Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age To 21

When it comes to the subject of drinking and teenagers, what is the first thing that comes to mind? To me it's the legal age limit of when teens should be able to drink. Having it lowered is controversial because according to prior experiences, data shows that younger age drinking is well known for its fatalities. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), "on one of the most popular prom nights in 1999, as many as 62 percent of the traffic deaths were alcohol-related" (). The most important question is whether or not the drinking age anywhere in the United States should be lowered, raised or if it should stay the same. Statistics prove that the legal drinking age should remain at the age of twenty-one in the United States.

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.”

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.

Most people would concur that alcohol should not be given to teenagers. Despite the fact that we concede to this essential truth, underage drinking is still a noteworthy issue in our nation. Since adolescents need development and information with regards to liquor, they put themselves, as well as others in incredible danger when they decide to consume. Regardless of the risk, there are individuals out there who believe that the drinking age should be lowered.

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.

Supporters of lowering the MLDA compared America to other countries that have a minimum drinking age of 18. Supporters of lowering the MLDA say that in countries where the drinking age 18 young people drink smarter. John McCardell points out some interesting statistic he states” in southern European countries ratios of all drinking occasions to intoxication occasions were quite low roughly one in ten while in the United States, almost half of all

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

Decreasing the age would possibly give less of a benefit to teenages becuase of the higher chance of risk and dangers for negative consequences. Lowering the Minimum Legal Drinking Age could give teenagers the chance to learn how to drink responsibly, but there is more likely that it would give most adolescents the chance to continue to carelessly drink, besides now they would not have consequences for their actions. Raising and lowering the MLDA both bring forth negative

Without a doubt, the United States has been facing serious national problems with underage drinking. Depending on personal ideologies, some people might not agree that the current minimum drinking age of twenty-one is based on scientific facts rather then ideology of prohibitionism. For example, since 1975 over seventeen thousand lives have been saved since the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) was changed to age twenty-one (Balkin 167). This shows that even over a short amount of time, a higher MLDA helps decrease the risk of teen suicides, accidents and overdose deaths. However, this widely debated topic has inevitably brought attention to the plethora of supporting and opposing viewpoints. The minimum legal drinking age of twenty-one

For years, the debate about deciding a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) has plagued the United States. The arguments can include that intoxicated driving accidents will increase if the MLDA was lowered or that the current MLDA is not decreasing drinking among young adults at all. The torn arguments between ages eighteen and twenty-one have not proven one age to be the right answer to the problem of deciding a drinking age, but if the MLDA was lowered to age eighteen, it would be the most beneficial choice because lowering it will benefit the economy, reduce binge drinking in colleges, decrease unsafe drinking environments, eliminate the Forbidden Fruit Syndrome, and follows through with the idea of adulthood at age eighteen.

The United States’ minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of twenty one is almost a perfect example of a policy with unrealistic expectations and serious unintended consequences. The current policy that the United States has in effect criminalizes youth who consume alcohol at less than twenty one years of age. Young adults are going to drink under twenty one, so why shouldn’t the United States lower the MLDA to eighteen? Following Prohibition in 1933, many states made their MLDA twenty one. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, many states lowered it to eighteen to match the drafting age (Alcohol Policy MD). President Reagan passed The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 which required all states to raise their minimum purchase and public

If we lower the MLDA 21, it will lead to younger people in the bars and nightclubs and therefore a greater number of the population can end up in dangerous situations. Alcohol has the ability to increase a humans anger which can lead to them getting in fights. Going to the bar or a nightclub is not legal until 21 in the U.S, however, many teenagers already got their fake I.D, which means they can get into a bar or nightclub with ease.

The generations of people who were born after 1984 have only known the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) to be 21 years old. But, it was not so long ago when the minimum legal drinking age was 18. In 1984 Congress passed the MLDA Act as a result of the rise in drunk driving accidents involving teens and alcohol related deaths. This Act ultimately made the states raise their MLDA to 21 from 18 for fear of losing federal highway funds. There have been many debates about it and whether or not it should be lowered again. Many organizations, like Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), an organization that works to help youth say “no” to drinking and driving among other things, believe that “any attempt to lower the legal drinking age…

physiological argument which is saying there is evidence that the brain does not fully develop until the mid twenties in fact, and that when the brain is not yet fully developed the impact on the brain of alcohol abuse is much more severe than it is on the fully developed brain

In the United States. Every state has the right to set its own legal drinking age. However, according to George Will in an article he wrote in the Washington Post about the legal drinking age, “drinking age paradox” “lowering the drinking age will cost the state ten percent of its federal highway funds and cause a significant uproar from contractors and construction unions.” It is therefore in the best interest of every citizen as well as the state not to lower the legal drinking age, to prevent States funding from the negative affected if the legal drinking age is lowered (The Chilgren 's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2015).