Pros And Cons Of The Legal Drinking Age

The law that raised the drinking age happens to be very unstable. To begin with “a portion of the American public today is arguing that if a member of the U.S. military is old enough to die fighting for his or her country, then they ought to be mature enough to enjoy a beer” (“License”). An eighteen year old can die for their country, vote for politicians, and decide what they are doing with their future, but are not allowed to drink alcohol. It stands out that eighteen year olds can also obtain cigarettes that can lead to various types of cancer but cannot enjoy an alcoholic beverage. Continuing on, another reason that raising the drinking age is unjust is that binge drinking continues to occur, which is when one consumes 4 or 5 drinks in a row: “binge drinking is unchanged from its levels of 1979; that among non college women it has increased by 20 percent; and that among college women it has increased by 40 percent” (McCardell). If

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?

In the article Save Us from Youth, by Bradley R. Gitz, Gitz points out that many things in the Amethyst Initiative discussing the legal drinking age is inconsistent for an adult between the ages 18 and 21. At the age of 18 you are given many rights and is considered an adult, you are given the rights to buy cigarettes, the rights to vote, the rights to enlist in the army. an be tried as an adult in court. Buying or consuming alcohol is not one of the rights given. “Ultimately, the most important issue at stake with respect to the drinking age is not whether 18-year-olds are responsible enough to consume alcohol, or even the consequences of such consumption in legal vs. illegal circumstances, but whether those who are old enough to be sued in a court of law, carry a gun into combat on behalf of fellow citizens and participate in our democratic process by

The legal drinking age is the age at which a person can consume or purchase alcohol. These laws cover a wide range of issues and behaviors, addressing when and where alcohol can be consumed. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed by Congress 30 years ago. This law told states that they had to enforce the drinking age of 21 or lose up to ten percent of their federal highway funding. The idea that a person was fully an adult at age 21 relates to an English common law. 21 was the age where a person could vote and become a knight. If a person was 21, they could drink then, too. Franklin Roosevelt approved lowering the minimum age for the military draft from 21 to 18 during World War II. Organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) began pushing for the national drinking age to be set at 21. They thought it would keep alcohol out of the hands of 18-year-olds who they felt were less mature. As a result, President Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 to set the age at 21. Legislation concerning the legal minimum drinking age in the United States can be

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.

The drinking age in the military is currently set at 21 years old as it is set for the rest of the country. There has been an age old statement widely used by those in the military, “If I am old enough to fight and die for my country, I should be old enough to drink”. The debate is out there that the drinking age should be lowered for all young adults from 18 years old to 21 years old. The idea behind the fact that younger people tend to have less responsibility and are not good candidates for being allowed to drink is a valid point. Those serving in the military are different in that respect for the fact that they have more responsibilities than that

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.

During the Vietnam War, that lasted from 1959 to 1975, the legal drinking age issue arose again. The main point was that if people were able to go to war at 18 years old they should be allowed to drink too. For this reason, a lot of states stated 18 years old as the permitted drinking age. Around the 80s though, Organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, started to push for rising the drinking age. That was related to two different problems: drinking and driving, and studies that showed how brain is not completely formed until around 20 years old. As a result of this, Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, that stated 21 years old as the legal age for drinking. (Trex, 2008). Even if States didn’t need to necessarily to set it as a drinking age, if they weren’t doing it the government would have had removed 10% of annual federal highway funding from states that chose an age below 21. For this reason, everyone set 21 as the minimum drinking age.

The current drinking age should not be lowered to 18 despite the responsibilities that are given at that age. While at age 18 teenagers receive a handful of new choices and responsibilities. Of those some may argue that if at 18 teenagers can join the military and are ultimately risking their life that they also should be able have the choice of consuming alcohol. Along with everything else granted to an 18-year-old as they enter adulthood it is not enough to lower the legal drinking age. Let us start with the strongest comment of this argument, joining the military. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, describe the types of occupations and the number of enlisted personals in each occupation in a table. The table includes the total amount of personals enlisted in combat specialty for all branches of military at 151,501(Table 1).

The legal age of drinking should be raised to twenty-one as it will be beneficial for all Canadians. Primarily, this act would promote an increase of security for young adults that on occasion fail to realize the repercussions of alcohol. Studies have shown, taken from International Survey Associates, that adolescent brains aren’t fully developed at age eighteen. In fact, there is reason to believe, experts representatives from Mental Health Daily explain, that our brains aren’t fully developed until well in our twenties; age twenty-five more specifically. That is due to the synaptic pruning, a process by which brain synapses are selectively eliminated which peaks during puberty and can remain that way for many

The legal drinking age is twenty-one. The government has concluded that the mind is mature at age twenty-one. If the mind at twenty-one to drink but not at seventeen shouldn't the legal age to enroll in the military be twenty-one as well. My impression on this is that the immaturity of a seventeen-year-old who is easily persuaded does not have the capacity to make

At age 17, someone can join the military with parental consent. If people can die for their country then they should be able to consume alcohol. Young men and women in the military face dangers in combat, risk their lives each day, and have the power to kill people. If they are responsible enough for this, then they are responsible enough for alcohol.