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Essay On Lowering The Drinking Age

1701 Words7 Pages

I will be arguing that lowering the drinking age minimum of the United States is possible due to outdated rulings based off religious pretenses.
The legal drinking age is a hot button topic that draws many critics from a multitude of different backgrounds. According to an ICAP report about legal drinking ages in March of 1997; 26 countries had drinking ages of 18 without exceptions and only three had drinking ages not including the United States. While some would argue that the drinking law needs to be lowered from 21 to 18, this turns out to be the case in many of the states of the United States. It turns out that the United States is within an 8% minority of countries that have the highest minimum drinking age at 21. 71% of the rest of the …show more content…

However, before Prohibition alcohol regulation was simply directed at the business end. A strong wave of religion and family values led to the eventual Prohibition of all alcohol. After the waves of reformation, the drinking age was established from a range of 18 to 21 depending on state. This would define many of the precedents currently in place. If the end of Prohibition did not come with strict regulations, then it wouldn’t be until 1984 when even tighter regulations were put on states. The federal government would revoke some highway funds if they did not abide to a 21 year age limit. However, this was championed by the Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who claimed their goal is to reduce drunk driving deaths. However, the string of logic to a lowering of the minimum age is constantly pointed to starts that we only have since 1984. While studies are currently being conducted to determine how directly age plays a role in drunk driving, there are multiple studies on measures such as seat belts that have research backing the concept. The drinking age was spurred by strong lobbying and a group guided by one goal. However, it seems as though a drinking age could be removed altogether if responsible operation was still achieved. We have driving age laws and licensing, so I would suggest that alcohol usage can simply be

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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.

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When the government decided to lower their drinking age from 20 to 18 years old in 1999, they correctly predicted that there would not be an increase in alcohol abuse because many teenagers already drank alcohol they obtained illegally from adults (ICAP, 2002.) This supports the philosophy that it is better and healthier to allow young people to drink at a lower age so that their habits can be controlled, and that this can be done without increasing dangerous behavior. Statistics from around the world also suggest that a decreased legal drinking age creates healthier drinkers in the long run. A study on the percentage of people older than 15 years old with an alcohol use disorder reveals that 5.48% of Americans are affected, compared to 1.07% of people in Spain and 0.5% of people in Italy (WHO, 2004). Analyzing this data shows that the rate of alcoholism is significantly lower in countries including Spain and Italy where the drinking age is lower, likely because citizens drink responsibly throughout their entire lives.

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Imagine a world where you drive to work, have a fiance, vote for your government, and possibly have to go to war, but you aren’t old enough to have alcohol. In case you’re living under a rock, this is the world you are living in right now. In 1984, congress passed the Drinking Age Act. This act made all state 's minimum drinking age 21.

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Many states have been lowering and raising their drinking ages since the early 70s. Between 1970-1976, 30 states lowered their Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) from 21 to 18, 19, or 20 (HRF). In the United States, when a citizen reaches the age of eighteen, they are considered an adult by law. Therefore, they should be treated as such and be allowed to make their own decisions. If an eighteen-year-old can be prosecuted as an adult in court, they should also be able to decide whether or not they choose to consume alcohol.

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Did you know that lowering the minimum legal drinking age is an idea that's currently up for debate? Lowering this age has been a topic that recently just became a bigger topic to talk about. There are lots of issues concerning the young drinkers safety,and the safety of other people. Many people think that there are little to no dangers posed by lowering the drinking age,but other people think there are many dangers. If the MLDA (minimum legal drinking age) is lowered there are health dangers,physical dangers,and fear that even younger underage people will start to drink.

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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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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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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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Society places laws to protect individuals. The rise of alcohol abuse raises the question if the minimum legal drinking age of 21 secures protection of the people. With proper enforcement of drinking laws in addition to education about alcohol, the minimum legal drinking age of 18 provides a safer drinking culture. President Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984. All states in the time

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Why drinking age should be lowered? If one is considered an adult at age eighteen in most of the country, are they not allowed to purchase and legally consume alcohol? The minimum legal drinking age needs to be lowered, and not just for that reason. The amount of teenagers with drinking problems and alcoholism is far greater than in Europe, where drinking ages are far lower. Also, studies show that the current minimum age drinking laws have been ineffective to a high degree.

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