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Argumentative Essay: The National Minimum Drinking Age Act

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The eighteenth of June, 2015, just ten days after my eighteenth birthday my plane landed in Germany. By ten o’clock I was being offered a beer by a very attractive stranger. A jolt of excitement rushed through my body as I remembered it was legal for me to drink, in Germany. In 1984, Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. This required the states to raise the legal drinking age to 21 by October 1986, failure to do so would result in the loss of ten percent of their federal highway funds. Before the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed it was legal for people of the age of eighteen to purchase and consume alcohol. The United States has the highest legal drinking age, 21, in the world. In most countries in Europe it is
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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) advocated that in all 50 states the legal drinking age must be raised to 21 years of age, or suffer the loss of 10% of highway funds (Daniloff). Former President Ronald Reagan signed off on the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, and in turn the rest

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Since 1984 there has been a federal act that strongly advises states not to allow citizens under the age of 21 from drinking alcoholic beverages. To this day there are still people arguing about this law, both for and against it. Having a minimum drinking age set at 21 is a popular ongoing debate that has many supporters and disputers. To begin, alcohol was a key topic in debates

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The drinking age used to be 18. Many people wish that it would go back to that. Mary Kate Cary of the US News and World Report wrote an article talking about lowering the drinking age. “There was no need for “pregaming” – binge drinking in private apartments or dorms before heading out in public” says Cary. If the drinking age was lowered we would not have to worry about college students buying and selling fake IDs, distributing alcohol to minors, and less turning to drugs because drugs are easier to get than alcohol.

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Many states required that the legal drinking age be 21 although some required that a person be 18. By 1984 all US states required that the legal drinking age be 21. In conclusion, although the intention of the Prohibition Act and the age of prohibition was to improve the lives of citizens by reducing health risks, violence and crimes caused by alcoholism, it had the opposite effect. As such, the Prohibition Act and the ensuing age of prohibition did not succeed in reducing the consumption and abuse of alcohol but instead created a virtual “monster” that created more problems rather than finding

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Should the legal age for alcohol consumption be lowered? In the United States, The legal drinking age is 21, but in my research, I have found that it is actually allowed, under certain circumstances and situations, to people of even lower age. Though all 50 US states have set their minimum drinking age to 21, exceptions do exist on a state-by-state basis for consumption at home, under adult supervision, for medical necessity, and other reasons. In fact, all but 5 states, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, New Hampshire, and West Virginia, under age drinking is permitted. Parents are allowed to furnish alcohol to minors if they are under proper supervision.

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Alcohol Age Limit Would you rather the drinking age limit be lower, higher, or does it even matter? The legal drinking age limit should stay at 21, it is a pretty mature age to handle alcohol and the age limit is always changing. Under aged kids always find a way to obtain alcohol, and often times parents do not care and they’ll buy their kids alcoholic drinks. Does this law really change anything?

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Across the country, college students participate in an illegal activity known as underage drinking. The drinking age in America is an ongoing debate of whether it should be kept at 21, or reduced to 18. While some believe lowering the drinking age would make drinking for young kids safer, others presume the opposite. According to Alexis Aguirre, a journalist at the Texas State University Star, “The legal drinking age should be lowered to 18. Once 18, a person is legally considered an adult and should be able to drink.”

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