Legal Drinking Age

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

It’s no doubt that alcohol has a major sway on today’s society across the board both culturally and globally. When we take a look into past history, we can see how alcohol has been the fundamental measures to religious, professional, and social concerns. It seems that no matter how far our history books go back, the United States has had a question about the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Through the years of Prohibition halting the sale, shipping, and ingestion of alcohol and the constitutional acts delegating who is accurately fit to drink. Today’s controversy is a lot less infringing on personal rights. It’s regarding whether the legal drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. This has been a huge controversy geared exclusively towards college students due to the fact that alcohol consumption at universities is the definitive part of campus life even though the greater part of students are not legally permitted to drink. It is apparent that through the regularity and risks of binge drinking across universities and the high percentage of DUI and alcohol related fatal crashes, that something needs to shift in this country. Lowering the drinking age to eighteen would be an expedient and positive step in reducing binge drinking, nurturing the safe practice of drinking alcohol, and permitting those students of legal drinking age the chance to fully and sensibly make mature adult choices.

In the United States, 18-year-olds are considered adults. They can vote, get married and get a license for a gun yet they are not allowed to drink. Many people think that the drinking age should be 18, but others strongly believe it should be 21 for doing all kinds of things. Drinking in the United States has become a controversy for the drinking age; 18 or 21. There are many reasons why the drinking age should stay the same and many of why it should be 18. Even though many Americans think that people under 21 do not have the capacity to handle drinking, in my opinion, drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 because teenagers at the age of 18 can make important decisions, so drinking should be a decision they can too decide whether to

Consuming alcohol is considered a rite of passage for the average young individual. The minimum drinking age required to legally consume alcohol varies in each country, ranging from it always being legal to drinking being illegal at any age, but most countries have set the age at 18-19. In the United States, as of 1988, the MLDA is 21 throughout its entire territory, while the age of majority starts at 18. This paper analyzes the arguments to lower the minimum drinking age and unify it with the age of majority. The factors discussed are alcohol-related traffic accidents, encouragement of unsafe drinking habits, and inconsistency between the perception of adulthood and the MLDA.

A college report showed that most kids are drinking to get drunk. In college a large sum and the majority of students are under twenty one. This fact is showing the immaturity of the students and more reasons the age should be twenty-one to drink. Drinking to get drunk and binge drinking are irresponsible which those under twenty-one are continually showing that they are. Yes there are adults who drink irresponsibly but the majority handle alcohol maturily. Some argue that there are children who drink responsibly, how can a minor drink responsibly when drinking at all is illegal. Binge drinking does more than harm the body , thsi is another reason the drinking age at eighteen would harm college students. Binge drinking increases academic struggles in students and while eveyone may not believe this, the actual reason for college is an education. By binge drinking obtaining this goal can be a challenge. While the college life is a large part of the legal drinking age there are other reasons it should stay at twenty-one. Drinking and driving is not acceptable by any age group and effects many lives every day. A vehicle is a weapon and operating this such weapon while intoxicated, or under the influence of any substance that will decrease your ability to operate the vehicle is foolish and dangerous for the driver, its passengers, and anyone who may be unfortunate enough to

Around the world new adults are flaunting their new found responsibilities consuming alcohol at the average age of 18. However, unlike most countries in the world the United States has determined to establish their drinking age to be set at 21 years of age. This antiquated position is unjust to many young American adults. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 should be revised and reconstituted to the legal age of 18. To provide a more suitable America that is secure and reasonable for all young adults. The drinking age needs to be lowered so that it can reduce traffic fatalities, reduce binge drinking, and allow young adults to understand an old ongoing tradition. It’s time to reconsider the drinking age to allow a safer environment for everyone.

There have been many recent debates on the subject of the legal age to drink alcoholic beverages in the United States of America. Some otherwise intelligent people want to lower the legal drinking age to eighteen rather than keep it at twenty-one, the current federally mandated drinking age. In Time Magazine Mary Cary, author of Time to Lower the Drinking Age, puts forth the position that lowering the drinking age would actually be beneficial to society. Though lowering the drinking age to eighteen may lead to solutions to underage drinking, many other, more dangerous issues may arise from teenagers who begin to drink earlier in life; this is the greater matter that and it should not be overlooked on this issue.

Many people today advocate for the drinking age to remain where it is, such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and the president of the American Public Health Association. MADD has been very active in recent years, whether it be through lobbying or mass media appeals. They often use scientific evidence, statistics, and their emotional appeal as mothers of dead children to coerce their audiences into believing that drunk driving and the drinking age correlate. For example, “Since the 21 law was 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” (Dean-Mooney). Using solid numerical evidence boosts their appeal to logos, not to mention that these statistics are very easily decipherable. It is obvious to any reader that, according to this passage, a higher drinking age leads to less fatalities. The author of the piece mentioned here is also the national president of MADD, which

Vivian Jones, the author of “Underage Drinking,” questions the drinking age limit, and wants to decrease the age limit for consuming alcohol from twenty-one years old to eighteen. Firstly, the author defines underage drinking as a danger to young adults and teenagers that are developing. Secondly, Jones states that raising the age limit for drinking is a controversial topic in society. Thirdly, Jones acknowledges that drinking underage is banned and as a result the young adolescents are more allured to drink alcohol and rebel. The author also states that more younger Americans are drinking in excess with comparison to the UK. The author writes that raising the drinking age will not stop the violence and crime, it would only help slightly. Also, Jones conveys that underage drinking is a major issue in today’s society. I disagree with the author, the drinking age should be twenty-one because it would first reduce crime, it would prevent death, and finally it would decrease medical problems.

A widely debated topic that has gone on for many years is whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen years old, as opposed to where it is now, at twenty one. Some argue that at age eighteen, a person is legally an adult and able to go to war, vote, and partake in other adult activities. If they are an adult at this age, why are they unable to legally drink alcohol? There are numerous reasons why drinking is unsafe for those under twenty one. The drinking age is set at age twenty one for a reason, and should stay that way. Some states have experimented with the drinking age in the past, but unsuccessfully. Between the years of 1970 and 1976, some states lowered the drinking age and the results were disastrous and promptly rose back to the age of twenty one (Main). Most eighteen year olds simply are not responsible nor mature enough at this age to handle alcohol safely. Drinking at a younger age has a potential to cause health problems, issues with younger teens, in addition to complications with college drinking and in worse case scenarios can end in death.

Alcohol is many people's drink of choice in several different situations. Whether it is a casual get together or a crazy out of control party, it is not hard for adolescents to get their hands on the substance even if it is illegal for them to purchase and drink it. However, even the parents and lawmakers of the most respectful teenagers can not ignore the growing rate of adolescents drinking earlier than 21. While it may be fun in the moment teens miss the steps of drinking responsibility and the long-term effects of partaking in it. Even though some lawmakers claim that lowering the drinking age would negatively affect the country, the long term effects of individuals drinking earlier could

The legal drinking age has always been a debatable topic that people argue about all the time. Alcohol has been a drug problem for the majority of our young adults all around the world. The goal is to decrease the effects of underage drinking In the United States by keeping the legal drinking law 21. Every state had the right to their own legal drinking age, therefore during the 1970 & 1980’s some states had 21 while others had 18. This problem was carried over when teenagers got behind the wheel while intoxicated. Several studies have shown that "blood borders" between states with different MLDAs caught public attention after highly-publicized crashes in which youth below the legal drinking age would drive to an adjoining state with a lower MLDA, drink legally, and crash on their way home (Hedlund, J., Ulmer, R., & Preusser, D. 2001). In comparing the states with a lower MLDA to the ones with a higher MLDA it was proven that the car crashes, fatalities and the alcohol consumption amongst young teens intoxicated outweighed the states with a legal drinking age of twenty one. In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Act law was passed and all states were encouraged to increase the legal drinking age to twenty one and the states that refused would lose a portion of their federal-aid highway construction funding (Hedlund, J., Ulmer, R., & Preusser, D. 2001). Overtime it has been proven that the young adult alcohol related fatalities has decreased by 63% in 1982 which

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.

For countless young adults after high school the next stepping stone is college, however, students are not only learning from the classes they attend, but also from the parties. Consequently, they are being introduced to alcohol and plenty of it; learning how to shotgun a beer or attempt a keg stand is all the rage. Suddenly, people are viewing college binge drinking as a right of passage for even their youngest students. Thus, demands the questioning of lowering the drinking age to counteract college binge drinking. “The reality is that at age 18 in this country, one is a legal adult. Young people view 21 as utterly arbitrary—which it is. And because the explanation given them is so condescending—that they lack maturity and judgment,

The drinking age in America should be lowered from 21 to 18. At 18, someone in America is legally considered an adult, and they can indulge in things that are potentially far more harmful than alcohol. Under certain circumstances, alcohol has already been permitted for people under the age of 21. Furthermore, the drinking age of 21 is ineffective because people between the ages of 18 to 21 are still drinking regardless. However, this drinking often takes the shape of dangerous binge drinking. Many college deans, who have first-hand knowledge of how ineffective the current drinking age is, are in support of a lower drinking age. Reckless alcohol behavior of uneducated underage drinkers also leads to drunk driving, instead of confiding in