The Pros And Cons Of The Drinking Age

There has been a debate among individuals about what is an appropriate age for drinking? Some people encourage and believe that the law of alcohol consumption should be lowered from 21 years of age to 18. They believe that there are a lot of pros to lowering the age of drinking. On the other hand, some people believe that the law should stay and not be changed. The effects of lowering the age of drinking would also have many cons and cause more damage in the long run. So, how can we look at this debate and come to a resolution?

When conducting our interviews, we have noticed that most people believe the drinking age should indeed be lowered. The broad consensus of people find the age of eighteen to be an appropriate age to begin responsibly drinking and that the drinking age should go no lower than eighteen. The reason behind why eighteen should be the drinking age is different for everyone. While large majority find that the age should correlate with the draft, some, like parents and guardians, differed, saying how your body is still not ready to consume alcohol at such an early age and it should remain at the age of twenty-one. We have even have had an individual believing there should be no drinking age and it should be the parents and their overseeing that controls

People in Ontario can drink at the age of 19. Some people think the age should be higher and some people think the age should be lower. I think the age of drinking should be more than 19.

In order to understand the matter at hand ,lowering the drinking age, we need to first understand how the drinking age of 21 was first put into place. The repeal of alcohol prohibition on December 5th, 1933, the 21st Amendment, allowed every state to arrange their own alcohol consumption laws. Then when the US passed the 26th Amendment on July 1st, 1971, which reduced the voting age to 18, multiple states lowered their minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) to 18, 19, or 20. While on the other hand 14 states kept their legal drinking age to 21. Lastly, The United States established the drinking age that stands today with the National Minimum Drinking Age Act approved by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. Although other countries have lower drinking ages, the American government should not lower the legal drinking age to 18 because young adults are not fully developed mentally and physical for the effects alcohol has on the body. Also high schoolers as well as middle school students will have more access to alcohol which depends mainly responsibility. Finally, MDLA 21 prevents underaged binge drinking and drunk driving because 21 year olds tend to be more mature than 18 year olds.

In-The-21-year-old drinking age: I voted for it; it doesn't work by Morris E Chafetz. Chafetz voted yes on a bill to make the minimum drinking age to 21. He knew he had made a mistake. Chafetz even says “It is the single most regrettable decision of my entire professional career”(526). He goes on and talks about how this drinking age was assigned to stop drunk driving deaths which it did but it also increases in alcohol related deaths off roadways. Chafetz goes on and tells us of he founded The National Institute For Alcoholism And Alcohol Abuse in 1970. He believes that the drinking age should be lowered or even abandoned altogether because the problem isn't the drink it's the drinker. In-The-21-year-old drinking age: I voted for it; it doesn't work by Morris E Chafetz. Chafetz work did not persuade me to think we needed to lower the drinking age. He never showed the opposition views and his sources were outdated and at times nowhere to be found.

Eighteen should be the legal age of adults in United States for using alcohol. There are three reasons to support this contention. First of all, the development of people’s brain will not be completed until people become 25 years old. Therefore, although drinking alcohol may cause some affects the brain, there is no evidence of huge brain destruction, alcohol dependency, or alcohol misuse, which the experts tell us will be the undeniable result of the lowering the age in the United States. Moreover, the prohibition should not be imposed on young people because using alcohol is belong to a person’s consciousness, nor it is belong to an behavior. Second, there are fewer traffic accidents by drunk drivers in many nations with Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 18 (MLDA) than in The United States. In fact, many traffic accidents from driving do not come from drinking, they come from other reasons, which are speeding, distracted driving, and traffic occurrences. In addition, some States denied the lowering minimum drinking age because they will not have ten percents traffic funding from the government, so this purpose is not unfair for people who turn in to eighteen. As shown above, lowering minimum drinking age should be considered explicitly. Last, law of government allows people to go to the army at eighteen because they can sacrifice for their country. In fact, that young people are risking their life with other agents more dangerous than alcohol

The United States needs a new standard drinking age, and it should be 19. The age should be 19 so that 18 year olds in high school cannot obtain alcohol, there by allowing younger high schoolers easier access. As an 18 year old that has adult responsibilities, I should be able to make my own, adult, choices about drinking alcohol. I’m an adult, college student who participates in underage drinking. In my experiences, I have never been involved with law enforcement, and drinking alcohol has never affected my personal, professional, or academic life. I have always had the opinion of having a lowered drinking age and have read many articles about the pros, cons, and everything in between. After reading this, I believe you will at least rethink your stance on the minimum drinking age.

Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) laws are defined as the legal age when an individual can purchase and publicly consume alcoholic beverages. The MLDA in the United States is currently 21 years and this has sparked quite a bit of controversy about lowering or even raising the MLDA.  However, prior to the law being passed ,the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, the legal age when alcohol could be purchased varied from state to state.

John McCardell proposes a compromise to the consuming age. Think concerning when you take drivers education. You don’t cross out of being clueless about getting your license as well as riding alone. If you did force out of doors the policies, you would certainly lose the privilege of a driving force’s license. The equal issue might be carried out with the privilege of ingesting. As Sarah Baldauf certainly explains, “decriminalizing drinking via youngsters 18 and older…will convey their alcohol intake out from hiding to wherein parents and also adults might screen it as well as educate duty without war” (Baldouf, 2007). Allowing eighteen yr olds to attain a license to drink would do a few effective things. First, it would make drinking less “cool” to age’s eighteen-twenty, and would certainly reduce the long wait if you want to drink legally. It would also deter humans under age eighteen from consuming due to the fact this license may be taken from minors for breaking the guidelines (Baldouf, 2007). If a minor ever were given stuck drinking under eighteen or without their license, they would then lose their eligibility to acquire this 3-yr license. The option to acquire this license or permit would certainly be the selection of the eighteen 12 months antique; no longer a responsibility. McCardell indicates that as a way to be eligible to acquire this license, the teen would certainly need to pass by means of an academic application at the make use of and also dangers of

As teenagers ourselves, we know that most will want to be rebellious at some point. An illegal option, alcohol makes for a perfect way for teens to be rebellious. With a minimum legal drinking age of 21, many teenagers are able to use drinking as a rebellious act. If the drinking age were 18, it would be different. A 19 year old could not drink to rebel. A large part of what makes alcohol so appealing to teenagers is its forbidden nature. Forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest. People want what they cannot have. Having a minimum legal drinking age of 18 would eliminate the desirable forbidden aspect, thereby making drinking less attractive to teens.

When picturing college people should think about huge classrooms, hard professors, and a better learning experience than they have ever received before. In reality, two things come to everyone’s mind before anything else: partying every night and binge drinking. The United States has some of the highest rates of underage drinking and hospitalizations due to alcohol poisoning. In Barrett Seaman’s article, “How Bingeing Became the New College Sport,” Seaman argues that continuously adding more restrictions to the drinking law could be making the issue worse or causing the entire problem. By focusing on college binge drinking, Seaman convinces his readers that instead of twenty-one, the US should lower the drinking age to promote appropriate drinking habits.

In all fifty states in the United States of America, the legal drinking age for people is 21 years old. Many people in the country and people from other countries ask the question, why is it so excessive as opposed to most countries in the world where the standard is 18 years old? There is a multitude of different reasons behind this including the Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and many other groups having heavy influences along with political parties which influence lawmaking in the country. Alcohol can lead to fun parties, meeting great people, experiencing everything life has to offer but also has a dark side. Drinking can also have serious consequences; for example, when I was still in high school I knew these two girls and at a party, I swear half of the school was at, they were drunk but told everybody they could drive. These girls hit a tree going 40 mph and both died and from what people told me they weren’t even that drunk. To prevent this type of incident from happening in 1984, President Ronald Reagan passed the Minimum Drinking Age Act which raised the minimum drinking age to 21 or suffers a 10% cut in federal highway funding. This act was made to prevent the sale and consumption of any form of alcohol to anybody under the age of 21.

Many people believe the minimum age of drinking should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. Professor Ruth C. Engs from the University of Illinois makes a strong case that the law needs to change. There are many advantages, such as helping youth understand how to drink responsibly, and disadvantages, such as the increase in alcoholism, to lowering the age of drinking. The legal age should be lowered to eighteen to help us better control how much and/or how responsibly alcohol is consumed.

Even though Americans can legally qualify for the military, army, marines, navy, and etc. at the age of 18 and over, women and men under the age of 21 cannot legally drink alcoholic beverages. Not only can Americans qualify to fight for the United States, but they are also suppose to be able to drive, attend college, take on careers and bills, do anything without parental supervision, vote state and federal, sign legal documents, charge as an adult, and live the life of an adult. The list of rights that an 18 year old can do, continues to grow throughout the years. If an 18 year old is enlisted into the United States military and stationed in the U.S., they should be able to consume alcoholic beverages. On a day in 1942, the legal drafting age lowered to the age 18 and the highest age raised to the age 37 (history.com np). By 1988, all 50 states in the United States, had raised their legal drinking age because the National Government prompted them to, so all states had the same minimum legal drinking age (drinkingage.procon.com np). At this point in time, the National Government announced it completely clear that even if you are 18, you can be drafted into the military and etc., can draft you, but you cannot consume or purchase alcoholic beverages. Only a couple of statistics have changed from 1942 to present day.

When people turn eighteen they are considered adults. They can vote, get married, buy cigarettes, get a tattoo, and even die for their country. Despite being considered an adult, they still cannot buy or consume alcohol legally. A person can be responsible enough to pay their own bills, live by themselves, have a job at the age of eighteen. Despite all this the U.S. government believes that twenty-one is the time when a person is responsible enough to drink alcohol. The United States is outnumbered by countries that have a lower drinking age. Some people will argue that teenage years are very important in brain development; other people will say drinking at this age would cause more accidents and injuries. In all actuality lowering the drinking age to eighteen would give people a right they deserve.