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What Are The Benefits Of Lowering The Drinking Age

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The legal drinking age has many high school and college students shaking their heads. Despite the illegality of underage drinking, many youth still participate in the consumption of alcohol before their 21st birthday. Underage drinking is not intrinsically wrong, rather it is criminalized and misperceived because of current laws. Because the current law regarding underage alcohol consumption is not working, maintaining that law is illogical and stupid. A simple solution to this problem exists; the drinking age should be lowered to 18. Many benefits will occur if the drinking age is lowered to the age a person is legally recognized as an adult, including an economic boost, a decrease in dangerous drinking, and a decrease in illegal activity. …show more content…

When people irresponsibly over consume alcohol, their judgement becomes impaired and they are subject to be at a higher risk of injury. For example, binge drinking is the “5th biggest reasons teens have to visit the hospital” (3-4 Blau). With a lower drinking age, young adults would not have to keep their alcohol consumption clandestine. This means that there would be more available supervision and access to medical help should a circumstance warrant the need for it. A lower drinking age would also make the topic of drinking less taboo which would allow people to become more informed about the dangers of alcohol and help them learn to drink responsibly. Another very important reason to decriminalize drinking under the age of 21 is to ensure that anyone in need of medical help gets it, regardless of how inebriated they or their friends are. Often, teens die from drinking because the people they are with do not call for help if an unfortunate situation occurs. Generally, these people attempt to wait out a situation, much to the misfortune of whoever is in need of help, because they fear the possible legal repercussions of having drank. To prevent any person suffering any harm, it is necessary that the drinking age be

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