ipl-logo

Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Drinking Age

682 Words3 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 …show more content…

According to a study, “findings have been presented that are consistent with the hypothesis that adolescents with accelerated alcohol involvement have premorbid brain characteristics that differ from reference adolescents” (Durazzo et al.). Throughout adolescence, or roughly between the ages of 10 and 19 years old, the prefrontal cortex, limbic system areas, and white matter myelin develop (Clark). These sections of the brain influence cognitive, emotional, and behavioral abilities and may be susceptible to adverse effects of alcohol. When mixed with alcohol, various developmental delays or other complications already present may cause adolescents to be more liable to accelerated alcohol use. The limbic system greatly influences the processing of stimuli, the formation of new memories, and the implementation of responses related to each. It helps regulate and process emotional and social information and develops early in adolescents. Structures of the limbic system include the hippocampus and amygdala, which may be vulnerable to alcohol-induced dysmaturation (Clark). The hippocampus, in particular, may be vulnerable to adverse alcohol effects (DeBellis et al.). Alcohol, specifically binge drinking or excessive and long-term alcohol consumption, can cause cognitive deficits and irreversible brain damage in adolescents

Show More
Related
604 Words | 3 Pages

Alcohol could cause the perpetual brain damage in young people and affects the way their brains work. Alcohol can poison the brain due to it is a neurotoxin itself. The brain hasn 't finished developing at

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

The effects of drugs and alcohol can highly affect young

Read More
987 Words | 4 Pages

In this article there are two sides to the debate of whether or not the states should be able to set their own drinking age. The pro side, represented by John McCardell says that if eighteen year olds are capable of being drafted for a war, they should be able to legally drink as well. The con side James C. Fell says that a lower drinking ages hel a higher risk of suicide and homicide, and thus keeping the drinking age at twenty one would be preventing nearly twelve hundred suicides and homicides combined. Things cannot always be easy, and this debate that the article focuses on is no exception. Throughout the history of America there have always been disputes of just how much power the federal government should be able to wield, and how much they should be able to limit the state's power.

Read More
1294 Words | 6 Pages

One con of lowering the drinking age is that it may interfere with the development of an young individual’s brain. Especially the frontal lobes, emotional regulation, planning, and also organization. When a young adult consumes alcohol it increases the potential of having chronic issues, like greater vulnerability to addiction. It also plays a role in depression, violence, and reduced decision making ability (Ives2008).

Read More
397 Words | 2 Pages

Underage drinkers can cause problems with brain development, function, and structure,

Read More
1327 Words | 6 Pages

Exposure to alcohol can cause a child to have permanent brain damage which leads to learning disabilities, behavior problems, memory deficits, attention

Read More
2020 Words | 9 Pages

Additionally, due to their developing brains and bodies, young people may be more vulnerable to the physical effects of alcohol and impairment of cognitive performance. Data has also highlighted that 13% of deaths among 14–17-Year-olds can be attributable to alcohol. (Stautz K, Cooper A. I 2013) According to Ashenhurst et al. (2015)

Read More
1084 Words | 5 Pages

The human brain keeps developing until a person is 25 years old. Underage drinking impairs neurological

Read More
1070 Words | 5 Pages

Responsibility is one of the keywords to remember when consuming alcohol. Anything could happen when you 're under the influence, death, rape, and many more life-altering occurrences. One huge potential life-altering thing that could happen to you is brain damage. Drinking at a younger age increases the risk of brain damage. This is the only potentially bad risk that comes with drinking, but if consumed responsibly it will be okay

Read More
1387 Words | 6 Pages

Drugs such as alcohol have an effect on all users, regardless of their age; however, alcohol has an especially harmful effect on teens since their bodies are still developing. Studies have shown that alcohol has numerous negative effects on a teen’s body and mental health; for example, a study conducted by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention stated that “alcohol consumption affects the brain’s frontal lobes, which is essential for functions such as emotional regulations, planning, and organization” (“Age”). Teens already have high emotions and difficulties planning and organizing; alcohol will only enhance teens’ struggle. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention also found that alcohol consumption at a young age can potentially cause chronic problems such as memory loss, depression, suicidal thoughts, and poor decision making (“Age”). Teens have a difficult enough time making decisions and organizing their lives, but adding alcohol to the mix will only make matters worse; their bodies are still developing, and they are still learning to be adults.

Read More
600 Words | 3 Pages

Did you know that your brain develops until the age of 25? Anything that you do to disrupt this process—including substance—will affect how your brain develops. During the brain’s development stage, any type of trauma and/or changes in the brain’s wiring could affect brain function. Drug use is one of the ways that can mess up the wiring. How?

Read More
950 Words | 4 Pages

The brain cells in the brain of a heavy drinker happens to not work as correctly as a kid that does not drink. Alcohol slows down the cerebral cortex and the way it works to get information from a person’s senses. Underage drinking also messes with the Frontal Lobes their important for planning, forming ideas, and making decisions. If alcohol was to damage part of the brain where the Hippocampus is located it could be very hard for the person to learn new

Read More
1332 Words | 6 Pages

According to a study done at the University of Washington, “ For the developing young adult, drug and alcohol abuse undermines motivation, interferes with cognitive processes, contributes to debilitating mood disorders, and increases risk of accidental injury or death” (Hawkins). When teens abuse drugs, they can damage their brains. This can affect everything from emotions, to memory. The abuse of drugs as a teen can also lead to accidental death, particularly involving overdoses and car accidents. Also, according to Addiction Center, an information center about drug use, abuse, and addiction, “Substance abuse affects teen brain development by: interfering with neurotransmitters and damaging connections within the brain, reducing the ability to experience pleasure, creating problems with memory, causing missed opportunities during a period of heightened learning potential, ingraining expectations of unhealthy habits into brain circuitry, [and] inhibiting development of perceptual abilities” (Health).

Read More
1233 Words | 5 Pages

Teens, however, do not realize the impact that alcohol and drugs have on how their brain functions, especially the effects of binge drinking, which is consuming large amounts of alcohol during one sitting. Drinking in excessive amounts and also experimenting with drugs

Read More
1251 Words | 6 Pages

In others, neurons form more connections. (Martin, 2000) These brain changes can be long-lasting and can lead to the harmful behaviors seen in people who abuse drugs. Adolescents drug abuse coexist with other mental disorders, such as attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder, affective disorders,

Read More

More about Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Drinking Age

Related Topics

Open Document