Lowering Drinking Age

The public agrees 72 percent of adults think that lowering the drinking age would make alcohol more accessible to kids, and nearly half think that it would increase binge drinking among teens. Lowering the drinking age would worsen the problems of underage and binge drinking. Advocates often point out that if a young adult is old enough to go to war and vote, he should have the power to imbibe alcoholic beverages. Does society think we should lower or higher the drinking age? Research indicates that when the minimum legal drinking age is 21, people under age 21 drink less overall and continue to do so through their early 20s. When the drinking age has been lowered, injury and death rates significantly increased. Lowering the drinking age would

According to M.A.D.D.(Mothers Against Drunk Driving), in 2010 the highest drunk driving rates were found amongst those ages 21 to 25 , and 18 to 20. After age 25, the drunk driving rates decrease. Some people think that part of the problem with alcohol abuse by young people say, is that the legal drinking age in the United States is too high. "When we raise the drinking age to 21, which incidentally is the highest in the world, it makes drinking more attractive to young people," says David J. Hanson, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at Potsdam. Critics of the drinking age limit also point to the fact that at 18, U.S. citizens can vote, marry and own a gun, but cannot legally gulp a beer. Alcoholism is a brain disease and the earlier people start drinking, the worse the effects on the brain. A reason not to lower the drinking age is the reoccurance of binge drinking. Binge drinking, especially at a young age, can cause high blood pressure, obesity, and poor brain and body growth. Binge drinking also can cause death from heart attacks and alcohol poisoning. This poisoning happens when alcohol shuts down the part of the brain that controls breathing and heart rate, and the person dies. Fox News reports that 157 college-age individuals ages 18 to 23 drank themselves to death from 1999

The NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), found that "up to 86 percent of homicide offenders, 37 percent of assault offenders, and 60 percent of sexual offenders" were using alcohol at the time of the crime. Additionally, for those who feel that those who enlist in the military should be able to drink legally, one might counter that the context is different. At first glance, picking up a bottle seems less harmful than picking up a gun. Though, that the military allows such behavior under extreme supervision and in a highly targeted fashion. Throw in the extensive training involved, and you get a very different experience than allowing a young adult to drink a bottle of Henny and engage in a host of harmful