Why The Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered

It has been a rising issue within the past century to have the drinking age set at 21, but many people are more in favor of having the age set at 18. For instance, “’Raising the drinking age to 21 was passed with the very best of intentions, but it’s had the very worst of outcomes,’ stated by David J. Hanson, an alcohol policy expert” (Johnson). Many people believe that having the drinking age set at 21 was a smart idea, but it has caused many more deaths and injuries over the years. Most of these fatalities are cause from people who are underage and choose to consume alcohol. Again, “Libertarian groups and some conservative economic foundations, seeing the age limits as having been extorted by Washington, have long championed lowering the drinking age” (Johnson). These groups see that keeping the drinking age set at 21 is dangerous as it causes more problems to the Untied States. If the drinking age was lowered, or set at 18, there would not be such unforgiving outcomes, like deaths and lifelong injuries, which are usually caused from people who are under the age of 21 drinking alcohol. Although there are numerous groups that are fighting to keep the age

In recent discussions of the drinking age limit, people have always said that the drinking age limit should be lowered. Some may argue that alcohol is not bad and that it can actually be beneficially. Many people would want the drinking age limit to be lowered so that it is legal for young adults to drink. If the drinking age limit were to be lowered there would be a drastic difference in society. In my perspective I will argue that the drinking age limit should not be lowered.

I believe that the drinking age should be lowered to the age of 18. I took this stance in my health class debate last year and it was a success. There are many reasons why the drinking age should be lowered that I will discuss in this paper. These reasons are very convincing and should be considered by the government. I will also look into what action is being taken on decreasing the yearly amount of DUI’s.

Most people would concur that alcohol should not be given to teenagers. Despite the fact that we concede to this essential truth, underage drinking is still a noteworthy issue in our nation. Since adolescents need development and information with regards to liquor, they put themselves, as well as others in incredible danger when they decide to consume. Regardless of the risk, there are individuals out there who believe that the drinking age should be lowered.

"Adults under 21 are able to vote, sign contracts, serve on juries, and enlist in the military, but are told that they are not mature enough to have a beer?," said Ruth C. Engs, a professor of Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University (Engs). No matter what is done, teenagers and young adults all over America are going to drink if they want to. The question is, why can 't they start legally drinking when they enter adulthood? An alternative to simply lowering the minimum legal drinking age could be thought of, such as, having a learner 's permit for responsible drinking for people between the ages of 18-21. In other cultures where the minimum legal drinking age is lower, there is not as large of a problem with drinking. Lowering the minimum legal drinking age would stop criminalizing a large amount of people for the minor crime of underage drinking, which on your record makes it hard for young people to apply for jobs or apply to colleges.

Society proposes at the age of eighteen an individual is mature and responsible to make decisions without the consent of a parent or guardian. In the United States an eighteen-year-old is considered a legal adult. By law you are able to fight for your country, vote, and buy cigarettes. Some impose, giving a newly young adult the privilege to consume alcohol would enhance their responsibility as an adult. Mary Cary from

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.

An abundance of people start to drink during young adulthood. In the last 30 days roughly 39% of high schoolers drank some amount of alcohol (CDC). Alcohol has been around for tens of thousands of years and it’s always been an underlying issue. My question is, “Why should we lower the legal drinking age”? Current proposals to lower the minimum legal drinking age to 18 would have some benefits like increasing revenue for bars and liquor stores. However the risks surpass the benefits. Many people think that if you’re 18 you’re portrayed as an adult, you’re old enough to serve your country, vote, and make your own decisions. In some cases this could be true, but lowering the drinking age would be way too risky for themselves and others. There was a telephone survey done in Princeton, NJ on July 12-15, 2007 that questioned 1,001 people 18 and older if the minimum legal drinking age should be lowered to 18. The results were 77% of the people said that they would disagree with this proposal, and only 22% said that they would support it (Carroll). The minimum drinking age of 21 should not be lowered to 18, because 18 year olds tend to drink in a different way than more matured adults drink. They’re irresponsible when it comes to drinking because they drink to get drunk. As a result, there are more DUI arrests, the motor vehicle accident rate increases, and binge drinking raises health concerns.

Alcohol is usually sought after within the adolescent community and has been an issue among young people. On July 17th 1984, congress passed The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 which enforces the legal drinking age and purchasing of alcohol in the United States to be twenty-one. Since then, the debated idea of whether or not the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen has been an ongoing topic for decades. Alcoholism affects many people in the United States but promoting it at such young age would not be such a great idea for the youths in today’s society.The drinking age should not be lowered due to the fact that it poses many dangers in the lives of teenaegers especially brain damages, underage drinking has declined since 1984, enforcing alcohol among teenagers may cause an increase in drunk driving and deaths and most importantly, teenagers who start drinking at an early age are more than three times more likely to develop alcohol dependency later on in life than those who started at the legal age of 21 or later.

States that lower the drinking age below 21 lose 10% of their annual federal highway

Lowering the drinking age to 18 in the United States has been a source of controversy in recent years. It has been a controversial topic because many people disagree, while many agree with the topic. For example, the people who disagree and are against lowering the drinking age to 18 believe we should not lower the drinking age because 18 year old individuals are not responsible enough to drink alcohol. While, the people who agree we should lower the drinking age, believe we should let 18 year old individuals drink responsibly because at age 18 you are considered responsible enough to smoke, join the army, be a legal guardian, buy a rifle, and vote. In my opinion, I believe the legal drinking

During World War two, there was limited amount of troops due to the age requirements while drafting. Because of this, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president of the United States at the time, approved of lowering the drafting age from twenty one to eighteen years old. This strengthened the United States’ troops, but at the same time, it formed a gateway for more issues to be discussed in the future. At the time of World War two, not only was the drafting age twenty one, but you had to be twenty one to vote, and also, setting the drinking age was a state power. Because of this soldiers of ages eighteen to twenty began to raise the issue of being able to hold a weapon

The feasibility of why the drinking age should be changed from 21 to 18 can be shown in a variety of reasons, which would show that the drinking age should be changed.

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 United States. Every state has the right to set its own legal drinking age. However, according to George Will in an article he wrote in the Washington Post about the legal drinking age, “drinking age paradox” “lowering the drinking age will cost the state ten percent of its federal highway funds and cause a significant uproar from contractors and construction unions.” It is therefore in the best interest of every citizen as well as the state not to lower the legal drinking age, to prevent States funding from the negative affected if the legal drinking age is lowered (The Chilgren 's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2015).