The Legal Drinking Age Should Be Legal

Car crashes, sexual assaults, domestic abuse, and alcohol poisoning are just a few of the reasons why people under the age of 21 are devastated by the illegal use of alcohol. Alcohol is the first drug choice by the nation’s youth; which could often lead to consequences. The legal drinking age should stay at twenty-one because it betters brain development and lessens violent assaults.

There is controversy about whether the drinking age should be lowered, raised, or remain the same. My opinion is that the drinking age should remain the same. Teenagers still receive alcohol one way or another, and lowering the age would cause more of a problem. When the drinking age was raised to twenty-one in 1984, the amount of underage drinking dropped significantly, and still drops today. If the drinking age was raised, it would be unfair to those who are of the proper age where the maturity level is much greater than a teenager. At the age of twenty-one, the brain is far more developed than a teenager’s brain.

     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

When it comes to an alcohol safety policy, the United States has never attracted more research and public attention than the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA). In the U.S., the legal drinking age is one of the highest worldwide. The MLDA of 21 is to control traffic fatalities, protect young teens from killing themselves while driving under the influence, and prevent damage medically to a developing brain of a young adult. Many Americans believe that the drinking age of 21 has not stopped teen binge drinking events in uncontrolled environments; however, studies have shown that teens have not yet reached an age where they can handle alcohol responsibly, thus the drinking age should remain at 21.

In the United States, 18-year-olds are considered adults. They can vote, get married and get a license for a gun yet they are not allowed to drink. Many people think that the drinking age should be 18, but others strongly believe it should be 21 for doing all kinds of things. Drinking in the United States has become a controversy for the drinking age; 18 or 21. There are many reasons why the drinking age should stay the same and many of why it should be 18. Even though many Americans think that people under 21 do not have the capacity to handle drinking, in my opinion, drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 because teenagers at the age of 18 can make important decisions, so drinking should be a decision they can too decide whether to

In recent discussions of the drinking age limit, people have always said that the drinking age limit should be lowered. Some may argue that alcohol is not bad and that it can actually be beneficially. Many people would want the drinking age limit to be lowered so that it is legal for young adults to drink. If the drinking age limit were to be lowered there would be a drastic difference in society. In my perspective I will argue that the drinking age limit should not be lowered.

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.

I believe that the legal drinking age should stay at 21 for many reasons. Underage drinking should not be allowed in any country because it is dangerous, causes health complications and it can be overused, and most of the time misused. As a young adult it will take less time for them to become “drunk” and more likely to put them in negative situations which will harm them later as an adult. If the government were to lower the drinking age to under 21, unprotected sex, sexual assault, and other tragedies would become more predominant in our society. Alcohol is very harmful to our bodies and if given the opportunity to drink at a younger age the effects would be harmful to the young adult and to others in his environment.

An argument that many tend to dispute today, whether the drinking age of the United States should be lowered from 21 to 18. The drinking age for people to drink alcoholic beverages was made into law by the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. This ant enforced all states to raise their legal drinking age to 21. To get this law pass, the congress tried to strongarm the states, if the states did not comply, the government would take away their highway funds. Both arguments for it to be lowered and to keep it the same are beneficial in its own way, but to deny one side would either bring good or negative effects. Those who are against the drinking age to be lowered, argue mostly because of safety reasons. The other side argue that it the person

The minimum age limit has been a topic of debate for years even though the choice is simple. Did you know that most parents living in Kansas nowadays grew up in a time in Kansas when they could drink a little alcohol when they were only 18 years old? Many people believe that if we allow drinking at younger ages such as 18 or 19 it would get rid of the “forbidden fruit” effect on alcohol. This is a way of thinking for fools about the problem of legal age of alcohol consumption. The reasons why we shouldn’t change the drinking age to 18 are it damages brain development and it causes more social problems. This problem came about soon after the Prohibition on alcohol was repealed in 1933, it was left up to the state to decide what

The Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914 was the first of many laws due to the laissez-faire attitude toward drug use in the United States. Brecher 1972 states (as cited in Powell & Redford, 2016) society’s view on drugs was not problematic until the end of the nineteenth century. After the Civil War, a widespread epidemic of drugs swept across the nation, which fuels the drug wars of today (Powell & Brecher, 2016).

The United States’ minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of twenty one is almost a perfect example of a policy with unrealistic expectations and serious unintended consequences. The current policy that the United States has in effect criminalizes youth who consume alcohol at less than twenty one years of age. Young adults are going to drink under twenty one, so why shouldn’t the United States lower the MLDA to eighteen? Following Prohibition in 1933, many states made their MLDA twenty one. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, many states lowered it to eighteen to match the drafting age (Alcohol Policy MD). President Reagan passed The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 which required all states to raise their minimum purchase and public

You may not be the only reason the prohibition happened in the 1920s, but it is your fault many people wake up everyday not remembering what happened the night before. As a spur of the moment decision I understand how some may see you as good idea, yet just look around and see what you have caused. 320 000 people aged 15-29 years old die every year, which is 9% of deaths in that age group, and they are all related to you. (NCADD 1) The drinking age should be raised from 19 to 21 around the world because alcohol affects teens mentally, emotionally, and physically. Alcohol plays a serious role in certain lives and our bodies. Teenagers are unable to see the consequences of something they consider consuming for a ‘fun night out’.

Over 70% of teenagers by age 18 have illegally had at least one drink, if not many more. I can say from being in school and the social scene, I know many more people my age that have had drinks illegally, than people who have not. I think the main reason for this is because we are told we can’t. Teenagers, and humans in general do a lot of things just to rebel. It gives a sense of thrill in our stressful lives and environments. So instead of punishing it, we should legalize it and educate minors on how to drink responsibly.

In the United States. Every state has the right to set its own legal drinking age. However, according to George Will in an article he wrote in the Washington Post about the legal drinking age, “drinking age paradox” “lowering the drinking age will cost the state ten percent of its federal highway funds and cause a significant uproar from contractors and construction unions.” It is therefore in the best interest of every citizen as well as the state not to lower the legal drinking age, to prevent States funding from the negative affected if the legal drinking age is lowered (The Chilgren 's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2015).