Positive And Negative Effects Of Drinking Alcohol

Today’s teenager are look down upon regarding their behavior and ability to control themselves around alcohol beverage. In the article "Perils of Prohibition," by Elizabeth Whelan argues that the legal age to drink is not set to the appropriate age because moderate drinking for teens will help them be disciplined and actually take control of their life. He hopes to persuade her readers to speak out in favor of reforming the drinking age in the United States. Whelan provided valid argument for teenagers under the age of 21 with disciplined attitude towards alcohol and provides some compelling insights on the success of moderate drinking.

Young people have been attracted to alcohol since the early 1820’s, and it “...has rattled authorities around the world for centuries” (Clark 5). Through the 1800’s and into the 1900’s, “...anti-saloon activists helped to pass Prohibition in 1919 by circulating pictures of children sneaking alcohol out of taverns” (Clark 5). Teen drinking, however, climbed quickly after World War II and proceeded in an upward motion up into, “...the early 1970’s…[where there was a] successful movement to give 18-year-olds the right to vote” (Clark 6). And with

Consuming alcohol is considered a rite of passage for the average young individual. The minimum drinking age required to legally consume alcohol varies in each country, ranging from it always being legal to drinking being illegal at any age, but most countries have set the age at 18-19. In the United States, as of 1988, the MLDA is 21 throughout its entire territory, while the age of majority starts at 18. This paper analyzes the arguments to lower the minimum drinking age and unify it with the age of majority. The factors discussed are alcohol-related traffic accidents, encouragement of unsafe drinking habits, and inconsistency between the perception of adulthood and the MLDA.

Alcohol is usually sought after within the adolescent community and has been an issue among young people. On July 17th 1984, congress passed The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 which enforces the legal drinking age and purchasing of alcohol in the United States to be twenty-one. Since then, the debated idea of whether or not the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen has been an ongoing topic for decades. Alcoholism affects many people in the United States but promoting it at such young age would not be such a great idea for the youths in today’s society.The drinking age should not be lowered due to the fact that it poses many dangers in the lives of teenaegers especially brain damages, underage drinking has declined since 1984, enforcing alcohol among teenagers may cause an increase in drunk driving and deaths and most importantly, teenagers who start drinking at an early age are more than three times more likely to develop alcohol dependency later on in life than those who started at the legal age of 21 or later.

“Every year in the U.S., roughly 5,000 people under the age of 21 die from an alcohol-related incident including car crashes, homicides, suicides, alcohol poisoning and other related injuries” ( “11 Facts About Alcohol Abuse”). That is 5,000 more teens or young adults that could be saved from this plague in this society (11 Facts About Alcohol Abuse). Underage drinking and alcoholism is a huge problem in the United States, and as a society need to make a change with how everyone sees this problem. Adults and young teens take this topic too lightly, and it should not be taken lightly because of how many deaths there have been from poor decision making. There are many programs or events that could help this problem by fundraising, however people think this is not a very important problem. Underage Drinking and Alcoholism is a huge problem in the United States because it causes major health issues that can be very costly, personal life problems that can lead to more problems later in life, and major risks that have no benefit, but can put someone else’s life in danger.

Vivian Jones, the author of “Underage Drinking”, questions the drinking age limit, and wants to decrease the age limit for consuming alcohol from twenty-one years old to eighteen. Firstly, Jones defines underage drinking as a danger to young adults and teenagers that are developing. Secondly, Jones states that raising the age limit for drinking is a controversial topic in society. Thirdly, Jones acknowledges that drinking underage is banned and as a result the young adolescents are more allured to drink alcohol and rebel. The author also states that more young Americans are drinking in excess with comparison to the UK. Then, Jones also states that raising the drinking age will not stop the violence and crime, it would only help slightly. Finally, Jones states that underage drinking is a major issue in today’s society. I disagree with the author, the drinking age should be twenty-one because it would first reduce crime, it would prevent death, and finally it would decrease medical problems.

Many teenage deaths in the United States are caused in some way by the influence of alcohol; however, many people still believe that the legal drinking age should be reduced to eighteen. This issue has been going on for years, but the law has not been changed since the change to twenty-one in 1980. States have become stricter about preventing under-age drinking, but teenagers have no problem getting alcohol. There are many arguments in favor of changing the drinking age back to eighteen. The facts show that drinking alcohol is too large of a responsibility for an eighteen-year-old to handle. In 1980 the government raised the drinking age to twenty-one

In the united state, anyone after the age of eighteen is considered as an adult. They are expected to be counted as a responsible grown person, which means that one is responsible for making their own decisions, education, bills, and goals. Also, at the age of eighteen in the united state; a person can vote and enlist to fight and protect for the love of their home country, but they are not allowed to have a drink of a beer legally. In the article “The Gallup Briefing” by author Carroll agrees that if the government lowered the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen the number of young people who gets hurt from alcohols or other related accidents that happens due to fear of legal consequences would decrease lot faster. Even though, the government have ruled the drinking at twenty-one, personally, I strongly agree with the statement by author Carroll. For that reason, I will be discussing about the goods and bad of lowering the drinking age, and the consequences that has among people and surrounding.

There have been many recent debates on the subject of the legal age to drink alcoholic beverages in the United States of America. Some otherwise intelligent people want to lower the legal drinking age to eighteen rather than keep it at twenty-one, the current federally mandated drinking age. In Time Magazine Mary Cary, author of Time to Lower the Drinking Age, puts forth the position that lowering the drinking age would actually be beneficial to society. Though lowering the drinking age to eighteen may lead to solutions to underage drinking, many other, more dangerous issues may arise from teenagers who begin to drink earlier in life; this is the greater matter that and it should not be overlooked on this issue.

The question on weather the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) should be lowered has elicited much debate in the recent years. The proponents to the proposal of lowering the MLDA argue that setting it at 21 years has not resulted in the control of underage drinking, but has instead led to cases of binge drinking which leads to health and life threatening behavior among the teens. The opponents, on the other hand, argue that at 18 years, the teens have not attained an age where they can responsibly handle drinking. As a result they have higher tendency to harm or kill themselves or others by drinking. The opponents also cite the fact that traffic fatalities and accidents have drastically reduced with a higher MLDA. The MLDA should not be lowered since it would lead to more problems for the teens and society in general.

All over the world many individuals consume alcohol, but the issue has been that teens have been intaking alcohol under the legal age. The legal age of twenty-one was placed up to prevent irresponsible, undeveloped adolescents from drinking and creating complicated problems(Brief History of the Drinking Age). Although there is a legal age those under the age of twenty-one still continue to drink anyways. Alcohol impairs the human body and can cause those who consumed it to do things they wouldn't do sober. The drinking age should remain at twenty-one in order to curb underage binge drinking, to prevent accidents involving drunk drivers under the age of twenty-one, and to encourage young adults to make intelligent decisions.

No one can deny that alcohol is a huge part of the American and global culture. Even looking into the past histories of countries around the world, one can see how alcohol and drinking have been integral parts to religious, professional, familial, and social life. Alcoholic consumption began for many as a symbol of friends and acquaintances coming together to simply enjoy life and “be merry.” However, in the United States, alcoholic consumption and the law have collided quite often in the past. Through Prohibition’s ultimate failure of banning the sale, transportation, and manufacture of alcohol and future amendments and acts mandating who should be allowed to drink in this country, the United States has surely been accustomed to controversies regarding the consumption of alcohol. The most recent and ongoing controversy regarding drinking is whether the legal drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. This is a huge controversy specifically relevant to college students, as drinking at American universities has grown to become a defining part of college life despite the fact that a majority of college students cannot even legally drink. It is clear through the prevalence and dangers of binge drinking among college students and the high percentage of DUI and alcohol-related accidents and deaths that something needs to change in this country. Lowering the drinking age from twenty one to eighteen would be an effective and beneficial step in changing the

In today’s world alcohol has a major role. Whether it be for celebratory reasons or the exact opposite many people love to have an alcoholic beverage. Some enjoy getting a slight buzz off of it while others love to let go and and get drunk but for the most part it is an enjoyable act. Around the world many different countries have different laws placed on drinking alcohol and some are controversial. With the majority of the world having a drinking age of 18 years old many often wonder why does the United States have their own at 21 years of age. This has been a topic of much discussion and drama ever since the law was put in place by the US government. There are many people who agree with the law the US have placed on alcohol but there are even more people who have a problem with it. Not only do these people have a problem with the age but they also have their points in why the drinking age should be lowered to 18 years.

Underage alcohol drinking can have devastating effects on teenagers. It can affect teens' grades, health and many other things as well. The reasons why teenagers consume alcohol are pretty clear. What aren’t clear are the solutions to eliminating, or at least reducing the number of underage drinkers. It is vital that we do something to at least suppress this problem. By taking action, we can greatly reduce the number of underage drinkers and it could also save not only their lives, but also someone else's life as well. Underage drinking can cause many health problems as well as educational problems in a teen’s life; therefore our country needs to decrease the number of underage drinkers by increasing both the price of alcohol as well as the legal drinking age.

Anyone who is below eighteen years of age is considered as underage and laws in many countries prohibit such a person from consuming alcohol. Alcohol happens to be the most commonly abused drug not only among the youth but also among adults. This paper explores underage drinking, its effects on the society and outlines what can be done to curb it.