Lowering The Legal Drinking Age

The issue of underage drinking has become a major problem, especially on college campuses. But, underage drinking is not purely the root of all accidents related to alcohol. The real problem lies within the unsafe underage drinking habits amongst youth. There are ways that these alcohol-related accidents can be avoided. Several organizations have been created that are targeting a change in the legal drinking age laws. One key way to lower the risk of unsafe drinking is to lower the minimum legal drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen.

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.

"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.

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.

The stakeholder group that will gain most of the benefit from lowering the drinking age to 18 is the alcohol companies. In a sense, the stakeholders between ages 18 and 20 and alcohol companies go hand in hand. Because these young adults are, for the most part, eager to purchase alcohol, the potential skyrocket in sales for that age group would ensure massive profits for alcohol companies. This is made clear considering that underage drinkers in the United States consumed “an estimated 19.7% of the total alcohol consumed”

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

The U.S. gov’t has set an age limit on the consumption of alcohol, in order to lead safer and healthier lives. One reason it is believed to be safer if one cannot drink alcohol until the age of 21, is because the brain has not fully developed and the consumption of alcohol will interfere with that development. But is it really safer if the drinking age is 21, rather than 18? Many people will believe that it is safer, because that’s what the gov’t tells them, but those people will often fail to see the whole picture. Other than brain development,

It is no secret that underage drinking is rampant in the United States. Though it’s illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to buy or possess alcohol, people under the age of 21 accounts for 17.5% of consumer spending for alcohol nationwide and 90% of that is consumed through binge drinking (Tracy). According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, about 9.3 million Americans between ages 12-20 report current alcohol consumption (Distillers Fighting). With alcohol being one the most commonly abused drugs and soon to pass tobacco on the cause of death list, the pose the questions that if lowering the drinking age could actually increase responsible alcohol intake.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), underage drinking is a leading public health problem in this country (NIH, 2016). The NIAAA also estimates that approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking (NIH. 2016). This includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide (NIH. 2016). The National Minimum Drinking Age Act (NMDAA) was passed by Congress and signed by President Regan in 1984 (Miller, 2016). This law established a national drinking age of 21. Twenty-nine states made the decision to lower the legal drinking age but quickly changed it back to 21 after there was a rise among teenage and young adult highway deaths. Before NMDAA, states were responsible for establishing their own drinking ages that varied from the age of 18-21 (Miller, 2016).

The concerns about safety involving alcohol, including alcohol-related fatalities, “binge drinking”, and long-term health effects, will not be compromised by lowering the legal drinking age to nineteen in the United States. Activists who wish to raise the legal minimum age frequently discuss the ways that driving while intoxicated endangers countless lives every day in the United States, and is an increasing problem in "model" Europe as well. However, drunk driving increases will secrecy, not with accessibility. This concept only increases with teenagers, because avoiding parental guardians and the police are two of the main goals for the average underage party member. Following the inevitable secrecy is where problems generate as teenagers drive while drunk out of ignorance, lack of care, or fear of retribution as a result of calling for assistance. At this point where this occurs, the legal drinking age does not change a thing one way or another. Yet, if it was a twenty-one year-old drinking one-too-many beers at the local sports bar, a cab would have been called with very little ease, and no lives would be endangered. The aspect of secrecy is why the legal drinking age in the United States must be lowered to nineteen.

Years before the legal drinking age was 21, the numbers of teens drinking was high because younger people could drink legally, but when the legal drinking age was increased to 21 in 1984, the number if teens drinking changed dramatically; over the years, the number of teens drinking began to decrease. In research conducted by Center of Disease Control and Prevention, researchers found that after all states adapted to the legal drinking age of 21, drinking among people aged 18 to 20 years declined from 59% in 1985 to 40% in 1991 (“Age”). Over the years, that progress continued. The age that most people started to drink became older; for instance, according to the website Procon.org, “studies indicate that when the drinking age is 21, those younger than 21 drink less and continue to drink less through their early 20s” (“Should”). Not only did increasing the drinking age change how much teens drink, but also how much people older than the drinking age drink.

John is a 17 year old male who lives in Oregon. To celebrate his 18th birthday, he decided to go out with some friends and have a few drinks. He knows that the legal drinking age is 21, but he thinks what is the harm? I am 18 and in other countries, you are allowed to drink before you turn 21. Later that night as John gets in the car with his friends after a few hours of drinking, everything seems to be going well as they are driving down the freeway on their way over to his friend Dan’s house that is just a few miles up the road. All of a sudden out of nowhere a car comes around the curve and before Dan who was driving could react fast enough, the two cars collide. This unfortunately is a case that has occurred many times all across the country, many times with unhappy endings and lives changed forever. John is one of the many who believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered to under 21. After looking through research, articles and opinions, I have come to the conclusion that being allowed to drink before you turn 21 is not in the best interest of developing adolescents and their abilities to make the best decisions for themselves. I will present figures and facts from articles published to help support my position in the following paragraphs.

Drinking alcohol is harmful to health. These days, teenagers are more addicted to drinking alcohol. They are not thinking about them and they are drinking alcohol. Drinking wine is good to health. Doctors also suggest people drinking a glass of wine a day. The government having certain norms like there is a legal age for drinking. Legal age for drinking is 25. These days some students are drinking the alcohol and they are more addicting to the alcohol. The legal age of 25 is sufficient for the government that the people will complete their educational life at that time. If we lower the legal age for drinking there will be many consequences. Like the students get spoiled by addicted for drinking and they neglect their education. Education is

In my generation drinking among underage kids is blamed on peers, accessibility, and adulthood. “Research shows that about 10 million Americans between