Lowering The National Drinking Age

In the 1980s, the United States raised the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) to 21, from 18, in an attempt to protect the nation 's youth. This placed the USA among the few countries whose drinking age is above 18. These countries include most of Canada, the Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Egypt, Indonesia, Micronesia, and Palau (Jernigan). Around the world, drinking ages vary; for example, in Slovenia, Italy, Portugal, Malta and Greece, you can drink before you turn 18, and in parts of India, you cannot legally obtain alcohol until age 25 (Jernigan; Mukherjee). This leads to an important question on whether our democracy should lower the MLDA. The facts on underage drinking, international data on lower drinking ages, current enforcement of underage drinking laws, as well as proposed implications of programs coupled with a lower drinking age provides provoking data pointing towards the ethical lowering of the drinking age. The democracy of the United States of America should lower the MLDA, but also adopt a mandatory alcohol education class, and a graduated licensing system.

The United States drinking age throughout all 50 states has been the same since 1984 when a law was put in place by the U.S. Congress punishing all states who did not abide by the legal age limit of 21. Since this law was put into place, it has become one of the most widely studied laws in history. While there are many arguments and new bills being created to reduce this age, especially among college universities, all have failed to become law. Over half of adults agree that lowering the drinking age would increase binge drinking among teens, and 72% believe that it would make alcohol more accessible

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,

Is Status Quo always ok? By the time a person is eighteen, he/she is considered an adult. They can be tried as an adult in the court of law, they are also given the privilege of joining the military and voting. So how is a person not responsible enough to drink? The drinking age should be lowered to the age of Eighteen because an Eighteen year old is mature enough to make the decision to drink, they are given adult rights, and it would benefit the economy.

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 drinking age has been a controversial issue for many years. Each democratic country has imposed a certain legal drinking age. The government of the United States of America has an uncompromising and conclusive prospect on the matter; they insist the legal drinking age be 21. As set laws are typically imposed to serve a specific demographic, there will constantly be certain minorities or groups who possess conflicting views. Teenagers exploit the system in many ways by buying alcohol with fake identification cards, drinking illegally, and going into bars. There are multiple factors for the reason that the legal drinking age should be changed to 18. One of the most obvious reasons for changing the drinking age would the amount of people who

Individuals use liquor for various reasons; peer pressure, festivity, nervousness, misery, fatigue, disobedience and a sleeping disorder are only a couple. High schoolers fall under the class of "individuals". The lawful drinking age is as of now twenty-one, yet unlawfully drinking age is as low as zero. Why? Is the fundamental inquiry. I can guarantee you the under age drinking age rate would drop if the age is brought down.

Alcohol is a great way to suffer a slow and painful death, and sometimes a quick death in cases such as drunk driving, killing yourself and maybe another person. If the legal drinking age was lowered from 19 to 18 (the age that you become an “adult”), teens would acquire health problems, the suicide rate would increase, the families of the drinkers would become financially unstable, and crime rates would increase. By not lowering the drinking age to 18, there is one more year for teens to become mature and one more year to keep these teens and many other people around us safe.

Underage drinking. It’s all the rage in this generation. Youths everywhere are subjecting themselves to excessive amounts of alcohol at illegal ages, and the consequences are evident all around us. Every year over 5,000 kids under the age of 21 die from alcohol abuse, 1 in 5 10th graders will resort to binge drinking, and alcohol continues to damage developing teen brains (Let’s Stop Teen Drinking Tragedies). While they may not be seen in night clubs in bars, people between the ages of 18 and 21 are subjecting themselves to unsafe usage of alcohol in private or at high school parties simply because it’s “fun” and “reckless”. So how do we as a country end this monumental epidemic? Some believe that lowering the drinking age from 21 could benefit society and decrease the amount of underage “binge drinking” in uncontrolled, private environments (Top Pro & Con Arguments). However, the MLDA (minimum legal drinking age) is extremely important to the safety of not only youths, but everyone. Imagine the number of traffic fatalities that would occur due to drunken teenagers after high school parties. It is true that teenagers already drink illegally, but if it was legal then the number of high school students drinking and driving would sky rocket due to the fact that they would no longer be in secret. I believe that lowering the legal drinking age would be incredibly destructive to the future of this generation because it damages developing brains, increases traffic fatalities, and

It’s the big 18; as an official adult one can go out and vote for the country’s next president, one can become a real patriot and fight for the country they love, one can even purchase tobacco that they have been dying to try. These are just some of the benefits as a legal adult so why is it that in the United States it is still illegal to drink under the age of 21? Consuming alcohol is a right and just like any other right there are consequences that one must endure for abusing them. Lowering the drinking age has always been a controversial debate, on one hand with a stricter drinking requirement than majority of the world America is taking the precaution to keep their citizens out of harm’s way. But on other hand, even though America has

Everyday there is an alcohol related incident in the world. The poor decision making by young adults cost people’s lives everyday. The original drinking age was 18 years old, it was changed because scientists discovered the brain doesn 't fully develop until the age of 21. But what people don’t know is that the brain fully matures at the age of 25 years old. Car rental places have the age at 25 to be able to rent a car because of young people decision making on drinking and driving. For students in college alcohol can ruin not only their future of becoming something but it can ruin their life by doing stupid things. Most college kids who stay out and party in college fail or flunk out. The dangers of drinking young can lead to many things,

Death, abuse, illness, illegalities, and suffrage are all things that associate with activities some may consider a part of everyday life. In the United States, a 2015 study reported that 84.6 percent of adults have imbibed at some time in their life (“Alcohol”). This means thousands of people drink alcohol every day, yet the threat liquor has against people is vastly underestimated. Alcohol is a drug, people can get addicted, and it can lead to mental and physical drawbacks. To help regulate these hazards, the minimal drinking age is 21 in the United States. Although, some activists say that the drinking age should lower to 18. Their claim is that fewer crimes would be afflicted with underage drinking, and that since 18 is the age of adulthood,

Alcohol is a drink that is made from corn, barley or a beverage containing ethyl. There is currently an ongoing debate as to if the legal age limit for alcohol consumption should be lowered. Despite the dangers, everyday in the United States more than 13,000 children and teens consume alcohol. The age range between eleven and eighteen is the most influential period when youths are susceptible to outside influences such as friends, classmates, family members and the media. Many young children start consuming alcoholic beverages before the age of fifteen. Drinking alcoholic beverages at a young age could lead to a

Today topic is "legal age for drinking is twenty five." Drinking is a habit which leads our society in a bad way. Nowadays children are more addicted to drinking and they have become like a slaves. In this way there should be a legal rules for drinking. There should be an age limit for drinking, nowadays the limit put by the government is twenty five. In my opinion, the age limit should increase. If the people are habituated to the drinking earlier, they face the consequences also earlier. If there is increasing the age limit we can see the decrease in the percentage of the rate of alcohol consuming people, but apply these rules strictly.

As we know, the United States has the highest drinking age in the world. By 1988 the entire U.S had adopted the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act, which set the drinking age to twenty-one. However, in 1920 the United States banned the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcohol. This era known as the Prohibition sparked the popularity of hidden underground bars and events. The Prohibition Era is a prime example of how people did anything to intake alcohol and eventually this led to the act of doing illegal things. It is obvious to say that many people in the 1920’s were going against the law and were consuming alcohol. Today, this age seems to be a topic of controversy and debate. Many countries have established their drinking age to eighteen and younger. To many people believe that the idea of lowering the legal drinking age in the United States seems great. However, others believe that this idea may bring upon more conflict and tragedy. The drinking age should not be lowered and should stay at the uniform drinking age of twenty-one.