Essay On Changing The Drinking Age

There are several controversies in the world today, but one that really catches my attention is on the topic of whether or not the drinking age in the United States should be lowered from 21 to 18. Many people have debated about this topic for several years, and there are several different opinions on this topic. Some people think it is dangerous to lower the drinking age; some people support it. Some children think it is stupid to lower the drinking age; some children support it. However, I strongly believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 for several reasons, such as 18 year olds are allowed to do several other adult activities, other countries have the legal age at 21, and people who are under the age of 18 are still going to drink alcohol whether it is illegal or not.

It has been a rising issue within the past century to have the drinking age set at 21, but many people are more in favor of having the age set at 18. For instance, “’Raising the drinking age to 21 was passed with the very best of intentions, but it’s had the very worst of outcomes,’ stated by David J. Hanson, an alcohol policy expert” (Johnson). Many people believe that having the drinking age set at 21 was a smart idea, but it has caused many more deaths and injuries over the years. Most of these fatalities are cause from people who are underage and choose to consume alcohol. Again, “Libertarian groups and some conservative economic foundations, seeing the age limits as having been extorted by Washington, have long championed lowering the drinking age” (Johnson). These groups see that keeping the drinking age set at 21 is dangerous as it causes more problems to the Untied States. If the drinking age was lowered, or set at 18, there would not be such unforgiving outcomes, like deaths and lifelong injuries, which are usually caused from people who are under the age of 21 drinking alcohol. Although there are numerous groups that are fighting to keep the age

Lowering the drinking age to 18 would make a lot of sense in the world. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would make more sense. It would be better for the teens that drink on college campus. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 because you can vote at eighteen, buy tobacco, it’ll reduce the thrill of breaking the law, evidence supports that early introduction of drinking is the safest way to reduce juvenile alcohol abuse, and college people that are not 21 drink also.

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

This discussion has been going on for long on many forums without a decisive conclusion or agreement. This is mainly because both the arguments for lowering the age to 18 years and not lowering have some substantial facts to support them. The people who are against lowering the drinking age come up with a number of arguments which are explained below.

Many people debate whether or not the drinking age should be lowered.  While many feel that it should be lowered, the evidence is overwhelming that changing the drinking age to eighteen would be an extremely dangerous decision. Allowing teens to consume alcohol can make them more vulnerable to drugs and substance abuse, unplanned and unprotected sex, depression, violence, and other social

Kinky Friedmen stated ’If you’re old enough to die in Iraq , you’re old enough to drink”. Today Americans are faced with many issues one of the issues is lowering the drinking age. Lowering the drinking age has been a controversial topic for many years. Today I will discuss with you why lowering the drinking age is important for everyone to know about. One main issue with lowering the drinking age is that it will allow a greater selection of the younger population to drink alcohol.

The legal drinking age of twenty-one, far from being the solution to the problem of underage drinking, has forced young adults eighteen to twenty to drink illegally and without supervision. Instead of saving lives, it endangers lives, because adolescents have no chance of learning how to drink responsibly. Students often excuse their heavy drinking with the mantra, "Everyone is doing it. It's part of being in college." In addition, lowering the drinking age can bring many adolescents back into social situations where they can experiment with alcohol under the supervision of peers and adults.

In 1984 congress changed the legal drinking age to 21, prior to that the legal drinking age was 18. In 1984 was when congress change the drinking age to 21. Is it time to change the legal drinking age back to 18? There are a total of 190 countries in the world. Sixty one percent of those countries have a legal drinking age of 18 or 19 years old, whereas the United States has a legal drinking age of 21. The age 18 in the U.S. is considered an adult. The adult abilities include, the right to vote, buy tobacco, work full time, acquire special licenses or permits, get married, apply for loans, for males you are required to register with the selective services, join the military, and also can be selected to serve in jury duty; yet being 18, no personal can legally drink.

Alcohol having a set age limit has made it more appealing to teenagers than anything else, so why not lower the drinking age? This has been a hot topic for many of decades but has started becoming more relevant in today’s social scene. Teens are still going to drink whether the law is changed or not so why go through the steps of changing it? For starters if the drinking age was reinstated at eighteen where it was for many years (in certain states). Youth would be more informed of alcohol and how making certain decisions while under the influence could alter their lives, instead of treating it as the forbidden fruit. Everything changed in 1984 when the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed and now federal law has it listed as no one under the age of 21 can buy or consume alcohol, this is where it stands today. There are numerous reasons backing why lowering the drinking age to eighteen would be both logically and socially acceptable, reasons ranging from at the age of eighteen your classified as an adult to how many countries have had lower drinking ages to eighteen or even younger and have had less issues surrounding the consumption of alcohol.

72% of adults think that lowering the drinking age would make alcohol more accessible to kids, and nearly half believe that it would increase binge drinking among teens, according to a new Nationwide Insurance poll. Twenty-one isn't just an arbitrary number set by Congress--more than 20 states already had laws setting the drinking age there in 1984. Since the law widely enacted, the number of young people killed annually in crashes involving drunk drivers under 21 has been cut in half, from more than 5,000 individuals in the early 1980s to around 2,000 in 2005. By the end of 2005, the 21 drinking age had saved nearly 25,000 American lives--approximately 1,000 lives a year. A person’s brain does not stop developing until their early to mid-20s. During this period, alcohol negatively affects all parts of the brain, Including cognitive and decision-making abilities as well as coordination and memory. Adolescent drinkers not only do worse academically but are also at greater risk for social problems like depression, violence, and suicidal thoughts. Lowering the drinking age would have dangerous long-term consequences: Early Teen drinkers are not only more susceptible to alcoholism but to developing the disease earlier and more quickly than

One concern of legalizing alcohol at age 18 is known as the trickle-down effect. The idea is that if young adults can legally obtain alcohol when they are still in high school, that alcohol will often end up in the hands of much younger kids. The same problem that exists today, where juniors in college who are finally legally old enough to buy alcohol will supply their younger friends with alcohol, would happen but this time the alcohol would be coming from seniors in high school. This would result in giving kids as young as 14 much easier access to alcohol. At 14, the brain is still very much developing and alcohol has been proven to have a very negative effect on brain development especially at such a young age. According to Drug Free World, an organization that works to provide valuable information about the impact of drugs

By the age of eighteen, more than 70% of teens have had at least one drink. Twenty percent of teens admitted that they had their first drink between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. (Anthony 1) Department of Health and Human Services says that young adults, ages eighteen to twenty, have the highest rate of alcohol dependence in the U.S., and they are not even legally old enough to have a drink. Underage drinking happens to anyone for a number of different reasons, some people do it to fit in, some do it to try something new, some do it to feel older, and some are just unprepared and do not know how to refuse it. Underage drinking causes huge health risks and could even lead to death. The U.S Health department has reported that around 5,000 people under the age of twenty-one die each year as a result of underage drinking; this includes about 1,900 deaths from car crashes, 1,600 homicides, 300 suicides, and hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drownings. (Wing 5) Stopping teens from drinking might leave a great impact on the kids that look up to them, and could lead them to not drink. M.A.D.D., which also stands for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, reported 25,000 lives have been saved since the legal drinking age has been changed to twenty-one. (Alcantara

Why not change it then? You are an adult at 18, why be told you can’t have personal freedom? Raising the drinking age to 21 may have some minor succusses, like getting fewer young people to drink, but lowering it to 18 could promote better drinking

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