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Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age

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In 1984, The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. The act requires all states to increase the minimum age a person can purchase or possess alcohol to 21. Even though the drinking Age Act was signed, most adults admit to having their first drink between the age of 15 to 16. The 6 year separation between the age an average person has their first drink, and the age which it is legal to drink shows how unrealistic the act is. The legal drinking age should be lowered to 18 because it is an age where a person becomes a legal adult and responsible for their own actions. The first reason the minimum drinking age should be lowered is it will remove the drive of young adults to drink for the sake of rebellion. The Middlebury College President, John M. McCardell Jr., who is also a charter member of President Against Drunk Driving came out in favor of lowering the drinking age to 18 years old, in a 2004 New York Times opinion article saying, "Our latter day prohibitionists have driven drinking behind closed door and underground," he also says, "Colleges should be given the chance to educate students, who in all other respects are adults, in the appropriate use of alcohol within campus boundaries and out in …show more content…

Though some people mature faster and take on responsibilities at different ages, in all cases except drinking, you are no longer considered a child by 18. The age a person can be married and start a family varies from state to state, but all are under 18. At 18, a person is old enough to join the military and risk their lives for the country. The most important responsibility given to young adults at 18 is the right to vote. If a person can determine the fate of the country, fight for the country and take on the responsibilities of raising a family they should be permitted to make their own decision about drinking

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Third finally is the accident rating of drunk drivers. In this point I would like to state is that they are allowed other responsibilities but allowed to have a beer. According to procon.org “ Turning 18 entails receiving the rights and responsibilities of adulthood to vote, smoke cigarettes, serve on juries, get married, sign contracts, be prosecuted as adults, and join the military - which includes risking one's life.” Granted at 18 people aren’t allowed to adopt but I see the reason for that is as they are 18 they still need to establish a solid income and household to support a child but if they are able to be tried as an adult, and allowed to make life decisions then they should be able to have a beer to relax.

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When a person turns 18 they’re considered to be legal, and have the right to make their own decisions. You’d think they’d also be able to make the decision to whether they want to consume alcohol. When turning 18 a person is granted the right to vote, smoke cigarettes, get married, serve on a jury, sign certain contracts, and other things. If a person is mature enough to make a

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The drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 because in America teens are now going to drinking a lot more alcohol now that it is illegal at the age of 18 in America. Historically,The drinking age has been 18 in the U.S but recently it was changed to 21.“In the early 1970s, with the passage

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A young man, turning 18 tomorrow, ponders all of the benefits he is going to obtain in a day by gaining a year in age. What he does not realize however, is he will not have complete freedom because he is still considered too young. As 18 is the legal age of becoming an adult within the United States, he is allowed to work full time, purchase tobacco products as well as engage in sexual conduct with anyone else above the age of 18, yet he is still denied the right to enter bars or possess any alcoholic beverage in his system. Ever since 1984, the legal age in which one may consume an alcoholic beverage has been 21 despite the numerous bills and legislations that have been attempted to be enacted. The debate for a lower drinking age however, spans all the way back to the prohibition era in which alcohol was banned entirely.

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1086 Words | 5 Pages

While the legal drinking age is 21, that does not stop underage drinking in the United States. On July 17, 1984, President Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. This was a law that required states to raise the drinking age to 21 or face a 10 percent cut to their federal highway funding. All of the states fulfilled the requirement and accepted the higher drinking age(Tietjen). One of the biggest that contributes to underage drinking is mainly because it is “off limits.”

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588 Words | 3 Pages

The United States has one of the highest drinking ages in the world, yet more than 70 percent of teens have consumed alcohol at least once in their life. There are more and more fatalities from alcohol and many believe this problem has to do with the legal drinking age. In a way it is kind of strange that at eighteen years old a person can join the military and be trusted to defend our country and take a bullet, yet they cannot be trusted to drink alcohol. At eighteen years old that is the age where a child becomes an adult; they can vote, purchase tobacco, and join the military not to mention other things. Alcohol is always going to have the same effects on people, no matter what age after a person is intoxicated they are not the same.

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By doing this, he says, parents educate their kids about alcohol and rob drinking of its taboo allure” (Heath). This piece of evidence further supports the claim that lowering the drinking age to eighteen would have a monumental impact. Allowing people to drink earlier at an age where they will still be living with their family will reduce the urges to drink, thus lowering a large percentage of college students and teenagers becoming

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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.

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629 Words | 3 Pages

Minimum Drinking Age A historical examination of the minimum legal drinking ages laws can be traced back to the 1920's during the time of Prohibition. Then by 1933, during the repeal of the Prohibition the states began to adopt the age of 21 years old as a starting point of being able to purchase alcohol. In 1975, the States pushed the drinking age back to 18 years old due to the voting age being pushed back.

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You’re allowed to serve on a jury. You’re even allowed to join the Army. It doesn’t make sense that you can go out with a gun murder people, maybe even get killed but, you can’t have a sip of wine. As legal adults, they should be able to take the responsibility of drinking alcohol into their own hands. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, At least 37 states have some sort of exception in their drinking laws that allow underage people to drink at home and within the company of family members.

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984 Words | 4 Pages

Many people may argue in favor of reducing the national drinking age to 18 because 18 seems to be the golden age in the United States when adolescents are allowed to do just about anything—except

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782 Words | 4 Pages

The biggest question people are asking is why other countries can withhold a drinking age of 18 but America has to hold onto 21. Supporters of lowering the drinking age to18 argue that drinking in nontoxic environments will result in decreased drinking in precarious situations. According to an article found on The Odyssey, “A 2007 Gallup poll revealed that 77% of Americans are against lowering the national drinking age. (The Odyssey). The argument this population is putting forward is that drinking will become more prominent among the 18-20 year old population and increase the dangers we are already encountering.

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893 Words | 4 Pages

Many adults undermine this without considering the long term effects. Drinking under the age of 21, can “interfere with with the development of the young adult’s brain’s frontal lobe,” which serves as a regulator of emotions and gives us the ability to make sensical plans and organizational decisions. Additionally, alcohol influences the functionality of every organ including the liver, kidneys, heart etc. causing detrimental and painful diseases such as cirrhosis. Consequently, people who drink at a young age will only add to the increasing amount of alcoholics and temperamental handicaps in society. In terms of short term effects, I feel that many 18 year olds aren’t mature enough to responsibly handle their alcohol.

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827 Words | 4 Pages

The drinking age should be lowered, because brains are not fully developed yet, colleges should be able to regulate drinking, and this can solve problems with kids underage drinking. Despite the controversy, the drinking age should decrease for many logical reasons. The drinking age has been a debate between the ages 18 to the age of 21 for a while now. Over the years, studies have showed favors toward the age of 21.

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776 Words | 4 Pages

This means you are a citizen with rights and obligations. In america you are considered an adult at eighteen. Yet you do not have all the rights that other adults have. You will have to wait three more years before you are allowed to purchase alcohol and cigarettes. The legal drinking age is set at eighteen years of age in many countries.

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