The Legal Drinking Age Should Be Removed

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The legal drinking age should be removed because it teaches safe drinking, it removes the taboo around it, and history proves it does not work at 18. Conor Lewis 12-4-15 English 3rd Alcohol. The source of curiosity among young people everywhere. People everywhere, college students, and even some high school students enjoy it. There’s no doubt this nation enjoys alcohol but what about the people who can’t taste it yet? What about those who are considered adults in every way and permitted to do anything except drink alcohol? Is it right for a government to tell someone that they are fully responsible for themselves but they still don’t give them the full privileges of growing up? What about those countries who do not have a drinking…show more content…
The prohibition proved that Americans will do whatever they can to get ahold of this magical substance no matter the laws or restrictions. So obviously doing away with alcohol will not stop its manufacturing or its use and if anything it will increase its use. But what if we just make it legal for some and not others? After the prohibition the drinking age was raised back up to 21. The age stayed there until the vietnam war came around. Then, states began to lower their personal drinking age to 18 (Tietjan why 21) justifying themselves with the argument “If a man can die for his nation can he at least enjoy a beer?’ (Tietjan “Why 21”) We see the states begin to all lower their drinking age, but this too proved not a good idea. Binge drinking and drunk driving was rampant due to teenagers that just earned their drinking rights and were not able to handle it. Teenagers had no clue how to safely drink and it was dangerous for everybody. Mothers against drunk driving (MADD) formed after a Candy Lightner had her daughter ran over by a previously convicted drunk driver. Protesting began, they were effective, and the drinking age was raised to 21 (The Study of Drunk Driving Laws in the US). While many argue that modern seat belt laws and increase of a crackdown on drunk driving has decreased the fatalities, (Danilloff in 18 vs. 21) the amount of drunk driving has decreased such a large percentage that it is not likely. Soon president reagan issued a
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