The Negative Effects Of The National Minimum Drinking Age

In 1984 Ronald Reagan proposed a new law that declared that the legal drinking age must raised up to 21 instead of the age of 18. The law was forced upon the states by threatening them by stating that the government will reduce their highway funding until the states passed the law. Of course all the states eventually change their legal drinking age to 21. Some critics believe that this law’s results have been very successful, however the law possesses many insecurities, but certain programs can be arranged to help educate teenagers on alcohol.

During the 1960s most U.S. states established 21 as the Minimum Legal Drinking Age, also known as MLDA. Since a few states still kept their MLDA at 18 Congress passed the Uniform Drinking Age Act; which stated that the federal government would not give any highway funds unless those states whose MLDA has not been changed to 21 would change to 21. Ever since the

The minimum legal drinking age was not always twenty-one; it has fluctuated between twenty-one and eighteen over the past few decades. In the article, “Underage Drinking and the Drinking Age” by Carla T.

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.

Lowering the drinking age will result in life and death consequences. By keeping the drinking age at 21, the rate of fatalities for drinking and driving decrease drastically. During the short period during the late 1980’s when the drinking age was lowered to 18, the number of fatal car crashes involving young adults who were under the influence dropped from 61% to 31% (Wil Fulton). By bringing the age down to 18-years-old, alcohol would be more accessible to the lower age group. For example, an 18 year old, who is still in high school, is more likely to sell alcohol to a 16 year old than a 21 year old, who is away at college. In recent studies, researchers found that 77% of the population are opposed to lowering the drinking age to 18 (Brandon Griggs). MADD is supported by influential government companies such as the American Medical Association, National Transportation Safety Board, National Safety Council, International Association Chiefs of Police, Governor's Highway Safety Association, Surgeon General of the United States, and U.S. Transportation Secretary to name a few (John H. Barnhill, PHD). Overall, young teenagers lack the proper wisdom collected to make right judgments about alcohol. The 3 years between the age 18 and 21 are filled with change and responsibilities, making one more suitable to make appropriate

In the United States a large topic of discussion is the drinking age, should it stay at 21 or should the age be dropped. Somewhat recently the age has been changed from 18 to 21 and a lot of people want to be changed back. By 1988, all 50 U.S. states and the federal government had set the drinking age at 21 years of age, but is it time to lower the MLDA (minimum legal drinking age) to 18 years of age? Those who argue against lowering the MLDA claim that teens have yet to reach an age of maturity in which they can responsibly drink alcohol, and thus are more likely to develop binge drinking habits and endangerment of themselves and others by drinking prior to the age of 21. Those in favor of lowering the MLDA argue that the current MLDA doesn’t stop underage drinking and promotes binge drinking into private less controlled environments. Not only this, but lowering the MLDA strengthens the economy and can gradually expose people to drinking without overdoing it.

The drinking age should be lowered to eighteen because there has been many problems that have caused life threatening dangers to these teens. The age eighteen is where you start to become an adult so people should have the right to drink when they turn eighteen (“Drinking Age”). It also should be allowed

As most people living in the United States already know, the national minimum age for purchasing alcohol is twenty-one. However, prior to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, some states lowered the drinking age below 21 (mainly as a result of the lowered voting age). The Drinking Age Act was put into place as a result of a correlation between young drinking and motor vehicle fatalities. Under the provisions of the Act, any states with a minimum drinking age below 21 are subject to a 10% cut in highway funding from the federal government. The United States is one of only a few countries with a drinking age as high as 21; the majority of countries

In the United States, the minimum age required to legally consume alcohol is twenty-one years, being allowed in some states for young people under the minimum drinking age to consume alcohol under specific controlled circumstances. This particular age is controversial as it does not correspond to the age of majority of 18 years embraced by 47 states, which entitles the individual to vote, get married and join the army, among other decisions inherent to adulthood. It is thus seen as contradictory to consider a young person mature enough to take decisions of this nature, but not mature enough to drink alcohol.

The national minimum drinking age in The United States is stated to be anyone under the age of 21 years can not consume or purchase any alcoholic beverage; this law was passed on July 17,1984 by President Reagan. Nearly 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes annually making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Many People would agree that alcohol should not be present to children under the age of 21 years. There has been many debates on whether or not the drinking age should be lowered to 18 years of age. “Between 1970 and 1976, 29 states lowered their age for drinking alcohol. The results were catastrophic. Highway deaths among teenagers and young adults skyrocketed. Immediately, states began raising the minimum

Supporters of lowering the MLDA compared America to other countries that have a minimum drinking age of 18. Supporters of lowering the MLDA say that in countries where the drinking age 18 young people drink smarter. John McCardell points out some interesting statistic he states” in southern European countries ratios of all drinking occasions to intoxication occasions were quite low roughly one in ten while in the United States, almost half of all

Currently, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act prevents states from lowering their MLDA below 21 by threatening to cut 10% of federal highway funding if they do so.

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

In the meantime, some states are working on lowering back it to 18 like New Hampshire, Minnesota, and California. The formation of the first temperance movement was in the early eighteen hundred; it pushed toward moderation in consuming alcohol. Later, the government outlawed a complete prohibition to consume or manufacture alcohol. Though, it was reinforced by the passage of the 18th Amendment in 1919. This prohibition was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment, thus, each state sets its own MLDA. Most of the states set the minimum age to 21 except Illinois and Oklahoma; MLDA of 21 for being the limit for men and 18 for women. Yet, the Supreme Court ruled that this age difference interferes with the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Almost 50 years later, in 1971, the voting age dropped to 18; therefore, this was the legitimate age for drinking. As a consequence, accidents were at its highest rate; 60% of all traffic accidents were alcohol-related and 21,000 people died in these accidents. For this reason, the minimal age was flipped back to 21.

On average an estimated two of every 1,000 occasions of illegal drinking by youth under 21 results in an arrest. (procon) This alone shows how unenforceable the minimum legal drinking age is. Underage drinkers are still getting their hands on alcohol, then they go and consume their beverages behind closed doors. Prohibition was lifted in 1933 and around 1970 multiple states started lowering their minimum legal drinking age to 18, 19, or 20. In 1984 a group called Mothers against Drunk Driving started a petition to have the minimum drinking