Drinking age - Lower it? The minimum legal drinking age(MLDA) has been perhaps the single most studied alcohol-control policy. Since 1984, the National minimum legal drinking age in the United States has been 21 years. However, Alex was only 18 years old the night he died in a fatal car crash. He had his whole life ahead of him, star of the football team and top of his graduating class. One lousy decision ended it all. He was at a party consuming alcohol and decided to drive home under the influence. While driving home, he hit a tree and went straight off a bridge. Now think, is this what you want to see happen to your children? Lowering the MLDA to 18 years old will affect the future of our generation in a negative way. It will cause an …show more content…
Allowing 18 year olds to legally drink alcohol will give middle schoolers and high schoolers easier access to alcohol. This is because many high schoolers are 18 years old their senior year. The seniors will then buy alcohol for their friends and/or siblings that are not of legal age. Studies have shown that college students ages 18-20 years old are less likely to engage in binge drinking than those of legal drinking age. Although this may be true, it is also a proven fact that “the heaviest-drinking college students are more likely to have been heavy drinkers in high school”(Wechsler, Henry, and Toben F. Nelson). If the MLDA is lowered to 18 years old then the amount of heavy drinkers in high school will increase leading to heavy drinking among college students. Many health and social consequences are brought along with an increase in alcohol consumption. For example, if you have a job or attend school and consume alcohol, it can have an impact on your performance and preparedness. Another social consequence of drinking alcohol is an increase in vandalism and homicide. Alcohol has many behavioral side effects on a person. It can cause someone to have sudden outbursts of anger and aggression. The anger then leads to physical abuse, vandalism, or even homicide. Drinking alcohol also increases the risk of health issues such as alcohol poisoning and sexually transmitted