Eighteen is the age of adulthood within the United States, the age in which individuals become eligible to participate in several life-altering decisions such as getting married or voting for public officials - despite this, individuals of this age are not permitted to buy or consume alcohol. Restricting the drinking age to residents at and above the age of twenty-one has been an abysmal failure. Elevating the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) to twenty-one years old in the 1980s has influenced a dangerous culture of reckless behavior among young adults, including unsupervised extreme and binge drinking. While this law may have reduced the amount of highway deaths, it may also be contributing to an increase in off-highway deaths. In the United …show more content…
Prohibiting this age group from drinking in licensed locations influences them to drink in unsupervised places. Individuals will often drink in locations such as fraternities and/or parties where there are higher tendencies to participate in unsafe behavior. Despite increasing MLDA to 21 in 1984, the number of traffic accidents and fatalities that occurred within the 80s decreased less than that of countries whose legal drinking ages are already below 21 (Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?). In numerous European countries, teenagers at the age of 18 are allowed to drink in restaurants and other public places, under the supervision of trusted authority figures (Anderson). In the US, contrarily, teenagers at the age of 18 are not eligible to consume or purchase alcohol, and participate in these acts in risky areas where they are not under any supervision (Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?). Underage drinking in the US has been relevant for decades and regardless of a change in legislature. Despite any law created by the US government, there will always be people who do not follow the law, including underage adults that will continue to consume