Reducing Drinking Age

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.

In conclusion by lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 years of age, more positive outcomes exist than negative ones. A lower drinking age will allow for those of age to have a chance to learn a better sense of responsibility, decrease alcohol related incidents and provide several health benefits. As a legal adult those between the ages of 18 and 21 deserve the right to make the decision of whether they would like to participate in the consumption of alcohol or

If the drinking age limit were to be lower than Twenty-One in the state of California, it will have a drastic affect to society. Keeping the drinking age at Twenty-One will

According to Alexis Aguirre in The University Star, “Keeping the minimum legal drinking age at 21 will not dissuade young people who want to indulge in reckless alcohol intake. If anything, the age limit encourages binge drinking. Lowering the drinking age could make it easier to regulate consumption among younger adults as well as encourage healthy drinking habits” (Aguirre). Sure enough, if the drinking age were lowered to 18 it would avoid the illegal, abused intake of alcohol by 18 year olds. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, “Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking” (U.S Department of Health and Human Services). A way of avoiding such tragedies is lowering the drinking age to 18, teaching younger

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.

Everyone knows that it is illegal to consume alcohol under the age of 21. Why is 21 the "magical" age that makes a person intelligent and mature enough to consume alcohol? Sure, some adults abuse alcohol and some teenagers would be perfectly able to drink responsibly, but why not 18 or 35 or 40? This seemingly random number, 21, is associated with adulthood, as if the day a person turns 21 they know everything and are mature. The drinking age should be lowered to where one can learn to drink responsibly.

The debate of the drinking age has been long discussed throughout America. The drinking age has been 21 for the last 22 years, and people around the country have wondered weather or not this was the right call. People say that 18 year olds may not be mature enough to drink alcohol and might not know when to stop. It isn’t that teenagers don’t know how to stop, but rather have not been properly taught when enough has been consumed or how to drink responsibly. Changing the drinking age from 21 to 18 years old will take the thrill that teens get from breaking the law while drinking, will no longer give them the idea that drinking is the final stage of adulthood and full maturity, and will no longer force teenagers to drink in unsupervised

According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not

The legal drinking age should not be lowered to 18, but stay at 21 because It leads to irresponsible behavior and decisions. Young adults who drink tend not to care about their actions. Robert Voas who has worked for the National Highway Administration Office, claims that it would not be a good idea to lower the drinking age to 18. According to Voas, (Believe me when I say that lowering the drinking age would be very dangerous; it would benefit no one except those who profit from alcohol sales.) Young adults who are not 21 years of age tend to make irresponsible decisions like getting behind the wheel drunk. Being a young adult and driving under the influence of alcohol can lead one to a major accident or even death. Lowering the requirement of drinking may benefit underage adults but the death rate of drunk driving will increase rapidly. Robert Voas has studied drunk driving for 40 years and he has seen numerous accidents and deaths of immature young adults drinking under the influence.

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

Lowering the drinking age to 18 in the United States has been a source of controversy in recent years. It has been a controversial topic because many people disagree, while many agree with the topic. For example, the people who disagree and are against lowering the drinking age to 18 believe we should not lower the drinking age because 18 year old individuals are not responsible enough to drink alcohol. While, the people who agree we should lower the drinking age, believe we should let 18 year old individuals drink responsibly because at age 18 you are considered responsible enough to smoke, join the army, be a legal guardian, buy a rifle, and vote. In my opinion, I believe the legal drinking

“What we’re doing now to prevent underage drinking isn’t working; it’s time to try something else.” Although many people argue that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1964, which lowed the drinking age from eighteen to twenty one, was a good idea. David J Hanson a professor in the State University of New York believed that something needs to be done to make the United States a safer place to live. Is it fair that people in the United States can serve in the military, vote in elections, serve in juries, get married, and enter into legal contracts at the age of eighteen, but not buy alcohol until they are twenty one years of age. Lowering the drinking age in the United States to eighteen will help young adults be more responsible, and

A large portion of the youth in America have been lead to believe that having the drinking age lowered would save lives and reduce heavy drinking, but this reasoning does not hold up. I applaud the efforts of my opposition to try and create safer drinking environments, reduce binge drinking, and save lives, but lowering the drinking age to 18 is not an effective way to accomplish those goals.

In 1984, the United States’ federal government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. Under this act, the federal government gives highway funds to States that forbid people under the age of twenty-one years old from “purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages”(23 U.S.C. § 158). The incentive created a sense of a standardized minimum drinking age when legally there cannot be a federal minimum drinking age. Even though this Act has been in effect for decades, there are many debates on whether or not the age should be changed. The minimum legal drinking age should stay the same because it prevents a large number of drinking and driving accidents; it reduces overall alcohol consumption; and it has very horrible health effects on youth.

Changing the drinking age from 18 to 21 has many drawbacks in the long term and short term. For example, drinking can lead to extreme damage to the the liver, most 18 years old are not fully developed physically and mentally, and keeping the drinking age as it is, will save lives by lowering the amount of drunk driving and accidents due to drunk driving. If you compare i non alcohol drinkers liver to compared to a healthy non-alcoholic person their liver is a lot more damaged. Drinking under age contributes a big part to deaths as argued by McCardell, “Of the total number of lives lost to alcohol by those under the age of 21, more than 60 percent are lost off the roadways. Alcohol takes a much greater toll off the highways”(McCardell). Having