The Importance Of Drinking Alcohol In The United States

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

Well, you are telling me that I can legally kill someone at the age of eighteen, while I sign up with the military and go to war but I can’t have a sip of alcohol. Due to this none senseless situation, age should be equaled. In other words, if voting and military sign up is eighteen, then drinking should also be eighteen. Besides at the age of eighteen you are legally an adult. Why can’t we drink then? Drinking age in Australia is eighteen, and in UK is as low as sixteen in restaurants. Studies have showed that those teens/adults are perfectly fine. In fact, Dr. Ruth Engs; professor of Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University in Bloomington, uses this examples to propose the following: “……the drinking age be lowered to about 18 or 19 and permit those of legal age to consume in socially controlled environment such as restaurants and official school and university functions” (direct quote from Dr. Engs).

Throughout the eighteen hundreds saloons were the site of rockus drinking, profane drunkards, and unthinking violence. This drinking culture was defined by masculinity and by free flowing alcohol that permeated all throughout America, city to city. The saloons became so popular with working men because it was time they could spend away from their wives and their homes. In Catherine Murdock’s book Domesticating Drink she argues that these elements of saloon culture, exclusivity, inebriety, and violence, were eliminated by the increase in popularity of mixed sex speakeasies, cocktail parties, and the overall domestication of drink. But this conclusion misinterprets the history of alcohol from Prohibition to the present. Although alcohol is now consumed without the exclusively of the past, it has evolved to be over sexualized and associated with a masculine culture of binge drinking over sexualized and domestic violence.

I was very one sided as I walked into a AA meeting. I thought that the meeting where boring and little bit too much for people who wont to stop drinking. I couldn’t understand why people look forward to these meeting when they can simply talk to someone at home. Nevertheless, I was wrong. Hearing these people story who suffer from alcohol addiction was very heart breaking. I remember one story about this man losing his son to car accident. The only way he dealt with the pain of losing his son was to drink. He stated ever night he drunk him self-asleep. He was so adamant about telling his story because if it wasn’t for the hospital staff he would have lost his life. Alcoholism is an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency. alcohol is the main common substance abuse in the united states. The reported show over 16.3 million adults over 18 years older had a least try alcohol in the life time. 71 percent reported that they drank in the past year. 4.7 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month. 6.7 percent reported that they engaged in heavy drinking in the past month. 50 percent of marriage fell due to the spouse drinking uncontrollably (Burke, 2015)

Some people find it hard to understand that at the age of eighteen you can fight and die for your country, but you cannot legally drink or purchase alcoholic beverages. Others find it hard to believe that there are people who want people under the age of twenty-one drinking. The important question is: should the drinking age be lowered to eighteen instead of remaining at twenty-one?

With that being said, it is regularly contended by teenagers that the drinking age is excessively high. They accept that in the event that they are qualified to vote, they may be sent to war and possibly die for our country at the age of eighteen; then they should be able to consume alcohol. Then again, the United States government saw issues with youth drinking and they chose to raise the drinking age. As extra motivation to enforce the age significance, the government proposed to stop all government subsiding of roadways to the states whose drinking was short of what twenty-one.

Bang! A soldier just got shot, and most likely p never had his first legal drink. Is this right to fight for your country and never have the freedom of drinking? The drinking age was moved to the age of 21 in 1984 due to many drunk drivers. Now I think everyone gets the point not to drink and drive due to the serious consequences. If we lowered the drinking age underage drinking wouldn’t be as big. More money for our government will be made, therefore we can buy and reproduce more goods. The drinking age should be lowered, because it will stop binge drinking, you are considered an adult at age 18, and it helps colleges.

United States is one of the few countries in the world with drinking age over twenty one years. In a country where eighteen years olds are allowed to vote, are allowed smoke, are allowed buy guns, are considered as adults and moreover are drafted in the military where they put their lives in danger for the safety of all of the citizens of this country, however, they are too immature to drink. All the adults should have the right to drink alcohol, and it should be legal for a person who is ready to take care of the country by not just being in military, but by voting in election, making choices that are best for him and the country, to drink when he is eighteen years of age.

According to “Underage drinking and the drinking age” at the age of 18 you are considered an adult, however the article suggests most 18 year olds are not mature enough to drink responsibly. Underage drinking is an immense problem that college students and young men and women face. Main states, that although students argue that when they turn 18 and are considered adults, they should be able to legally vote, risk their lives in the military, get married, and legally drink. Depending on where the soldier is stationed depends on whether they can drink or not. Soldiers stationed in the United States drink less because they are under less stress. Many soldiers and young adults use alcohol as a way to cope. Years ago alcohol Prohibition was used to stop the use of alcohol altogether. The availability that underage drinkers have to get their hands on alcohol is high (Main).

I would respond to many people argument with the fact that when you turn 18 you are given your rights, if you are a male you get draft papers. When you turn 18 you are able to go give your life and serve your country but you cannot consume alcohol. Driving under the influence has lead to many deaths not because people drive drunk but they have not witnessed the consequences. All though you cannot get rid of drinking under the influence completely, you can reduce it by providing a system to take drunkies home. In JBER AK if you live on base you can call taxis to bring you back onto base and to your house while the bar keeps your car safe and lets it stay there for you to pick up the next day. The average age for drinking around the world is 12 this actually disregards that drinking will stump the development of your brain which is actually false Binge drinking is what influences brain damage leading to other

- I do not believe the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 because the brain does not fully developing until the age of 21 and soldiers, who are under the age of 21, being allowed to drink is not a reason to lower the legal drinking age. People on active duty are allowed to drink regardless of the legal drinking age in some countries, but they are cannot do the same thing in the United States. It is very dangerous to be drunk when they are on active duty because soldiers cannot control themselves and they cannot focus on what they are supposed to.

The government should not prohibit alcohol in every state because the economy could suffer, the government shouldn’t have this much power, and this could only make matter worse.

Almost everyone can agree that alcohol should not be given or allowed to children or young adults under a certain age. Alcohol is a substance that is very dangerous and if you used incorrectly or immaturely the consequences can be great danger to the users or the ones around them. The topic of lowering the drinking age has been in discussion for many decades. “Between 1970 and 1976, 29 states lowered their age for drinking alcohol. The results were catastrophic. Highway deaths among teenagers and young adults skyrocketed. Almost immediately, states began raising the minimum drinking age again.” “In 1984, Congress passed the Uniform Drinking Age Act, which required states to have a minimum drinking age of 21 for all types of alcohol

A large complaint with young individuals is the legal drinking age. Many of them feel that the age should be dropped down to 18 years old. The argument behind this is if they are old enough and mature enough at this age to go die for their country in the military, they should be old enough to make the decision by themselves whether or not to drink. The other side of this argument is that the brain is not fully developed at this age in responsible decision making. When given this argument, a lot of the adolescence go back to the argument that if they can vote for the leaders of their country, they should be able to drink. In a survey conducted at NC State University, the largest complaint about being looked down upon with their age was the legal drinking age.

Many like to make the argument that if you can die for your country 18, you should be able to have a drink at 18. It’s true that this issue is unfair and unjust; however, the problem doesn’t lie in drinking at 18, the problem lies in going to war at 18. It is proven medically that drinking before 21 will have negative short term and long term consequences.