Drinking Age Essay

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.

Many Americans do not feel like adults until their 21st birthday. At age 18 an American has the ability to vote, be drafted or enlist into the military, own a weapon, request a loan, get married, buy cigarettes and many more liberties and consequences that come when a teenager becomes an adult. Nonetheless, in the United States and adult does not have the ability to legally drink until the age of 21. I find the regulation of alcohol necessary and as a protection for the citizens because, as the article “Effects of Alcohol Use” states, the abuse of alcohol contributes to liver damage, leads into driving under the influence, domestic violence and in the long term it can cause cancer and death of brain cells. However, I believe that the alcohol regulation is bias and should be at the same level of liberty as voting, joining the military, owning a weapon, buying cigarettes, requesting a loan and getting married.

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

Every year, thousands of minors die from the use of alcohol. Many young adults abuse the drinking age policy. It is put in effect for substantial reasons, which contribute in making the safest environment for all. Drinking underage is not only illegal, but also damages one’s health tremendously. Furthermore, drinking in large amounts is extremely dangerous and can cause detrimental things to occur. There have been numerous attempts to create a law to lower the drinking age, but none have gone through. In contrast to what some people may say, the drinking age should not be lowered because it would decrease maturity, promote poor behavior, and damage reputations.

Society’s attitude towards the drinking age has been a major controversy in the United States. The attitudes regarding the drinking age have been based off statistics and society’s varying opinion. Alcohol is a toxic depressant that has a damaging effect on the human body. As a result, to prevent excessive alcoholic consumption, the ratification of the 18th amendment took place from 1919 to 1939. This established the Prohibition Act, which banned the transportation, manufacturing and selling of an alcoholic beverage. However, illegal production of alcohol continued to take place in secret. Gradually prohibition laws became difficult to enforce. As a result, the Prohibition Act was repealed in 1933. In 1984, congress mandated a law which would raise the drinking age from 18 to 21 through the National Minimum Drinking Age. Reasoning for mandating an older drinking age, was to enhance public safety and promote good health. In 1988, all 50 states enforced the drinking age to 21. The concern for the consumption of alcohol have targeted teenagers and young adults

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.

Unsupervised and driven underground, underage drinking has gained widespread popularity in America’s youth, even claiming victims such as the former President Bush’s 19 year-old daughter. At 18 years of age, a citizen can purchase a gun and tobacco, enlist in the military, get married, vote, and be tried as an adult in court but yet as an “adult” they still do not possess the right to purchase nor consume alcohol legally. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 years of age because adults should be able to make their own decisions, it is safer for the youth in America, and with alcohol education classes instilled in schools at a young age, the younger citizens will be exposed to responsible drinking habits so it reduces the enticement factor

For the past 30 years, the United States has maintained a National Minimum Drinking Age Act, with long term public debate about the violation of civil liberties of this policy, especially in youth rights. As a matter of fact, at eighteen years old, young people can take on many adult responsibilities, but they do not have the right to consume alcohol. Indeed, they have the rights to vote, smoke cigarettes, serve on juries, get married, sue others, be sued, be imprisoned, sign contracts, be prosecuted as adults, and join the military which includes risking one's life. Even though they now considered legal adults with all of these privileges, they are denied the right to purchase and drink alcohol. Prohibiting persons under the age of 21 to enjoy

The drinking age in America has changed multiple times throughout our history. In fact, there were no such things as mandates on drinking until 1851, when Maine passed the law on prohibition. Soon after, many other states followed in their footsteps. Congress first pressed the issue on the whole country in 1917, and the law was ratified two years later. In 1920, the government created the 18th Amendment, which officially banned everyone from the production, distribution, and consumption of alcohol. Throughout this entire time period, the demand for alcohol continued to thrive, leading to flourishing acts of bootlegging (Rotunda, 2004). It took years for the government to give up on this law, but it did finally happen. In the 1970’s, the government created a legal drinking age: eighteen years. This law worked pretty well for the country – still consisted of flaws, but nothing more than what we have today. Not until the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 did this change. With the passage of this act, individual states had the option of keeping the age

When you become an adult you can vote, join the military, jury duty, sign contracts, marry, apply for loans, make decisions regarding medical treatments, and be prosecuted as an adult (“Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered From 21 to a Younger Age?”). Adults have the right to make their own decisions, and there are many arguments on why 18-year-olds should be able to consume alcohol legally. In other countries like Europe with an MLDA of 18, there are fewer drunk driving traffic accidents and fatalities than an MLDA of 21 in America (“Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered From 21 to a Younger Age?”). Many argue that the government and the police should worry more about every legal person’s alcohol consumption instead of just underaged

Writer Dedel Kelley said, “The proportion of underage youth who drink has not changed significantly over the past decade in the United States. Indeed, if anything, they are starting to drink at a younger age, and their drinking patterns are becoming more extreme.” Keeping the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) at twenty-one or lowering it to the age of eighteen has been a continuous issue in the United States. People, mostly adolescent teenagers, say it should be lowered because if one is able to vote at the age of eighteen, they should also be allowed to drink. Sure, when a seventeen-year-old turns eighteen they are considered an adult, but age does not define maturity; just because they would be classified as an adult does not mean they can be responsible and handle alcoholic beverages like a parent, for example. The legal drinking age should remain at twenty-one and should not be lowered to the age of eighteen because people who are eighteen years old and younger are still juvenile. If the legal drinking age were to be lowered to eighteen, teenagers put society at risk because most will go behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol; they are not only putting society at risk but also themselves because they could start an early binge drinking habit and affect their health.

This plan takes into account the health and safety of the students of our university campus community.

Almost everyone can agree that alcohol should not be given or allowed to children or young adults under a certain age. Alcohol is a substance that is very dangerous and if you used incorrectly or immaturely the consequences can be great danger to the users or the ones around them. The topic of lowering the drinking age has been in discussion for many decades. “Between 1970 and 1976, 29 states lowered their age for drinking alcohol. The results were catastrophic. Highway deaths among teenagers and young adults skyrocketed. Almost immediately, states began raising the minimum drinking age again.” “In 1984, Congress passed the Uniform Drinking Age Act, which required states to have a minimum drinking age of 21 for all types of alcohol

open your eyes. They call 911 and you are taken to the hospital. You are

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