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The Legal Drinking Age Should Be 18 Essay

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Did you know that in the year 1980 the legal drinking age was only 18? In 1987 there was a law passed that said in order to drink legally and to buy alcohol a person had to be 21. At the age of 18 people are allowed to buy tobacco, vote, get married without parental consent, and even join the armed forces, so why can’t some one who is 18 by alcohol. This is a question I have; I believe that the legal drinking age should be 18. Dr. Ruth Engs, a professor of Applied Heath Sciences at Indiana University, agrees with me also. She states, “the legal drinking age should be lowered to about 18 or 19 and young adults should be allowed to drink in controlled environments.” (Engs) These controlled places include …show more content…

They are not getting the right to drink freely and so they go out and deviate from the laws. Professor Engs has tested this theory by using a student alcohol questionnaire. The questionnaire tested 3,375 students that were both underage and of legal age. The questionnaire showed that 81.2% of the underage students were drinkers, which was compared to the legal age students that had a percentage of 75.3%. Out of the 81.2% of the underage drinkers about 24% of them are heavy drinkers. This compares the lower percentage of heavy drinkers that are legal age; they only have a percentage rate of 15.93%.
In Boulder Colorado is a similar debate going on, whether to lower the drinking age or not. Tom Koby, Police Chief of Boulder Colorado, also believes that the drinking age needs to be lowered. He thinks that they need to focus on the underlying issue of alcohol abuse more than on people who are consuming alcohol illegally. “The problem is we’ve forgotten to teach people how to use alcohol. There is nothing fundamentally bad about alcohol.” (Bregman) Professor Engs says, “responsible drinking can be taught through educational programs and role modeling.” Both Police Chief Koby and Professor Engs think that by educating students about the effects of alcohol and what may happen while intoxicated will help lower the percentage of binge drinkers. Along with Professor Engs, Koby thinks, “when used properly alcohol can serve important societal functions.” Professor Engs

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