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Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age

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In 1971, the United States ratified the 26th amendment which lowered the voting age in America to 18. As a result of that change many people believed the drinking age should be lowered as well, and because the drinking age was the power of the states, many states country wide began to lower the drinking age to 18, 19 and 20 years old. By 1983, 28 of the 50 states had lowered their legal drinking age but on July 17th, 1984 President Ronald Reagan passed the Minimum Drinking Age Act, increasing the legal drinking age to 21. As a result, States were given an ultimatum which was to either raise their legal drinking age to 21 or face a 10 percent cut to their federal highway funding, and all states eventually raised their drinking age. Ever since …show more content…

What does it do? What does it feel like to be drunk? Although the drinking age is 21, 11% of all alcohol consumed in the country per year is consumed by individuals aged 12 to 20. Many underage drinkers consume alcohol because of the “thrill” they get for breaking the law and experimenting what the effect of drinking alcohol feels like. According to the procon.org article “Minimum Legal Drinking Age” previously used, lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 will reduce the “thrill” that is investing in so many underage individuals. According to Jennifer Korszun’s timesunion.com article titled “Lower the drinking age?”, lowering the drinking age may actually benefit society. “Lowering the drinking age will take away the thrill many young people associate with breaking the law. Learning to drink in moderation as a youth can benefit young adults and prevent them from turning into binge drinkers.” Allowing 18 year olds will not only mature the individuals, but it will also decrease the thrill of getting drunk because it will not be an illegal action anymore. 61% of countries worldwide have a legal drinking age of 18 years old and although it may seem ironic, countries with a drinking age of 18 have a fewer number of drunk driving accidents compared to the United States. If consuming alcohol is legal, then the excitement of getting drunk will not be as high and those who consume legally will be more inclined to make better decisions with more of a knowledge of the risk that comes with

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