Essay Against Lowering The Drinking Age

Lowering the drinking age from 21 would be irresponsible. People argue that lowering the drinking age is not smart because most youths still have not yet reached a mature age to handle alcohol. Teens that include themselves in an unsafe environment are likely to endure in self-harm and encounter in binge drinking. The Alcohol Policy Information System says, “Annually, about 5,000 youth under the age of 21 die in incidents due to underage drinking” (“Drinking”). I believe the drinking age should not be lowered because of the major hazards that could occur, an increase in traffic accidents, and the age maturity to handle alcohol responsibly.

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

There has been a debate on lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. There are many reasons why this policy should not be passed. At the age of eighteen in the United States one is considered as an adult to make there own decisions, vote, and are allowed to buy Tabaco. Drinking is not one of them. Studies have shown that there are scientific reasons this should not happen. First drinking can be very harmful to the body, causing severe symptoms. Second the drinking and driving rate would increase. Finally, eighteen year olds are not as mature as twenty-one year olds. They are not as fully developed as twenty-one year olds. All of these are factors that contribute to why the drinking age should not be lowered.

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.

If the drinking age was lowered, then even more people would be medically irresponsible. For example, “[a]lcohol consumption can interfere with development of the young adult brain's frontal lobes, essential for functions such as emotional regulation, planning, and organization. Drinking alcohol at that age can cause chronical problems in the head,”(US) Changing the drinking age will screw up their heads and most likely before they even get out of high school. When start drinking at a young age it starts

The drinking age in the United States is a contradiction. At the age of eighteen, one can drive a car, vote in an election, get married, serve in the military and buy tobacco products. In the United States you are legally an adult at eighteen. An eighteen-year-old, however, cannot purchase alcoholic beverages. The minimum drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one in the United States.

As a society, we have always been taught that you could not have an alcoholic drink till your twenty one. But there are people out there that think that we should lower that age to eight teen. A group of 129 college presidents are actually asking that there at least be a discussion to the argument (Lewis et al, 2008). They think that it would stop all the underage drinking at colleges and would teach kids at an early age how to handle alcohol (Lewis et al, 2008). In my option lowering it would not help all the problems we have with alcohol. I feel that it would just cause more alcohol abuse, but there is some good to lowering it.

Should the drinking age really be lowered to a younger age or should we keep it the same? Well, my opinion it should be lowered because of multiple reasons. Lowering the MLDA from 21 to 18 would diminish the thrill of breaking the law to get a drink. Normalizing alcohol consumption as something do responsibly in moderation will make drinking alcohol less of a taboo for young adults entering college and the workforce. The MLDA 21 enforcement isn't a priority for law enforcement agencies. The punishments are inadequate, takes time and effort to do the paperwork. An estimated two of every 1,000 occasions of illegal drinking by youth under 21 gets arrested. Lowering the MLDA 21 would help stop the accidents and bad results from people who would not fear from consequences if they sought medical

Do you think that the drinking age in the United States should be lowered to eighteen? I’m here to tell you why I think that the age twenty-one is not an appropriate age to be able to drink in the U.S. Research says that In 2012, 36% of the nation’s young adults ages are 18 to 31 and most of the 18 year olds still live at home with their parents(Fry, Richard) this meaning that when these people are finally legal to drink they are on their own and have no idea how alcohol will react with them. If the drinking age was lowered to 18 young adults would be more likely to experience first time drinking at home with parents rather than going out and causing trouble. By the time a person is legally allowed to drink they are on their own and will not know exactly how to handle the first time being drunk, this could cause a lot of chaos if the person were to be in public and no one wants to have to witness or deal with a first time drunk.

The frontal lobe of the brain can be damaged in a young person brain which effects emotional development, a greater chance of addiction, as well as depression. Also lowering the age to eighteen would reduce the amount of fatal injuries due to alcohol because people would seek medical attention (Drinking Age ProCon.org). “A 2009 study published in The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that between 1998 and 2005, the number of cases of alcohol poisoning deaths among 18- to 24-year-olds nearly tripled, jumping from 779 cases to 2,290”

There are many different views on drinking alcohol, especially underage drinking. Everyone has different views on the drinking age. Some think it should be lowered and others believe that it should be raised. Then some believe that it should remain the same at the age of twenty-one years old. Keeping the alcohol consumption age at twenty-one limits the dangers of not only those under twenty-one, but other people in the community. Lowering the drinking age will cause more problems than it would fix, but people will argue against that, and other countries have lower to no age requirements at all.

On July 1, 1971 the 26th amendment was passed which lowered the minimum age to vote from twenty one to eighteen years old. Shortly after the amendment was passed twenty nine states across America started lowering the drinking age from 21 to either 18,19, or 20 years old. This new freedom for young adults only lasted for a brief time by 1984 the Uniform Drinking Age Act was passed. The Uniform Drinking Age Act forced states to change the drinking age back to twenty one years old; by reducing the federal transportation funding, for each state that did not have a minimum drinking age of21. This act has caused controversy for years, there even is group of 136 college presidents called Amethyst Initiative that support a lower minimum legal

Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 will delay underage drinking, as well as terrible injuries or deaths that result from such conduct. Keeping the drinking age at 21 is driving to more cases of binge drinking in a short time because it has become a ritual among this age group. However by lowering the drinking age to 18, the binge drinking practice will decline, because it will demystify the drunken experience therefore viewed the moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages becomes a disciplined behavior.

The legal drinking age should be lowered to 18 in the United States and allowing these young adults to drink in controlled environments such as restaurants, taverns, pubs and official school and university functions (Engs). There are several ways responsible drinking can be shown and taught. One way is by older adults being good role models of this as well as educational programs that focus on responsible drinking and why it is important. Right now in most states in the U.S., the legal drinking age is currently twenty-one, although the majority of students in college are consuming alcohol and not always in a responsible manner (Engs). When these students are drinking under the age they see it as rebelling against authority and realize its risky behavior and still choose to partake in it making their actions irresponsible. “Prohibition, which banned most alcohol in the United States from 1920 to 1933, normalized the frenzied sort of drinking that occurs today at college parties” (Glaser). My final point

The controversy on the proper drinking age is one that has been repeatedly discussed and researched over the years. Its common to hear the argument “If someone is old enough to take a bullet for their country, they should be allowed to drink alcohol.” But is that enough justification? Some would say no. “According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) it is estimated that in 2004 there were more than 1,700 student deaths, 599,000 injuries, and 696,000 assaults annually associated with excessive drinking” (Fennell 247). Given these numbers, would lowering the drinking age really be the best thing for America’s youth?