Problems a Down-To-Earth Approach”, alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents kill 9,400 Americans each year which is about 26 accidents each day, most of the people who die are men, and alcohol is the number one drug used by college students. Henslin (2014) also said that about 10 million people are considered alcoholics which are people who have severe alcohol related problems, each year