Lowering the Drinking Age Appears to be Best Solution Despite offering many solutions to the ongoing problem of underage drinking, there seems to be no chance for a law to pass that will lower the drinking age. Pete Coors of Coors Brewing Co. ran for senator in the Colorado election and campaigned that he was not pushing to lower the drinking age, however many of his quotes are not consistent with this point of view. No matter what the ultimate decision is for the drinking age, fake IDs and parents who condone drinking are going to cancel out any legitimacy for this law to work. Furthermore there are many drugs in testing now that may perhaps eliminate any of the dangers that are common with drinking. Due to liquor companies targeting …show more content…
Salazar doesn’t give a specific number of accidents caused by minors, but more a broad and obvious statement that underage drinking leads to deaths. The fact of the matter is that as long as there is a rule to be broken, kids are going to break it. That seems to be a common trend of teens, they won’t let them do it, well then they’ll find a way to do it anyways. This leads into an article from CNN.com which recalls all of the ways in which teens purchase and consume alcohol. The first of these methods are high quality fake IDs. Not only can people make high quality IDs, but they are quite easy to get a hold of as well. The second thing bringing down the drinking age law, are parents who are willing to allow their children to consume alcohol, as long as they do not drink and drive. A representative from Mothers Against Drunk Driving released a statement saying, “We have to stop sending mixed messages to our kids by downplaying the dangers of alcohol use by our youth.” Yet, people are wondering if it is safer to allow kids to drink in their homes, rather than them sneaking around either in parks or parentless houses, where there is a greater chance of them getting caught by an authority figure. Despite the greatest efforts of law enforcement and parent formed organizations to deter children from drinking, kids are still drinking, and at an earlier age. According to CNN.com underage drinking is now beginning in
I realize that lowering the drinking age could be very dangerous and could potentially lead to children drinking at an even earlier age than now, but it will eventually become safer for everyone. Jeffrey Tucker states, “It would put an end to the perverse culture of secretiveness and abuse that has grown up around underage drinking. It would allow bars and restaurants to become ‘safe spaces’ for college-age students to drink and Uber home if they need to” (Minimum Legal Drinking Age). Tucker is completely true when he says this because children would no longer have to be secretive and put themselves at risk by drinking. If you had a child, would you want him sneaking
Underage drinking was, is, and always will be a problem. No matter the drinking age, teenagers will find a way to score some alcohol somewhere. Many college students actually invest in fake ID’s. This is a common way for people underage to acquire alcohol. The maturity level of teenagers is not great enough to withstand the power to buy alcohol. Teenagers are less responsible and there are studies that show it. A study commenced by “dui.drivinglaws.org” recorded that seventeen percent of fatal accidents happen from underage drunk drivers. If the law was lowered it would be medically irresponsible. The brain of young adults is nowhere near fully developed as a teenager.
The U.S doesn’t have a minimum drinking age, states are allowed to set the limits where they choose, but each state chooses to be the same. The U.S. is only one of four nations worldwide with a drinking age as high as 21. Excessive alcohol consumption contributes to more than 4,300 deaths among underage youth. “In 2012, nearly ¾ of students have consumed alcohol by the end of high school and more than 1/3 have done so by 8th grade.” Even though the minimum legal drinking age is 21, many under 21 still consume alcohol at some point. In fact, underage drinking is overwhelmingly common among college students. If anything, the high drinking age only drives young people to consume more alcohol. "The evidence is clear that there would be consequences if we lowered the legal drinking age," said study researcher William DeJong of Boston University School of Public Health. The decrease in drinking and driving problems are the result of many factors and not just the rise in purchase age or the decreased per capita consumption. These include: education concerning drunk driving, designated driver programs, increased seat belt and air bag usage, safer automobiles, lower speed limits, free taxi services from drinking establishments, etc. William DeJong states, “ despite its demonstrated effectiveness, the law does strike some people as unfair.” More
Drinking age should be lowered, and I know that by lowering it we can drop the percentage of reckless teen alcohol abusers. It is worth trying it , and if everything goes the opposite then change the law once more which is done lots of times, for dumb reasons and raise the drinking age back to twenty-one. Changes are always good most of the times, and I know this one in particular is an excellent
They even say there are less drinking and driving fatalities in many other countries that have the drinking age at eighteen (“Drinking Age”). It shows that the percentages of fatalities that occur have nothing to do with the MLDA (“Drinking Age”). The MLDA is having no effect because teens are are still consuming alcohol illegally. The drinking age of 21 promotes teens to get fake identification so they can get alcohol. Lowering the drinking age would decrease the number of false identifications. Especially since there is a lot of terrorism and fake identifications right now we need to get rid of that stuff (“Drinking Age”). I believe that there are a lot kids that like alcohol at the age of 18. They should have that right to have a drink and enjoy it.
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.
Every year, thousands of deaths occur as a result of drunk driving, and every day people are facing the consequences of irresponsible drinking. Because of the issues caused by irresponsible drinking, the US government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984 which raised the minimum drinking age to twenty-one to prevent drinking-related accidents and violence. Despite the intent of its passing, it was a counterproductive decision. Because of the higher age restriction, high school upperclassmen and college underclassmen see drinking as an exciting, rebellious act. Consequentially, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act resulted in an increase in dangerous and irresponsible drinking which continues to this day. Not only does the
Half the United States population starts drinking at the age of 14.When you are 18 you have privileges like joining the army. (Mitch Adams Lowering the drinking age page 1) You can go to war and die for your country but you still can not enjoy an ice cold beer. (Mitch Adams Lowering the drinking age page 1) How is being 21 different from being 18? How does three more years of not drinking make you mature enough to drink? The longer you drink the more you start to drink responsibly. (Katherine Reilly Why 21? Page 1) The legal drinking age should be lowered to 18 because most teens under 21 drink, when you turn 18 you get tons of privileges, at you 18 are considered an adult and what is so special about the
On July 1, 1971 the 26th amendment was passed which lowered the minimum age to vote from twenty one to eighteen years old. Shortly after the amendment was passed twenty nine states across America started lowering the drinking age from 21 to either 18,19, or 20 years old. This new freedom for young adults only lasted for a brief time by 1984 the Uniform Drinking Age Act was passed. The Uniform Drinking Age Act forced states to change the drinking age back to twenty one years old; by reducing the federal transportation funding, for each state that did not have a minimum drinking age of21. This act has caused controversy for years, there even is group of 136 college presidents called Amethyst Initiative that support a lower minimum legal
This discussion has been going on for long on many forums without a decisive conclusion or agreement. This is mainly because both the arguments for lowering the age to 18 years and not lowering have some substantial facts to support them. The people who are against lowering the drinking age come up with a number of arguments which are explained below.
Today, people are aware that the law does not stop underage drinking, as illustrated by the thousands of deaths resulting from excessive alcohol consumption by people below the age of 21. A group called the Amethyst Initiative is now pushing for the lowering of the drinking age to 18. Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to 18, or would this have the same catastrophic results as in the 1970s?
Simultaneously, accidents involving automobiles without a doubt are devastating. How would one feel if a loved one was killed in a collision due to an intoxicated driver? Wouldn’t the individual want to do something about it? The death of the Candy Lightner’s daughter lead to her development of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act. This act gave full federal highway funds only to states that set the minimum age to purchase or consume alcohol at twenty-one years (Sanghavi). Once all states raised their MLDA to twenty-one years, drunk-driving accidents and deaths decreased. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the reduction in traffic fatalities due to the legal drinking age of twenty-one prevented 846 deaths in 1997 and prevented a total of 17,359 deaths since 1975 (Balkin 168). This single statistic shows that automobile accidents have substantially decreased in response to the authorization of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. In addition, the average teenager earns their drivers license at the age of seventeen. This being said, allowing a young driver with only one years experience (excluding a learners permit) to legally consume alcohol would surely be an irresponsible decision. Most people know
Secondly, regardless of age, people still tend to make bad decisions that ultimately lead to their downfalls. As a result, whatever the legal drinking age is, people will still be ignorant and follow their own ways instead of what is truly beneficial to them. According to Statistics Canada, in 2015, more than 72,000 incidents of drunk driving were reported by police departments around Canada at a rate of 201 accidents per 100,000 population. From this information, it can be concluded that people will still be irresponsible and will abuse their privileges in
Some people are requesting for the drinking age to be lowered to 18. The drinking age had always been 21 until the late 60s and early 70s. The reason for this is that the military enlisting and voting age had been lowered. Right away the effects of this were shown and they weren't positive. Since only 29 states had adapted to the new law many teens would drive across the border to get drunk then they would come back and crash. 16 of those states increased to drink age back to 21 and those who didn't eventually did because a law was made that the official age for drinking would be 21 and all the 50 states had to have it. If the drinking age is lowered to 18 then that could cause more car accidents, violent behavior and health problems.
Let?s face it, no matter what laws the government enforces to cut down on underage drinking, it is commonplace and happens everywhere from grade school through high school and predominantly in college. The government is looking to stop teen drinking rather than manage it. According to Time Magazine, half the students age 10 to 24 questioned in a 1999 study by the Centers for Disease Control said they had consumed alcohol in the preceding month.