Effects Of Lowering The Drinking Age Essay

Underage drinking was, is, and always will be a problem. No matter the drinking age, teenagers will find a way to score some alcohol somewhere. Many college students actually invest in fake ID’s. This is a common way for people underage to acquire alcohol. The maturity level of teenagers is not great enough to withstand the power to buy alcohol. Teenagers are less responsible and there are studies that show it. A study commenced by “dui.drivinglaws.org” recorded that seventeen percent of fatal accidents happen from underage drunk drivers. If the law was lowered it would be medically irresponsible. The brain of young adults is nowhere near fully developed as a teenager.

"Adults under 21 are able to vote, sign contracts, serve on juries, and enlist in the military, but are told that they are not mature enough to have a beer?," said Ruth C. Engs, a professor of Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University (Engs). No matter what is done, teenagers and young adults all over America are going to drink if they want to. The question is, why can 't they start legally drinking when they enter adulthood? An alternative to simply lowering the minimum legal drinking age could be thought of, such as, having a learner 's permit for responsible drinking for people between the ages of 18-21. In other cultures where the minimum legal drinking age is lower, there is not as large of a problem with drinking. Lowering the minimum legal drinking age would stop criminalizing a large amount of people for the minor crime of underage drinking, which on your record makes it hard for young people to apply for jobs or apply to colleges.

The actions being taken are creating sobriety checkpoints, ignition interlocks, mass media campaigns, car services, school-based instructional programs, and the upcoming innovations in self-driving cars. Sobriety checkpoints can help in a major way because they can prevent drunk driving accidents from occurring and it can also lead people to not drink or take a car service. Ignition interlocks can also be a big help because if the person in the driver’s seat has over a certain BAC then the car won’t start. Mass media campaigns also work because they show the consequences of driving drunk and the possibilities that can happen. I remember seeing mass media campaign commercials of people who drove drunk and killed someone and they ended up being jailed for years. This strongly advised me at a young age to not drive drunk when I get to the legal age of consumption. School programs can also solve this issue because it can give the students an emotional and first hand experience that will strongly advise them to not drink and drive. The thing that I think contributes most in the area that I live, to prevent drunk driving, is “Uber” and “Lyft.” Most of the time people know if they’re going to go out and drink, and if you plan to take an “Uber” or “Lyft” then you can go out and drink without having to drive home. These car services are also extremely easy to use because you can get a ride with the click of a button. With all these alternatives to drunk driving, this is a perfect time to lower the drinking age. I would lower it even further than 18, but the main reason why I didn’t decide to make it lower is because of brain development in young teenagers. These are the main reasons why the drinking age should be lowered to age 18. If people still decide to drive drunk with all these alternatives, then they’re just “stupid”, and people

There always has been controversy as to should the united states lower the drinking age to 18. Eighteen year olds should have the right to drink. By lowering the drinking age to eighteen it will give people supervision, teach responsibilities, and eighteen years olds are already considered adults; however, it may cause binge drinking, it will lead to more deaths, and drinking damages brains cells and especially the body itself.

Every year, thousands of deaths occur as a result of drunk driving, and every day people are facing the consequences of irresponsible drinking. Because of the issues caused by irresponsible drinking, the US government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984 which raised the minimum drinking age to twenty-one to prevent drinking-related accidents and violence. Despite the intent of its passing, it was a counterproductive decision. Because of the higher age restriction, high school upperclassmen and college underclassmen see drinking as an exciting, rebellious act. Consequentially, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act resulted in an increase in dangerous and irresponsible drinking which continues to this day. Not only does the

Unsupervised and driven underground, underage drinking has gained widespread popularity in America’s youth, even claiming victims such as the former President Bush’s 19 year-old daughter. At 18 years of age, a citizen can purchase a gun and tobacco, enlist in the military, get married, vote, and be tried as an adult in court but yet as an “adult” they still do not possess the right to purchase nor consume alcohol legally. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 years of age because adults should be able to make their own decisions, it is safer for the youth in America, and with alcohol education classes instilled in schools at a young age, the younger citizens will be exposed to responsible drinking habits so it reduces the enticement factor

Despite offering many solutions to the ongoing problem of underage drinking, there seems to be no chance for a law to pass that will lower the drinking age. Pete Coors of Coors Brewing Co. ran for senator in the Colorado election and campaigned that he was not pushing to lower the drinking age, however many of his quotes are not consistent with this point of view. No matter what the ultimate decision is for the drinking age, fake IDs and parents who condone drinking are going to cancel out any legitimacy for this law to work. Furthermore there are many drugs in testing now that may perhaps eliminate any of the dangers that are common with drinking. Due to liquor companies targeting

Consider how many young adults choose to drink illegally on a regular basis. According to the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, by age fifteen roughly half of all teenagers have had their first drink, and that by age eighteen roughly seventy percent of all teenagers have had a drink (“Underage Drinking” np). The truth is, underage drinking is a common issue in America. Lowering the drinking age is believed by many to be a solution to reducing underage drinking. The idea is that if the drinking age is lowered; those under the age of twenty-one who will then fit in the legal drinking age category, will not find drinking as appealing as it was before it was legalized for their age group. Eventually, drinking alcohol will start to become the norm and will not feel like the “cool” thing to do anymore. This will result in a lowered number of teenagers drinking, cutting out the large majority who drink as a way to fit in at social gatherings.

In conclusion, lowering the drinking would be wrong to do in the society we have today. Although teens do it already, they need to know that there is discipline for their actions. These actions may effect their life later on, but that’s what they have to put up with if they choose to drink underage. Deciding on this will not just affect this generation, but it will affect the rest of the generations. At the end of the argument remember that everyone at some point in time has thought drinking is bad, and that if we lowering the drinking age all it will do is make it worse.

The national drinking age in the United States has been 21 years old since 1984. Most people support the law, but what are the real consequences if the minimum drinking age is lowered? In Henry Wechsler’s article called “Will Increasing Alcohol Availability by Lowering the Minimum Legal Drinking Age Decrease Drinking and Related Consequences Among Youths?”, shows both sides of the argument about whether the legal drinking age should be lowered.

First of all the United States is one of only twelve countries in the world that still uses 21 was the minimum drinking age. The majority of the world (115 countries) are either 18 or 19. In America 18 is the age of adulthood you can vote, smoke cigarettes, serve on juries, get married, sign contracts, and be prosecuted as an adult. I would also add that at 18 you can join the military but underage drinking is legal for any military member well at a base but when they return home the same rules apply to them as well. With having to hold the same responsibilities as a 21 year old why not allow one to consume alcohol. Secondly by not allowing people under the age of 21 to drink in public it forces them to binge drink in unsafe and unmonitored locations as opposed to a restaurant or bar. According to CDC.gov 90% of underage drinking episodes constitute as underage drinking. Binge drinking is defined as having BAL or blood alcohol level over 0.08, which is the legal limit. This usually occurs when a male has about 6 drinks or female 5 in under 2 hours. Binge drinking can lead to serious health issues such as alcohol poisoning, liver disease and high blood pressure. On top of this young adults under age will try to do all their drinking before they go out which can lead to a dangerous amount of consumption of alcohol. In a lot of cases this can lead to alcohol poisoning and even death. When underage drinkers partake in drinking it is usually at house parties and private locations with no type of supervision or public safety measures such as a bar. This can lead to another serious issue sexual assault. It is reported that 80% of sexual assaults that occur under the age of 21 are alcohol related according to thedailyreporter.com. This is due to underage drinking being pushed underground and being consumed in larger quantities. Another issue faced is when

“Today’s underage drinker is tomorrow’s drunk driver.” Quoted by David Deiuliis. Have you ever been around someone under the age who has consumed alcohol? If so give them the help they need. Underage drinking has been a problem for many years and the number of underage drinkers has gone up. There is always time for change, but it just takes someone to step up and say something about it.

Many under the age of 21 are getting in trouble with the law in alcohol related incidents, which wouldn?t take place if the drinking age was lowered. Many underage drinkers drink in more dangerous places in order to avoid law enforcement. "... when these young adults ?drink on the sly in unsupervised settings, they are

Despite the positive results that have come about since this law was passed, it is pretty clear that it has not prevented people under 21 from obtaining and drinking alcohol. College campuses across the country report problems with students binge drinking and students who drink deliberately to get drunk (Smith). “Today, the generally accepted definition of binge drinking is the consumption of five or more drinks in a row at least once in the past 2 weeks” (Binge). Some of the reasons given for binge drinking range from being curious to trying to escape from the ever-present stress in our lives. The latter reason is more prevalent in college students. “College students are more likely to engage in heavy drinking than their peers who do not attend college with 2 in 5 students nationally engaging in binge drinking on at least 1 occasion in the past 2 weeks” (Wechsler). Some believe that making the drinking age 21 is one cause of the current

Tightening the laws on underage drinking is wrong, as laws will still be broken and people 20 years, 364 days and younger will continue to consume alcohol. The answer to the problem of underage drinking is not to add more restrictions, rather, it is simple: get rid of the "underage" part.