The Minimum Drinking Age Act

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

There always has been controversy as to should the united states lower the drinking age to 18. Eighteen year olds should have the right to drink. By lowering the drinking age to eighteen it will give people supervision, teach responsibilities, and eighteen years olds are already considered adults; however, it may cause binge drinking, it will lead to more deaths, and drinking damages brains cells and especially the body itself.

The minimum drinking age has been debated ever since the early 1970’s when there was no national drinking age. Depending on the state, the minimum drinking age was between the range of 18 to 21-year-olds. However, Exhibit B illustrates how the debate was quieted in 1984 during the Regan Presidency with the passing of a law that required states to prohibit people under the age of 21 to consume alcohol as a condition of receiving a portion of federal state highway funding.

Why is the Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21? State governments decided their own individual drinking age after Prohibition ended in 1933. Through out the course of the Vietnam War, some states lowered their drinking age to 18, 19, and 20

Lawmakers should not consider lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. Despite the deep value this country places on freedom, personal liberties, and personal responsibilities, the data shows that public safety is greatly at risk if the drinking age were to be lowered to twenty-one. A variety of groups believe that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen deeming that the twenty-one law is unconstitutional. On the opposing side, people agree that the law helps to protect our young people and the communities where they live.

Over the past twenty years the minimum legal drinking age has been twenty-one in all US states, but that has not stopped citizens of the United Sates from attempting to lower the age. Following the end of prohibition in the United Sates during the Great Depression, all states agreed on a set of twenty-one to be the legal drinking age. For almost forty years there was no change in the drinking age until a decrease in the age for voting occurred. This led to the gradual decrease of the minimum legal drinking age to somewhere between the ages of eighteen and twenty among twenty-one states. Recent data collected by Henry Wechsler and Toben F. Nelson, both of which obtain either a

Minimum limited drinking age law in America was passed more than 30 years ago. Therefore, it needed to be altered to catch up with today’s world. Teenagers today are no longer the kind of teenager back in the 1980s. Now, they have access to information on the Internet, they were taught how alcoholic drinks affect to the body, they were supervised by their parents closely. Moreover, teenagers even have legal access to voting, driving, owning a car,...and they can be jailed up if they break the law, sentenced in prison if the crime was serious enough. Therefore, teenager should be able to control of their life and have access to alcohol as a right they supposed to have long time ago.

Government officials and citizens alike have debated whether the drinking age laws should be lowered to eighteen once again. MLDA twenty one does not work and is being ignored by minors and adults. Even lower drinking ages imposed in other countries are working, judging by their lower death rates. By enabling people eighteen and under to drink, the economy would grow. The minimum legal drinking age limit should be reverted back to the original eighteen years old.

Historically the minimum drinking age for the country was 21 due to the fact that after the 21rst amendment was ratified, doing away with prohibition, states often chose the drinking age based upon the voting age. The voting age in 1933 was 21, therefore the drinking age was 21, but over the years several states lowered both the purchase age and the drinking ages several times. When President Nixon signed into effect the 26th amendment in 1971, which gave all U.S. citizens above the age of 18 the right to vote, the change in minimum legal drink ages change throughout the state again. “18 was the most commonly chosen age among the states that adopted a lower minimum drinking ages in the 1970’s.” (The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Carpenter & Dobkin, pg 136). Between the years of 1970-1975, 29 different states lowered their minimum legal drinking age, while other simply altered theirs. Such was the case in Wisconsin, where before citizens over the age of 18 had previously been able to buy beer and wine, but were then allowed to buy hard liquor (Issues & Controversies, Infobase

A very controversial argument amongst Americans is determining that the current legal drinking age which is 21 should be lowered to eighteen or not. Researching the following propaganda made me understand the dangers to the youth and people in America if the drinking age were to lower. Therefore i will argue with whoever disagrees with me that the drinking age should be lowered.

July 17, 1984. This day will forever be remembered as the day in history that president Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. This act stated that all states must raise their minimum drinking age to 21. Individuals under the age of 21 would now be prohibited from purchasing or being in public possession of any alcoholic beverage. Though not every state was keen on this idea, they all jumped to raise the minimum drinking age due to the government threat that they would lose up to 10% of their federal highway funding if they ignored the request. However, since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was signed, much controversy has since arisen.

As of right now within the United States of America, the minimum legal drinking age is set at twenty-one. Some feel that twenty-one is an appropriate age to start engaging in the consumption of alcohol because an individual should be more responsible at the age of twenty-one rather than at the age of eighteen. Some of the main concerns within the country when considering lowering the legal drinking age includes vehicular accidents involving inexperienced drivers who are under the influence and critical health factors such as alcohol poisoning, or even death, due to lack of knowledge about appropriate alcohol consumption. On the other hand, some feel that since becoming eighteen not only makes an individual a legal adult, but also provides the right to vote, purchase tobacco products, and enlist in the military, then alcohol consumption should be legal as well. Although alcohol is now an extremely common substance throughout every inch of the country, this has not always been the case considering it was legally prohibited from the United States at one point. Throughout the continuance of time alcohol has been introduced legally, and ever since then there has not only been a national debate concerning the legal drinking age, but also fluctuation of the minimum legal drinking age ranging as low as eighteen and as high as twenty-one.

The drinking age set by the U.S government should be lowered to the age of 18, just as other countries such as Kansas or Texas. The drinking age in the United States has been a rather controversial topic throughout the years. It has all rather depended on the times we ¬¬are currently living in. As a teen in these times, I know for a fact that most individuals are drinking even before the age of 21. Our parents have almost always told us about times that they have gotten “hammered” back when they were young with their friends. I know this because my mother has told me most of her stories that relate to either her and her friends getting intoxicated at some bar. There are many factors that have one contribution, or several, as to why the drinking age should be lowered to the age of 18. There are countless reasons as to why individuals may drink alcohol. Depression, anxiety, peer pressure, rebellion, boredom, celebrations, special occasions, family history, and these are merely a handful of the many other reasons individuals drink. Considering the reasons that were stated, most of those individuals are not even within the legal range to consume, nor purchase alcohol. The age ranges from those who are in high school to college, but it all mainly occurs within individuals in the age range of a high school students (freshmen and seniors alike).

Alcohol! Should the legal drinking age be lowered? The answer to the question is yes, it should. The drinking age limit should be lowered because, in the eyes of the law, a person is seen as an adult at the age of eighteen, in other countries the lower drinking age is successful, and in college, the consumption among students increased after the limit was raised to twenty-one.

The Minimum Drinking Age Act was passes by President Ronald Reagan, which raised the minimum drinking age to twenty-one. Alcohol is a very dangerous substance especially when it is being consumed by teenagers. The establishment of the Minimum Drinking Age Act has saved lives and is needed to stay in place to continue saving American lives every year. The United States Constitution is designed to protect the citizens and their unalienable rights. The minimum drinking age law protects the citizen’s the same way the minimum driving and voting ages are established. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act should remain at twenty-one because it is protecting the lives of American Citizens.