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Arguments for and against lowering the drinking age
Arguments for and against lowering the drinking age
Arguments for and against lowering the drinking age
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In addition, if lawmakers consider lowering the drinking age because it would lead to more violent and destructive behavior such as academic failure. Alcohol interferes with many ways of
Teen drinking is a problem definitely to high school students who believe they need to drink because of their stressful lives. making the drinking age to Twenty-five might not diminish teen drinking but it might reduce it, a teen might still think since the age was risen that there might be a bigger consequence for under age drinkers. At this time there is someone in the United States becoming intoxicated To some people alcohol is like a drug and people who drink as a teenager are more likely to try actual drugs like marijuana or cocaine. " In some parts of Europe there is not a drinking age, why can't the US be like Europe.
Why the drinking age should be lowered In my last essay, I talked about the drinking age and if it should be lowered raised or kept the same. By the time, I finished doing the essay I concluded that it should be lowered. I think it should be lowered because at 18 your considered an adult and your able to get married join the army and vote. The earlier the drinking age the better because keeping it at 21 will increase the desire for the forbidden fruit, and when teens turn the legal age they will drink heavy. Also 21 being the legal age of maturity is absurd because somebody turning 21 doesn’t mean that they are mature enough to consume alcohol in a responsible way.
Since 1989 when the MLDA (Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 21) was increased from 18 to 21, law enforcement has admitted that its prosecution is not a priority for most law agencies. "This law has been an abysmal failure," John McCardell, a former president of Middlebury College told 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl. "It hasn't reduced or eliminated drinking. It has simply driven it underground, behind closed doors, into the most risky and least manageable of settings.” Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 would not only lower the amount of illegal binge drinking, but it would also help 18 year olds learn to manage additional responsibility at a younger age.
However these safe drinking environments were not always obsolete among teenagers. Over 30 years ago, the drinking age was 18 years old before President Ronald Reagan signed the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act of 1984, “which mandated that all states adopt 21 as the legal drinking age over the next five years” (Cary, par. 3). Mary Kate Cary, contributing editor for U.S. News & World Report, takes a stance on the subject of lowering the drinking age in her article “Time to Lower the Drinking Age”. In her article, Cary reminisces about the olden times when “there was no need for “pregaming”- binge drinking in private apartments or dorms before heading out in public.
Should the legal drinking age be lowered back to eighteen years of age of age or do you believe it should stay? The topic of traffic accidents caused by drinkers especially newly legal drinkers will be brought up. I will then bring up the problems that alcohol being illegal to anyone who is under twenty one can bring to highschool and college students. Then I will talk about the reasons the drinking age was raised in the first place. I will later bring up what issues that are around now that could be stopped if we were to lower the drinking age back down to eighteen.
During the panel discussion, my group talked about why we should or shouldn’t change the drinking age. I learned a lot of information on how the alcohol affects the body and brain. I also found out why the law should be changed or remain the same. The discussion showed me that if the law gets changed, is not really that essential because the cons of the law changing doesn’t really outweigh the pros of the law being changed.
One of the main issues America is having with the teenager of this time is alcohol abuse. Yes, many people are like they are legal adults, so let them make their own decisions. But if America is already having a problem with this then why make it legal, why make it easier for a teenager to go down to the store and buy so much alcohol that they die of alcohol poisoning. About 1,825 students between the ages 18-24 die from alcohol poisoning each year, and 696,000 students between the ages of 18-24 are physically assaulted each year in alcohol related incidents. Now this is where people will flip it and say yes, but those are college students they're going to drink and have fun it's a part of college, And many kids view it as an integral part of their higher education.
"In general, the younger people start to drink the safer they are," said Heath, who has written several books and hundreds of scholarly articles on cultural attitudes towards alcohol. When introduced early, he said, "Alcohol has no mystique. It's no big deal. By contrast, where it's banned until age 21, there's something of the 'forbidden fruit' syndrome." and if the United States has learned anything from not letting people drink it is that it does not last very long and that the citizens always find a way around the system and break the laws like how gas stations still sell alcohol to minors just like most gas stations sell cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, dip, chaw, chew, chewing tobacco, vapor cigarettes, hookah, hookah pens.
The debate of whether the U.S. federal government should lower the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) from 21 to 18 has been going on for several years. Before the 1980s, 18 was the minimum age that people could legally consume alcoholic beverages. However, a new policy advocating for an increase in the MLDA began to gain momentum in the early 1980s and by 1984, it had won over a majority of the Congress (Balko). In 1984, the U.S.government introduced the National Minimum Drinking Age Act to the public. This new law officially raised the MLDA from 18 to 21 and created much controversy throughout the nation.
With all of these new adults eager to get out and drink with their friends the government is going to see plenty of money coming from taxes on alcoholic beverages. With all of this additional
Alcohol has played an important role in American life since the beginning of our country. On December 5th, 1920, all drinks were made illegal to distribute and produce. This law brought anger into many Americans, which resulted in this legislation eventually being repealed exactly three years later. Relating this to an event in recent history, President Reagan approved laws that would raise the drinking age to 21. This stripped the right to drink from the people who had already been given the right to smoke, vote, and join the military at the age of 18.
Although it would increase revenue at businesses it will also increase the risk of drinking and driving. A lot of bartenders continue to sell drinks to a person that is clearly already highly under the influence. Their main concern at a club or bar is to make sure they are making money, not to ensure someone's
In our society today, there are millions of teenagers under the age of 21 who consume alcohol. “By age 15, about 33 percent of teens have had at least 1 drink, by age 18, about 60 percent of teens have had at least 1 drink, in 2015, 7.7 million young people ages 12–20 reported that they drank alcohol beyond “just a few sips” in the past month” (NIH). Teenagers under the age of 21 all around the country have had a drink or more to feel the thrill of breaking the law, or simply for being accepted by their peers. Even though it is illegal for young teens to purchase it, they can get it from their parent’s own liquor cabinets, unconscientious store clerks, or older friends who buy it for them. One way or the other teenagers are going to get alcohol one way or the other so why don’t we lower the drinking age?
A poll taken on July 2014 asked the public opinion of US adults for lowering the US legal drinking age from 21 to 18. Approximately 74% of the people opposed the idea, whereas roughly 25% of the people supported the idea ("Public Opinion" 1). The statistics indicate satisfaction among the majority of the people; however, with the current laws many issues arise that must be addressed concerning alcohol use. For starters, studies show an increase of dangerous drinking habits among young adults (Hall 2). In addition, the enforcement of the drinking laws and education on alcohol is insubstantial (Moyse, Fonder 3).
