Lowering The Drinking Age Essay

While the legal drinking age is 21, that does not stop underage drinking in the United States. On July 17, 1984, President Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. This was a law that required states to raise the drinking age to 21 or face a 10 percent cut to their federal highway funding. All of the states fulfilled the requirement and accepted the higher drinking age(Tietjen). One of the biggest that contributes to underage drinking is mainly because it is “off limits.” Binge drinking is a huge problem within itself, considering that 90% of the consumption of alcohol in college is through binge drinking. It is not limited to just college campuses, although four out of five college students do not comply with the drinking age.

18 is supposed to symbolize adulthood; people can go and serve in the military at 18, but not drink alcohol. Drinking before the legal age of 21 gives different types of buzzes. One type of buzz us the obvious kind where the drinker is affected by the alcohol and another is the buzz of adrenaline one gets when defying an authority figure. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would eliminate the thrill one may get from drinking before 21. There are many benefits to lowering the drinking age. It is likely that lowering the age would reduce the number of underage people who are hurt from alcohol-related injuries, since they are afraid to seek help because they are

The problem with having officers keeping a closer eye on underage drinkers is that something more serious that should take precedence over this matter may happen. The fear of being caught with alcohol will limit the ability to retrieve it. This leads to binge drinking because they have to get rid of the alcohol before they get caught with