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Less Drinking Age

650 Words3 Pages

Of all the rights one obtains when becoming a legal adult at the age of 18, such as the ability to get married and vote for our country’s leaders, drinking is not one of those rights. The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act led all fifty states to change their drinking ages to 21. Since then, drinking statistics have shown that less people are becoming alcoholics, and drinking alcohol in general. It also affords three extra years of driving experience to teens before they can drink, because despite the fact that it is illegal to drink and drive, those three years can be important in the decision making process of someone debating if they are safe to drive. It is odd however that this right, out of all rights provided by the government at …show more content…

According to the CDC fact sheet regarding the legal drinking age, after all states adopted an age of 21 as their minimum legal drinking age, drinking during the previous month among people from age 18 to 20 years old declined from 59% in 1985 to 40% in 1991. The fact sheet also states that drinking among people age 21 to 25 also declined when states adopted the age 21 year old minimum legal drinking age, from 70% in 1985 to 56% in 1991. These statistics are significant due to the large decreases in the percentages of people drinking. This indicates that the law is effectively lowering the rates of teens and adults alike that are drinking. Less drinking overall has been a general goal of the government for a long time, and this minimal legal drinking age is helping make that a …show more content…

To put it quite simply, alcohol can have a plethora of negative effects on the body. Motor skills can be seriously impaired under the influence of alcohol. Which is why drinking and driving is illegal, as a driver’s physical and mental focus needs to be on driving for the safety of him or her self and others. This is also a reason to not drink, because people are far more likely to hurt themselves when they are impaired physically. According to the CDC fact sheet regarding the legal drinking age, states that increased the legal drinking age to 21 saw a 16% median decline in total motor vehicle crashes. Such a decrease indicates that alcohol was negatively affecting drivers, which shows just how severe the effects of alcohol can be. The significance of this statistic is not that the amount of drunk driving went down, but the total amount of car crashes in America decreased from 46,087 crashes in 1986, to 39,251 crashes in 1991, showing more conclusive evidence for the need of a legal drinking age of 21 (fhwa). As stated on the consumer information for the Federal Trade Commission website, “Alcohol consumption can interfere with development of the young adult brain 's frontal lobes, essential for functions such as emotional regulation, planning, and organization. When alcohol consumption interferes with this early adult brain development, the potential for chronic problems

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682 Words | 3 Pages

The legal drinking age has been in question since 1984 when Congress passed the Uniform Drinking Age Act and effectively established a Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) of 21. Various arguments advocating for lowering the drinking age has since surfaced, including arguments that the MLDA doesn’t do much to stop underage drinking and traffic accidents and fatalities are most common among newly legal drinkers (Dee and Evans). Opposers of the MLDA also argue that the United States is one of the few countries in the world with such strict alcohol laws; if 18-year-olds are able to vote, fight in the army, and serve on a jury, why can’t they consume alcohol? While each argument presented raises valid points, research has shown that the MLDA saves

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Prohibition Dbq

958 Words | 4 Pages

Many states required that the legal drinking age be 21 although some required that a person be 18. By 1984 all US states required that the legal drinking age be 21. In conclusion, although the intention of the Prohibition Act and the age of prohibition was to improve the lives of citizens by reducing health risks, violence and crimes caused by alcoholism, it had the opposite effect. As such, the Prohibition Act and the ensuing age of prohibition did not succeed in reducing the consumption and abuse of alcohol but instead created a virtual “monster” that created more problems rather than finding

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870 Words | 4 Pages

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1265 Words | 6 Pages

The law stating that you have to be 21 or older to drink alcohol is significant because it lowers alcohol consumption and illicit drug use across age groups. 87 % of studies, according to a Meta study on MLDA, says, “we have found that higher legal drinking ages are more associated with lower alcohol consumption”. This means that there have been more cases of teenagers who are under the age of 21 who have been associated with alcohol more than those of the legal drinking age people who are 21 or older. Those who are apart of drinking at a younger age than 21 most likely have memory problems, depression, more violence, and suicide. Another example states, “significantly increased alcohol consumption- particularly among boys and those from underprivileged backgrounds- when drinking becomes legal.

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978 Words | 4 Pages

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), about 1 in 10 teens in high school drink and drive. This is a lot. The CDC also states that young drivers are 17 times more likely to die in a crash when they have a blood alcohol level of .08 or above compared to when they haven’t been drinking; however, there is still some good news. Teen drinking

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738 Words | 3 Pages

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733 Words | 3 Pages

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2155 Words | 9 Pages

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537 Words | 3 Pages

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Essay On Why The Drinking Age Should Be 18

827 Words | 4 Pages

In some countries, like in Europe the drinking age is set at 18. Even though people in the US think this is insane, this set age has more positive effects than people think it would. It is known that binge drinking is a problem in the US since it has the highest rate in the world for binge drinking. In Europe, teenagers get their license at age 18, and some drinking ages are lower than that, they figure out how to control their drinking before the drive. Unlike in the US, kids drink and then drive because they either have to be home by curfew or they are too scared to call their parents for a ride, and admit they had been under the

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1387 Words | 6 Pages

Over the years, the legal drinking age in the United States has been heavily debated. Some argue that the legal age to drink should be 18 or 19 because people at that age are recognized as adults; others argue that the drinking age should be 21 because people who are able to drink should be more mature and have their lives better planned out. Although people are legally adults at 18, they are not yet mature adults; in fact, according to NRP, “emerging science about brain development suggests that most people don’t reach full maturity until the age 25” (“Brain”). Before earning the right to legally drink, people should allow their bodies to fully develop and gain a better knowledge of how to organize their lives. The drinking age should remain

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847 Words | 4 Pages

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512 Words | 3 Pages

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