Pros And Cons Of Keeping The Drinking Age To 18

In 1984 Ronald Reagan proposed a new law that declared that the legal drinking age must raised up to 21 instead of the age of 18. The law was forced upon the states by threatening them by stating that the government will reduce their highway funding until the states passed the law. Of course all the states eventually change their legal drinking age to 21. Some critics believe that this law’s results have been very successful, however the law possesses many insecurities, but certain programs can be arranged to help educate teenagers on alcohol.

There are several controversies in the world today, but one that really catches my attention is on the topic of whether or not the drinking age in the United States should be lowered from 21 to 18. Many people have debated about this topic for several years, and there are several different opinions on this topic. Some people think it is dangerous to lower the drinking age; some people support it. Some children think it is stupid to lower the drinking age; some children support it. However, I strongly believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 for several reasons, such as 18 year olds are allowed to do several other adult activities, other countries have the legal age at 21, and people who are under the age of 18 are still going to drink alcohol whether it is illegal or not.

Everyone in today’s society knows that the minimum legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21. But nobody really knows why. In the year 1984, President Reagan informed the states that if they didn’t change their drinking age to 21, they would lose 10% of their federal funding for their highways(Why is the Drinking Age 21?). In fear of losing their funding, all the states changed their MLDA (minimum legal drinking age) to 21, instead of 18. Some people were outraged that the age had been raised, and believed that if they were 18+ whenever the law was changed, they should still be able to purchase alcohol. However, the states disagreed. There are many different opinions on the MLDA. Many people believe that it should be lowered back down to 18, while some people believe even 21 is almost too young. But what are these people’s arguments?

First, I will discuss why 18 year olds should be entitled to the right to consume alcohol when they hit adulthood, rather than waiting until the age of 21. When you turn 18 years old you’re allowed to vote in elections, get married, smoke, get tried in a court of law as an adult, gamble, get life insurance, and fight in the armed forces

There have been arguments, more so now than before, about lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 years of age. Realistically, to do so would be unideal. From 1609 when the first colonist arrived in Jamestown in 1919, in the United States of America there were no age restrictions on alcohol consumption or purchase. Prior to Prohibition drinking laws varied by state, and there was no national law in concerns to a drinking age. Most states had no laws establishing a legal drinking age. In 1920, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, making the sale and consumption of alcohol in the United States illegal. When Prohibition ended in 1930 the legal drinking age was 18 until 1984, when Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, it forced states to alter their age requirements to legally buy and possess alcohol. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act raised the age limit from 18 to 21 by October of 1986. If states failed to do so, they would lose 10% of their federal highway funding. The goal of the act was achieved by October 1986, which still stand until today. Yet, there are arguments over lowering the drinking age back to 18. To lower the drinking age to 18 would be a defective idea for numerous reasons. The age limit should remain at 21 because all things that can kill you must have restrictions, 18, 19, and 20 year old’s brains are not fully developed, and because it would be in the best for the public interest.

In over 100 countries across the world, the act of legally possessing and consuming alcohol is permissible below the age of 21, most often within the age range of 18-20. Nevertheless, there are many additional countries such as Spain and Haiti, which enforce a minimum age of 16 years among citizens. With the ratification of the controversial 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act, the United States federal government now requires each state to conform to the drinking age restriction of 21, or otherwise endure a penalty, encompassing a 10% reduction of federal highway transportation funds, attributed to the state in violation. Unfortunately, despite the conviction that a higher minimum drinking age prevents destructive, irrational actions conducted as a product of holding an underdeveloped brain, this federal ruling not only increases the seductive temptation of underage drinking, but additionally and equally promotes organized crime within the United States-a toxic societal conflict which would effectively be negated by a reduction of the minimum federal drinking age.

In the United States, the legal age of drinking is 21. Drinking is huge everywhere you go, some people do it for fun and celebration and some other people do it because they are stressed and need to release stress. Most people in the United States like young people binge drink when I mean “young” I mean like 18 years old young. At the age 18 many people are heading to college or just graduating high school and younger adults look forward on that beer being handed to them. When the young adults are out of high school they want to celebrate freely and just have fun and drink a beer, but guess what they can’t because they are considered underage, and they can’t buy their own beer. And banning the sale of alcohol to people under 21 is certain to encourage binge drinking. So should the legal drinking age be lowered? It can have many pros and cons on this situation. The legal drinking age should be lowered. We should lower the drinking age because it would decrease binge drinking, 18 is the legal age of adulthood, and lastly it is an enjoyable activity and is a freedom everyone should have.

In society, teens of our nation are already considered an adult at 18, so why must young adults wait to be 21 in order to drink? In the U.S., society can already do so much when becoming of legal age. In 2014, according to Camille Paglia, PhD, Professor of Humanities and Media Studies at the University of the Arts states:

In the United States the age you become an adult is eighteen and as an adult you should be able to make your own decisions. Turning eighteen entitles you the rights and responsibilities of an adult so you should be able to make your own decision of either to drink or not. In most countries turning eighteen entitles you to vote, smoke cigarettes and/or join the military-which includes risking someone’s life so if turning eighteen entitles you to lots of things which includes many things that can potentially kill you or cause permanent harm so why not being able to have the decision of either to drink or not. If people are mature enough to be an adult at eighteen than shouldn’t they be mature enough to decide either to drink or not. In conclusion adulthood in the U.S. is eighteen, so if we are trusted enough to be adults than why not being able to make the decision to drink.

Because the law states this, and even states that a person of the age of eighteen can also be arrested and charged as an adult in a court of law, eighteen year old adults should have the right to decide for themselves whether to drink or not, like adults. Since people of the considered age are adults by law, then why should they not be able to act out as adults? Alcohol should be no different. People from the ages of eighteen to twenty should be able to buy alcohol because the society we live in starts to accept these people as adults years before the legal drinking limit of twenty-one. One might could argue that this is somewhat unfair to a specific age of individuals. Does it not makes sense that if an individual is accepted and qualified by law as an adult, that he/she should be able to participate in all adult activities? This is yet another reason why the legal age to purchase alcohol should be lowered.

In the United States you are legally an adult at age 18. That entails being able to vote for our president, get married, and even join the military and go to war, but with all these things you still can’t drink legally. The present law says that an 18 year old can go to war where they may lose their life for their country, but you still have to be 21 to drink alcohol. If we allow people to be an legal adult at 18 we should allow them to make that decision to drink.

Students in states with a minimum legal drinking age of 18 had a 13 times greater chance of dropping out of high school compared to states with a minimum legal drinking age of 21 (CDC). More than ninety percent of the alcohol consumed by those under the age of 21 are consumed by binge drinkers (CDC). There were 189,000 emergency department visits by teens under the age of 21 for injuries and other conditions linked with alcohol consumption (CDC). The list of facts and statistics goes on and on about underage drinking, although in neighboring countries with a lower legal drinking age theses statistics are way higher. Although some believe that the United States drinking age should be lowered to 18 when one is legally considered an adult, in

The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) in all 50 states is set at 21, but the question is if it should remain the same or should it be lowered. As said on the background information on ProCon.org many people who are for lowing the MLDA says setting it to 21 “pushes underage binge drinking into private and less controlled environments which leads to more life thearenting behaviors. People who oppose lowering the MLDA says that teens are not responsible enough to handle alcohol and can bring harm to themselves. In the beginning states we allowed to set there own alcohol consumption laws but in 1976 the US Supreme Court said the difference of age violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

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

The question of the century, what is better; having the drinking age at 21 or at 18? Many people think it should be 21, based on the fact that people are more mature and the brain is closer to being fully developed than at 18. Those are the only two arguments I have heard cased about having the drinking age at 21. But let us be honest, at 18 many people can be mature as well, and there are plenty of 21 year olds who are less mature than the ages younger than them, so honestly the age difference argument is crap. With the brain fully developed doesn't make sense, because in Europe with having the drinking age at 16, students in the European countries are of the majority smarter than students in America. Yes, having the drinking age runs