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Should the Drinking Age be Lowered in the United States?

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Should the United States follow other countries in their quest to end the debate on the drinking age? The United States can take a look at other States such as: Germany, the Netherlands and France, and see how successful they are. Many teenagers would jump on the bandwagon of lowering the drinking age just because they want to have the ability to drink, the argument of being able to die for the United States but can’t drink and it would take away the “Forbidden Fruit” of drinking. Much of the older generations would jump on the bandwagon of keeping the drinking age the same because they had to wait to drink, because drinking has adverse effects on the brain and drinking could lead to binge drinking. The United States define an adult as …show more content…

Statistically speaking, there are 195 sovereign countries in the world and only 15 have drinking ages higher than the age of 18, that is only 7.8% of the world. There must be a good explanation for this phenomenon. Some of the most notable countries that have a lower drinking age than 21 are: Germany, France and Canada. There are a few countries that even allow you to buy alcohol at any age, such as: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Comoros and Guinea-Bissau. WHO has reported that Germany’s life expectancy for males is around 76 years old; the life expectancy of Germany seems especially high considering they can drink at a young age, which almost contradicts the American mindset on drinking. Many arguments against lowering the drinking age are legitimate arguments. Science has proven that alcohol can have adverse effects on the frontal lobe of the brain, which is the part of the brain that makes decisions. The frontal lobe is not fully developed until a person’s mid-20’s. “The potential for chronic problems such as greater vulnerability to addiction, dangerous risk-taking behavior, reduced decision-making ability, memory loss, depression, violence, and suicide is greater.” (Drinking Age ProCon.org). Statistics have proven that the younger you are, the more likely you are to binge drink. In the United

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