Lowering Drinking Age Benefits

Benefits of a Lowered Drinking Age A majority of the civilized world has set the drinking age to 18, yet America has decided on the puritanically high age of 21. Until 1987 the drinking age was 18, but in 1987 it was nationally mandated that the age increase to 21, and following this mandate came some very negative consequences. Reports of students cutting class after drinking, classes absences due to hangovers, fighting after drinking, and grades sinking after drinking increased after this law was passed (Engs 2014). The drinking age in America should return to 18 and for three main reasons. The age at which an individual is legally considered an adult is 18, and adults should have the right to do as they please with their own body. The

Some will make the claim that by age 18 an individual’s brain is not yet fully developed, and thus incapable of comprehending the responsibility that comes with drinking. But by that same logic, someone who is 18 shouldn’t vote either. If they are incapable of being responsible for themselves, how can they be trusted with the power to make a decision that will ultimately affect up to 350 million Americans? And yet, they are trusted with that power. Next comes the argument that the drinking age should not be lowered for the reason of health, but if this is the case then why are 18 year olds allowed to purchase cigarettes? Alcohol is not nearly as addictive as cigarettes, and in moderation has fewer health risks. On the other hand any amount of cigarette smoking causes bodily harm. In fact smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States, and nearly half of all people who never quit smoking die from a smoking-related illness. (Tobacco: The True Cost of Smoking

When young adults below the age of 21 drink, it rarely even crosses their mind that what they are doing is illegal, they simply see drinking as one of the symbols of adulthood and seeing as they are adults they want to partake. However, every time one of these young adults takes a drink they are actively breaking the law, but it is one so horribly enforced that only around 2 in 1,000 instances of underage drinking results in arrest or citation (Wolfson 1995). This is exactly why underage drinkers are so brazen and have seemingly no respect for the law. They know they will not be caught. This habitual law breaking may lead to the idea that breaking other laws will also not end in arrest, which is often not the case. In addition, many of those under 21 who drink are forced to break the law to acquire false identification documents in order to obtain their alcohol. This can lead to the destruction of the individual’s life if they are caught as obtaining a fake ID is a