Devin Stanford Mrs. Zupan Law Period 5 April 13, 2016 Drinking Age For years people have debated on whether or not lowering the drinking age is a good idea. It is a very sensitive topic to discuss because everyone has their own opinion on it. Alcohol is the drug of choice for most teenagers regardless of the rules that are in place. On April 14, 1982, President Reagan established the Presidential Commission Against Drunk Driving (PCDD). These were 39 recommendations on how to stop the drunk driving epidemic at the time. One of the recommendations was raising the drinking age to 21 which they did and it was very effective for its time, but is it time to update the law? Each side has good and bad reasons for lowering the drinking …show more content…
It has always been a part of cultures everywhere around the world and there is nothing different in today’s world. One major argument against raising the drinking age is that lowering the age does not reduce the fatalities attributed to drunk driving, on the contrary the amount of deaths increase as the drinking age is lowered. The article states that people who are younger still have a developing mind and they are still careless in the activities they do. According to the article the 21 age limit for alcohol has saved over 23,000 people since the drinking age was raised in 1975. Another major argument is that kids or teenagers will do what they want regardless of the rules that are in place. I’m sure we all can relate to a house party one of our friends had that had alcohol at it. As said in the article all the 21 drinking age does is make it more desirable to younger and younger kids with the forbidden fruit concept. At a lot of these parties the parents are the ones who supply the alcohol because they think that since they drank as kids they will turn out okay and that is not entirely right. On average 11 kids die every day from alcohol, whether it’s in an accident or has something to do with their heart. In the united states when an individual turns 18 they are considered an adult in the governments eyes. They are able to join the military, vote during elections, and many other things because they are an "Adult". So the main argument for lowering the drinking age is that if you are considered an adult you should be able to go out and have a drink or two without having to hide it and drink irresponsibly. The main argument against this is that at 18 the individuals brain is still developing and alcohol could have a chance to disrupt that.Some of the problems that come along with drinking while your brain is still developing is depression, greater chance of addiction, violence, suicide,