The current drinking age in America is 21 years of age. The laws around the drinking age have changed with time. In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was put into place which required states to raise their drinking age 21 or they would lose 10 percent of their highway funds. When year 1987 came around every state was compliant. The drinking age can be a controversial topic. Some think the drinking age should be lowered to 18 while others think it should remain 21. Although there are mixed opinions, the drinking age should stay at 21, because of the many dangers it would bring to society if it were lowered. The drinking age being lowered to the age of 18 years old, would allow minors a greater chance of obtaining alcohol. This issue would arise, because some 18 years olds are still in high school, in turn making them a part of the teenage community. Often minors reach out to older age groups to get their hands on alcohol. For example if someone was of age to purchase alcohol while still in high school they could seek acceptance from their younger peers by supplying them with alcohol. This specific situation is common in Australia. The term used to describe this is known as secondary supply. In the article “Alcohol and Young People: What the Legislation Says About Access and Secondary Supply”, the writers Roche, Steenson, and Andrew state “Consumption generally occurs under parental surveillance in private homes, with adolescents aged 12–17 obtaining alcohol from a
Car crashes, sexual assaults, domestic abuse, and alcohol poisoning are just a few of the reasons why people under the age of 21 are devastated by the illegal use of alcohol. Alcohol is the first drug choice by the nation’s youth; which could often lead to consequences. The legal drinking age should stay at twenty-one because it betters brain development and lessens violent assaults.
Although many states are trying to get the drinking age lowered, there are many groups and national statistics that are keeping the drinking set at 21.
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
In recent discussions of the drinking age limit, people have always said that the drinking age limit should be lowered. Some may argue that alcohol is not bad and that it can actually be beneficially. Many people would want the drinking age limit to be lowered so that it is legal for young adults to drink. If the drinking age limit were to be lowered there would be a drastic difference in society. In my perspective I will argue that the drinking age limit should not be lowered.
If young adults under 21 are allowed to drink, then the revenues for businesses would intentionally increase. For businesses, it would be great for the law to lower the drinking age because it would increase their profits of young adults under 21 purchasing alcohol. Researchers found that if the drinking age lowers, industries are likely to make a huge amount of profit (Science Daily). According to Science Daily, more people to consume alcohol will likely increase the amount of money in the industries. In this context, the more the
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.
Once a person reaches the age of 18, they are allowed to tattoo their bodies, smoke tobacco, gamble and even enlist if they wanted to! As an adult, they want to be treated as one but how can they feel like an adult if hanging around with their friends and drinking beer while watching TV is illegal? Of course, that does not stop them, though. The United States is one of the few countries in which still have such a high minimum drinking age. Although most people think young adults (18-year olds) are irresponsible, the minimum drinking age should be lowered to 18 because they deserve to be recognized as adults in order to avoid illegal, uncontrolled drinking and other illegal actions.
"Adults under 21 are able to vote, sign contracts, serve on juries, and enlist in the military, but are told that they are not mature enough to have a beer?," said Ruth C. Engs, a professor of Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University (Engs). No matter what is done, teenagers and young adults all over America are going to drink if they want to. The question is, why can 't they start legally drinking when they enter adulthood? An alternative to simply lowering the minimum legal drinking age could be thought of, such as, having a learner 's permit for responsible drinking for people between the ages of 18-21. In other cultures where the minimum legal drinking age is lower, there is not as large of a problem with drinking. Lowering the minimum legal drinking age would stop criminalizing a large amount of people for the minor crime of underage drinking, which on your record makes it hard for young people to apply for jobs or apply to colleges.
Everyone knows that it is illegal to consume alcohol under the age of 21. Why is 21 the "magical" age that makes a person intelligent and mature enough to consume alcohol? Sure, some adults abuse alcohol and some teenagers would be perfectly able to drink responsibly, but why not 18 or 35 or 40? This seemingly random number, 21, is associated with adulthood, as if the day a person turns 21 they know everything and are mature. The drinking age should be lowered to where one can learn to drink responsibly.
According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not
I believe that the legal drinking age should stay at 21 for many reasons. Underage drinking should not be allowed in any country because it is dangerous, causes health complications and it can be overused, and most of the time misused. As a young adult it will take less time for them to become “drunk” and more likely to put them in negative situations which will harm them later as an adult. If the government were to lower the drinking age to under 21, unprotected sex, sexual assault, and other tragedies would become more predominant in our society. Alcohol is very harmful to our bodies and if given the opportunity to drink at a younger age the effects would be harmful to the young adult and to others in his environment.
The legal drinking age in the United States is the only age that is above 19 years of age. Everywhere else in the world the age is 19 and under and some countries don’t even have a drinking age. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 because it will help all the problems that come with underage drinking. There is a numerous amount of reasons to change the drinking age to 18 and there are also many opposing thoughts on it as well. Three reasons
If one is charged with a crime then the eighteen year old is no longer tried in juvenile court; he is tried as an adult. In reality, an eighteen, nineteen, and twenty year old can do just about everything that a twenty-one year old can do, except legally consume alcohol. Who is to say that en eighteen, nineteen, or twenty-year old is not mature enough to properly consume alcohol? Previous research suggests that when there is a more strenuous alcohol policy there will be lower alcohol abuse and consumption among teens (Grube, Kypri, and Paschall 1850). This actually causes teens to feel the need to rebel instead of the thought of teens abusing the privilege. This is a rather immature personality trait to have as a teenager, but there might actually be a reduction in drinking because teens are no longer being rebellious and breaking the law. The whole point of “becoming an adult” is to give them the ability to take responsibility for their own actions, so why should we not let them?
The legal drinking age should be raised to the age of 21. Raising the age to 21 will avoid drinking and driving. Drinking and driving is one of the massive reasons why there are many car accidents and road deaths. In fact, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism “Over 5,000 people die due to drinking and driving every year” ("Underage Drinking"). However, when an individual is 21 years of age or older they are considered more mature and responsible since they have a handful of responsibilities like family duties so they can create smarter and improved decisions and have the ability to identify what’s wrong and right by not drinking and driving at the same time. This way the rate of car accidents and road deaths
The legal drinking age in the United States is currently 21, which is four years shy of when the brain stops developing. Previously however, the legal age was 18. Countries around the world have varied laws on the drinking age. In some countries, drinking is not allowed no matter what age. In other countries, the drinking age is 16.