ipl-logo

Essay About Minimum Legal Drinking Age

1155 Words5 Pages

The Truth About the Minimum Legal Drinking Age Alcohol is consumed everywhere in the world. It is undoubtedly a huge part of American and global culture. People all over the world use alcohol for a number of different reasons – celebration, peer pressure, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and so on. However, in the United States, alcohol consumption and the law have had conflicts quite a few times in the past. An ongoing controversy in the United States is the topic of the minimum legal drinking age being lowered to 18 or staying at 21. In fact, only four other countries in the world have a legalized drinking age over 18; the minimum legal drinking age of 21 in the United States is one of the highest in the world. We ended up with a national minimum legal drinking age of 21 because of …show more content…

President Reagan established the Presidential Commission Against Drunk Driving (PCDD), which established 39 recommendations to curb what was perceived to be a drunk driving epidemic. With the goal of reducing alcohol-related traffic accidents, all states were told to set the minimum drinking age to 21. If the states did not enact to the minimum drinking age of 21, they would lose up to 10% of their federal highway funding. Since then, 21 is the age to buy and drink alcohol in the United States. Thus, underage drinking has always been a major issue here, yet why is it still not under control? Teenagers have been purchasing alcohol with fake ID cards, getting into bars and clubs, and drinking liquor illegally for years. Lowering the minimum legal drinking age to 18 would be a helpful and effective step in stopping binge drinking and encouraging the enjoyable act of consuming alcohol, reducing traffic accidents, and allowing those in the 18-to-20 year old age

Show More
Related
722 Words | 3 Pages

SUMMARY: In the article, “ The Minimum Legal Drinking Age” written by Traci L Toomey, Carolyn Rosenfeld, and Alexander C. Wagenaar in Alcohol Health & Research World, the reasoning behind the why the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) is 21 is addressed. Till this day similar claims that were used to lower the MLDA many years ago are being applied. Regardless of the continuing debate about the MLDA studies show the effectiveness of a higher MLDA in averting alcohol related deaths and injuries within the youth. The lowering of the MLDA resulted in rates of injuries and deaths increasing.

Read More
219 Words | 1 Pages

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

Read More
1016 Words | 5 Pages

Since 1989 when the MLDA (Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 21) was increased from 18 to 21, law enforcement has admitted that its prosecution is not a priority for most law agencies. "This law has been an abysmal failure," John McCardell, a former president of Middlebury College told 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl. "It hasn't reduced or eliminated drinking. It has simply driven it underground, behind closed doors, into the most risky and least manageable of settings.” Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 would not only lower the amount of illegal binge drinking, but it would also help 18 year olds learn to manage additional responsibility at a younger age.

Read More
979 Words | 4 Pages

The United States has been fighting the war on alcohol since the 1920’s, and today it still remains as a highly debatable topic. Many Americans believe that keeping the drinking age at 21 is acceptable, while others believe that 18 is the year that you should be trusted to make your own life changing decisions. And did you know that there are only seven countries in the world (196 countries in the world total) who have their drinking age as high as 21, and the US is one of those seven? Once you're 18, you are not allowed to buy guns, drink alcohol, go to 21+ bars or clubs, rent a car, or even rent certain hotel rooms.

Read More
618 Words | 3 Pages

have the MLDA of 21, almost every other country has MLDA of 16-20. In the ¨ Reasons Why the Drinking Age Should be Lowered¨ article, Ellen Rethwisch, a graduate of NYU Summer Publishing Institute states that if they can vote, gamble, serve in the military they should be able to drink. “Lowering the drinking age just makes sense. It would lead to more responsible drinking, and more responsible drinking leads to greater overall safety on college campuses.” This shows the important factor of drinking is responsibility and is needed in order to lower the drinking.

Read More
1412 Words | 6 Pages

It was introduced in 1984 as the minimum drinking age act. By 1989 all 50 states had changed the minimum drinking age to 21. Although the current legal age helps prevent alcohol related deaths the legal U.S. drinking age should be lowered to 18. First of all the current drinking

Read More
629 Words | 3 Pages

The problem is the age of the DUI’s issued and the number of crashes. According to M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), the rate of drunk drivers is most common between 26 to 29 year olds. Along with that, in 2014, the highest percentage of drunk driving related crashes was for drivers ages 21 to 24. This shows that if the age was to be lowered to 18, the age of crashes and drunk driving incidents would be right around that 18 year old age. Does any parent really want their child involved in a drunk driving incident at that age.

Read More
750 Words | 3 Pages

Some countries chose a lower age, such as 18, the age at which many teenagers gain the responsibilities of full citizenship. Places like the US opt to follow traditional English Common Law in which people don’t officially become an adult until 21. The United States, in fact, has one of the highest drinking ages in the world. According to the Foundation for Economic Education, “Countries that compare in severity are only a few, including Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan” (Tucker “Lower the Drinking Age!”). Most of the rest of the world settles at 16 for beer and 18 for liquor.

Read More
1098 Words | 5 Pages

Drinking Age In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed that officially raised the drinking age to 21 years old from being 18 years old. Ever since 1984, lowering the drinking age has been a controversial subject throughout American history. Personally, I believe that the United States should lower the legal drinking age to 18 years old again. One of the main reasons why the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed in the first place was because of drinking and driving.

Read More
726 Words | 3 Pages

Out of all the countries in the world the United States is one of the few with the drinking age of 21, should this be lowered to 18? From my perspective yes, because if they can go fight for the country, smoke cigarettes, tattoo their bodies up, or any life-long decision why can’t they legally have a beer or any type of alcohol? “When asked what the minimum legal drinking age should be in the U.S., Heath says 8, or maybe even 6.” (Heath) When Heath says this he isn’t saying its okay for them to get completely drunk he just

Read More
490 Words | 2 Pages

The drinking age today in the US is 21. It was raised in 1984 to reduce drunk driving accidents, memory loss, organ malfunction failure, violent behavior, and alcohol poisoning. It’s known as the National Minimum Drinking Age Act (NMDA), passed by Republican President Ronald Reagan on July 17, 1984. But there are other countries with a low drinking age, the US alone is the only country with a high drinking age, Other countries like Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom have a low drinking age. The UK, Europe, Australia, have a drinking age of 18.

Read More
1959 Words | 8 Pages

Drinking Age The legally acceptable age of consuming alcohol in the U.S. is one of the largest most frequent debates among people. There are a lot of people who believe lowering the drinking age will not only reduce the rates of underage drinking, but it is a right once you are of age. However, lowering the drinking age does not only put other people’s life in danger, but young adults still do not have the right development as well as the knowledge of the importance of the responsibilities that come with drinking. In general, everyone has an idea about the dangers and risks about excessive drinking in adults.

Read More
509 Words | 3 Pages

The age should be lowered to 18 because that’s when you’re legal. This can lead to teaching the youth about alcohol and allowing them to be supervised. First off, how can you be a legal adult but not be able to drink? At 18, you’re allowed to vote. You’re allowed to get married.

Read More
722 Words | 3 Pages

Minimum Legal Drinking Age 1 These passages present a discussion about arguments concerning the lowering of the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. This is an important debate to parents because of the inherent dangers of alcohol. The two positions argue whether or not people under the age of 21 should be given the legal right to drink. Both viewpoints have valid claims warranting consideration.

Read More
454 Words | 2 Pages

Prior to this exercise, I was under the impression that all states held a minimum drinking age of 21, yet I was wrong. States such as Illinois, Washington, Kansas and Arkansas have provision where individuals at 18 years old are able to consume beer and wine, but not liquor (Federal Trade Commission.gov, 2013). However, statistics show that alcohol consumption is prevalent by those well below the legal drinking age regardless of how low it is. According to the CDC, 11% of all alcohol consumed in the U.S each year is done by those 12-20 years old (CDC.gov, 2016). Despite laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors, the appeal of alcohol remains significant.

Read More

More about Essay About Minimum Legal Drinking Age

Related Topics

Open Document