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Legal Drinking Age Essay

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Recommended: Arguments for and against legal drinking age

Should the U.S. Legal Drinking Age be lowered from 21 to 18 Years of Age? Alcohol is considered the drug of choice for many American youth. Statistics provide that there are more than 10.1 million underage drinkers in the U.S. with 85 percent of college students and 72 percent of 12 graders having tried alcohol. As a result, underage drinking contributes to death from injuries, increases the risk of sexual and physical assault, as well as playing a role in risky sexual behavior. However, there have been increasing debates over whether the minimum legal drinking age should be reduced from 21 years to 18 years. These debates have also shaped two paradigms whereby one is for the opinion that if 18-year-olds are legally allowed to join the armed forces, to vote, join the jury, and drive, why can’t they be allowed to drink alcohol? The other paradigm holds that reducing the minimum legal drinking age to 18 years would not guarantee responsible drinking and as such may result in serious injuries or death. Paradigm 1 It is unfair to allow 18-year-olds to fight enemies in battle fields but yet deny them the right to have a drink. Therefore, if the law feels that 18-year-olds are capable of joining the armed forces, driving, and voting, then …show more content…

This would also impair their organization and planning capabilities and may even lead to depression and suicide. The MLDA should not be lowered due to the responsibility required to an individual and others. Lowering the MLDA would lead to more use of illicit drugs among the persons between 18 and 21 years old. It follows that the younger a person starts to engage in alcohol, the higher the chances of using other illicit drugs. Moreover, when the drinking age was 18 years, the cases of fatal crashes caused by underage drunk drivers were twice as many as

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If young Australian who are under the age of 21 are drinking alcohol, it is too soon, too much and too risky for them. Therefore, the legal drinking age in Australia should be 21 years of age. Something that many Australian have forgotten is that all Australian states had an age of 21 drinking law in the late 60s, and that law was reduced to 18. When the age was reduced, Australian actually started to experience the rising rates of youth alcohol problems and more deaths on the road. Alcohol can have toxic effects on young people 's body.

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This is why there are different limits in order to drink alcohol. Thinking about lowering the age is a bad choice to consider making. The United States shouldn’t allow this to happen to society. Lawmakers should not make eighteen the legal drinking

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If young adults at the age of 18 are old enough to vote and enlist in the army, then why can they not purchase and consume alcohol? Over the years, the set drinking age has been a controversial topic among society. Some people believe the MLDA (Minimum Legal Drinking Age) should stay at the age of 21 because it is safer for their kids. However, lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 would change the standards of alcohol as it encourages those of legal adulthood to make responsible decisions as adults, learn to control binge drinking and promote less automobile accidents. To further explain, 18 is the age of majority therefore young adults are mature enough to make their own decisions.

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But while it has succeeded in that, it is also believed that tougher rules, such as DUI rules and seatbelt safety rules have also played a part in this decrease. However, this higher drinking age hasn’t reduced drinking, its only “driven it underground,” Gabrielle Glaser states in her NY Times article. It has been driven underground to the riskiest settings, high school parties and frat parties that are unsupervised. This age raise segregates the drinking away from adults that can model moderation in drinking. If an 18-year-old high school senior is shown by his/her parent(s) how to drink responsibly and in moderation, I believe that it would greatly help in reducing the chance of making bad decisions by overdoing it, such as driving while drinking.

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It has instead pushed underage binge drinking into private and less controlled environments, leading to more health and life-endangering behaviors by teens. If the legal drinking age was lowered, those teens would be able to drink in a more controlled and much more safe environment where they can be monitored and supervised. Then they will be less likely to harm themselves or others. The second argument that is used is that there are fewer drunk driving accidents in countries with lower drinking ages. In quite a few countries around the world, the legal drinking age is already 18.

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Over the years, there have been debates about lowering the drinking age in the United States to eighteen. People argue that if a person can fight in the military or vote in elections, then he or she should be allowed the right to drink alcohol. Others feel that it is not wise to lower the legal drinking age because the results would be dangerous. Although there are arguments for lowering the drinking age, there is also an abundance of research that proves lowering the drinking age would be destructive. The legal drinking age should not be lowered to eighteen because it will give high school and even middle school students greater access to alcohol, interfere with brain development, adult rights begin at twenty-one, and increase traffic accidents among the youth.

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With all of these resources, it makes it possible to maintain the students’ knowledge of consumption responsibility. Additionally, it assists in insuring the smooth transition of childhood to adulthood. The legal age for alcohol consumption should be decreased back to 18 years old because this is the legal age to register for military, at 18 one is considered a taxpayer, and 18 year olds today already have easy access to possessing

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2010, underage drinking has cost the American economy an astounding $24 billion dollars.(“Alcohol and Public Health.”) Every state in the United States has their minimum drinking age set at 21, though some states have certain exceptions, including drinking under adult supervision, for medical purposes, and consumption at home (“Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?”). There are many controversies surrounding this topic; some people support a Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) of 21 and others believe in a MLDA of 18 (“Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?”). The minimum drinking age should not be lowered from age 21 to 18 because more citizens will be exposed to dangerous areas, MLDA 21 has reduced car injuries and death, and underage drinking harms the brain’s development.

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Opponents of the bill suggest that raising the purchasing age has led many youth to unhealthy drinking habits and alcoholism. Seeing how easy it was to raise the drinking age it would probably be even easier to lower it back down, if congress would agree to it. Opponents of the NMDA suggest that the raise in drinking age has also raised the amount of alcohol abuse and alcoholism. They claim “teenagers "learn" to drink at parties and other social situations, which encourage excessive binge drinking and poor judgement.” Studies have also shown that alcohol abuse at a young age greatly increases the risk of alcoholism in the future.

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Lowering the drinking age: risky or safe? When teenagers turn 18, they are told that they are adults and are sent into the world. They go to college, get a job, marry or join the military. They do grown-up things like vote, pay taxes and become parents, but they can 't go to the bar for a beer.

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The drinking age should be lowered because it would help with drinking and driving and also with young adults consuming alcohol at a young age. It would kill a lot of their fun because some of them think it's fun to break the law and drink underage. Making it legal would eliminate getting away with something that's not legal. Kids take a small amount of alcohol to get drunk and they tend to overdo it and over drink and it has more impact on them. ”The MLDA in the United States is 21 years.

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When a child turns 18, they open to many more responsibilities than any other teenage birthday. When a child is 18, they are not considered a kid anymore, they are adults. One of the many perks of being 18 is kids can vote and they can enlist in the army. In 1984, President Reagan had signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, and this required all states to set the drinking age to 21. If an 18 year old can enlist in the army, and put their life at risk they should be able to drink alcohol at 18.

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A poll taken on July 2014 asked the public opinion of US adults for lowering the US legal drinking age from 21 to 18. Approximately 74% of the people opposed the idea, whereas roughly 25% of the people supported the idea ("Public Opinion" 1). The statistics indicate satisfaction among the majority of the people; however, with the current laws many issues arise that must be addressed concerning alcohol use. For starters, studies show an increase of dangerous drinking habits among young adults (Hall 2). In addition, the enforcement of the drinking laws and education on alcohol is insubstantial (Moyse, Fonder 3).

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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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Across the country, college students participate in an illegal activity known as underage drinking. The drinking age in America is an ongoing debate of whether it should be kept at 21, or reduced to 18. While some believe lowering the drinking age would make drinking for young kids safer, others presume the opposite. According to Alexis Aguirre, a journalist at the Texas State University Star, “The legal drinking age should be lowered to 18. Once 18, a person is legally considered an adult and should be able to drink.”

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