Lowering The Drinking Age

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.”

Stating that drinking at a younger age causes more health hazards proves that having the drinking age higher would be safer for oneself and the community as a whole. In addition, younger adults could easily become exposed to alcoholism. It is stated by the National Highway Institute in a study done on alcohol abuse among teens that “the overall risk for alcoholism decreases 14 percent with each year of age that drinking is postponed” (Boulard 52). The drinking age should not be lowered because the higher the drinking age, the less risk there is for alcoholism. Not only does drinking cause health related problems, but it also produces risks of injury or death. It has been proven that “youth alcohol use contributes to higher incidences of drunk driving, traffic accidents, unwanted pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)…” (“Update: Alcohol Issues” 1-2). Not only is underage drinking illegal, but drinking and driving is as well. Therefore, maintaining the drinking age would prevent the number of accidents and deaths. However, some believe that drinking wine is good for the heart. This is only true for drinking in moderation. If one drinks more than a couple of glasses, this does not go into effect, and the number of bad health related consequences outnumbers the good. Studies have shown that “The lower death rate among moderate drinkers is due to the reduction in heart disease, specifically atherosclerosis or

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.

Lowering the drinking age to under 21 can cause young adults to be medically irresponsible. For example, young adults under 21 years old

"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.

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.

According to Alexis Aguirre in The University Star, “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” (Aguirre). Sure enough, if the drinking age were lowered to 18 it would avoid the illegal, abused intake of alcohol by 18 year olds. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, “Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking” (U.S Department of Health and Human Services). A way of avoiding such tragedies is lowering the drinking age to 18, teaching younger

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.

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

When people think of drinking, they think of fun games and parties. However, this depiction is wrong. When individuals under twenty-one drink, consequences emerge. In the United States, the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) is twenty-one. According to the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA), the legal drinking age set at twenty-one saves about 900 lives on the road annually (James C. Fell). By having the drinking age at twenty-one, the amount of alcohol consumed decreases. Less drinking results in a drop in potential risks and dangerous acts often associated with alcohol. Individuals under the age of twenty-one are not mature enough to make good choices. Therefore,

Turning 18 years means that a person has become a responsible adult. Thus one receives the rights and responsibilities of an adult which includes; taking responsible of life and death, be prosecuted as an adult, can join the army, sign contracts and the right to vote amongst others. All these shows that at 18 a person can do all the things that a 21 years person can

It must be recognized that young adults will drink alcohol, no matter what the legal age. As thought to be a gateway to more drinking problems, reducing the age to 18 can benefit our society. Prohibiting teens from drinking in bars, restaurants, and public locations has the effect of forcing them to drink in unsupervised places such as fraternity houses or house parties, which can be very dangerous. Lowering the drinking age would create a safer drinking environment, creating a higher chance of adult supervision who will promote more responsible drinking among intoxicated teens. As stated in the PostStar article for the pros and cons of lowering the drinking age, “When adolescents are not taught to drink in moderation, they end up binge drinking.”

Many people are opposed to lowering the drinking age to eighteen because the majority of eighteen to twenty-one year old college students are not equipped with the necessary skill set to be responsible while drinking (“Should the Drinking Age…”). Due to the vast amount of danger posed by drinking, several people believe

Teens are more likely to have unprotected sex when drinking because while under the influence, they can’t control their actions. By doing this, drunk teenagers could pass on sexually transmitted diseases and even lead to unwanted pregnancies. These sexually transmitted diseases, if obtained, can cause serious harm to you and even death in some cases. Some sexually transmitted diseases include Chlamydia, HIV, STI, etc. Another horrible downside of drinking under the age of 21 is students dropping out of high school. A survey done by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism on the alcohol-related problems experienced by 4,390 high school seniors and dropouts found that about 80 percent reported that they either get drunk, binge drink, or drink and drive and more than half of those kids said drinking caused them to get sick, miss school or work, get arrested, or have a car crash (Egendorf, Lauren K. 16-17). If the drinking age was 18 years of age, this would increase the number of dropouts because of the seniors being able to legally drink alcohol. There are even more dangers of lowering the drinking age like the increase of suicide and homicide per year. Based on data from 2006–2010, the Centers for Disease Control