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Should The Drinking Age Be Lowered To 18

1022 Words5 Pages

The topic of the American drinking age has been a controversy since president Ronald Reagan passed the Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984. The Minimum Drinking Age Act requires people to be 21 years old to legally purchase alcohol. The act was passed in order to end blood borders with states and lower the high drinking and driving fatality rates between the 18-20 year old age groups. Those who are against the current drinking age argue that it is too high and should be lowered to 18 because the United States has one of the highest minimum drinking ages in the world. I am for the current drinking age because it effects high school dropout rates, alcohol effects the development of an adolescent’s brain, and if lowered, there will be an increase …show more content…

I disagree with this idea because 18 years old is too young and it will result in an increased high school dropout rate. Most high school seniors turn 18 before they graduate and if the drinking age was lowered, it would give seniors an easy opportunity to provide alcohol for their younger peers. For example, Andrew Plunk, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School states, "The minimum legal drinking age changes how easy it is for a young person to get alcohol. In places where it was lowered to 18, it's likely that more high school students were able to get alcohol from their friends." A recent study shows that lowering the drinking age to 18 will actually increase high school dropout rates. During the 1970s and 1980s, when some states still had the age limit set to 18, the dropout rate dramatically increased. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), “...adolescent drinkers perform worse in school, are more likely to fall behind…” Plunk states, "I think this study gives us some idea of what could happen if we lower the legal drinking age. It suggests to me that we'd see this same dropout phenomenon again” (Health). Currently, the United States dropout rate has set a record low and is working towards diminishing the dropout rate. The minimum drinking age limit of 21 should stay in place to prevent the dropout rates from increasing once

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749 Words | 3 Pages

I believe that the minimum drinking age of 21 should be lowered to 19. "The U.S. is one of only seven nations in the entire world with a drinking age of 21. Most Western democracies allow their citizens to fight in wars, vote in elections and drink alcohol at age 18. " (Cary) If at that age of 18, you can make the decision of fighting for our country and voting on who our president will be, you should be able to chose if you want to drink responsibly or not.

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1798 Words | 8 Pages

The readers can also see a lot of proof and evidence that the drinking age should definitely be lowered for many good reason, especially when 18 year olds are capable to go to war and fight or die for the freedom of their country. Eighteen year olds can die for their country but not have the chance of drinking alcohol and enjoy some fun time, that is just not fair. The drinking age should be lowered. If the drinking age is lowered, there will be fewer binge drinkers at age 18 or 19 and will also reduce a lot of serious consequences of tragic incidents from binge drinking. It will prevent way more motor-vehicle crashes.

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1636 Words | 7 Pages

The question of lowering the drinking age has been up in the air for a while now and is now a legitimate question to consider. An eighteen-year-old in US has the right to vote, and serve in the military. If an eighteen-year-old can make up their mind as to who the potential leader of the country should be and take a bullet for their country, they should have every right to purchase and drink alcohol (Cognac). Even though there may be some cons to lowering the drinking age, like there is to anything we do, there is a lot of evidence that show the pros outweigh those. Before federal law mandated that 21 only laws be passed or funding would be pulled from states, there were several areas that had made it legal to drink as a teenager (HRF).

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525 Words | 3 Pages

My opinion on the whole situation is that the drinking age should be lowered because of binge drinking. Since the drinking age has been twenty-one it has not stopped underage teens for drinking and has actually caused more problems. Binge drinking has especially been caught in college. With the mix of ages ranging anywhere from around 17-24 years old it’s easy for teens to fall under peer pressure. The opposing side to this argument says however that lowering the drinking age would be...”Pushing the drinking problem further down to 16-and 17-year olds.”

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1091 Words | 5 Pages

Why the Drinking Age Should Be Lowered Alcohol consumption in the United States is a prominent phenomenon that it has sparked the debate on the age limitations regarding its use. In more than fifty states in the United States, the legal drinking age is twenty-one years which is comparably high relative to countries such as Germany, Belgium and Denmark that allow even sixteen year olds to purchase wine and beer. There are several reasons that necessitate the drinking age to be lowered from twenty-one years to eighteen years in the United States. These reasons are not only leveraged on following trends between countries but also on creating moral responsibility among teenagers. To this end, this essay seeks to analyse the reasons why drinking age should be lowered to eighteen years in the United States.

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1507 Words | 7 Pages

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.

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765 Words | 4 Pages

There are many debates on whether the U.S drinking age should be lowered to 18 or not. The drinking age should not be lowered to 18 due to the cause of intoxicated drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 32,719 people died in traffic crashes in 2013 in the United States( latest figures available), including an estimated 10,076 people who died in drunk driving crashes, accounting for 31% of an traffic deaths that year. With that said they should not let anyone fewer than 21 consume alcohol, except men and women who serve in our National Military on their base (responsibilty.org).

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1573 Words | 7 Pages

The legal drinking age in the United States is currently 21, which dissatisfies many teens throughout the nation. Previously, our country held a policy that was less strict, allowing citizens of the age of 18 the right to drink. This was true until the Reagan Administration passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, altering the legal age to one that is already given the right to vote and fight for our country. This begs the question, should the legal drinking age in the United States be lowered? By mirroring the drinking age of other countries around the world, we have the possibility of being able to teach young Americans to act more maturely and grow up responsibly.

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618 Words | 3 Pages

It is legal for an 18-year-old to drive, vote, serve injuries, marry, and serve in the military, which involves risking one's life, but it is illegal for him or her to drink a bottle of beer. In the 1980’s the MLDA(Minimum Legal Drinking Age) was at 18 and changed to 21 by president Ronald Reagan. This caused a 50% drop in drinking while driving accident. But the MLDA 21 should be lowered to 18 because it wouldn’t be such a taboo meaning there will be a higher chance of teens breaking the law.

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739 Words | 3 Pages

Lowering the Drinking Age to 18 In America, a common argument among people is whether or not the drinking age should be lowered from 21, the current drinking age, to 18. When a person turns 18, they are considered an adult. Many opportunities open up to them which is a reason why a person should be able to drink at the age of 18. Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 would lower the amount of underage drinking that takes place, it would lower the urge of someone wanting to have their first drink at 21, and being an adult should make allow a person to be able to consume alcohol.

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595 Words | 3 Pages

In the 1970s, the drinking age had been lowered to 18, in all 50 states, due to demand and influence by other states. This had increased the drunk driving rate by 30% and during this time, it caused the highest drunk driving accidents in a lot of the American history (Issues & Controversies). This isn’t something that needs or wants to be repeated by lowering the drinking age once again. To start, one reason to not lower the drinking age is it could increase the chances of drug use. If the MLDA was lowered from 21 to 18 it would cause people to irresponsibly drink in nightclubs, not be as safe when in this environment, and could also easily increase the risk of drug use (Procon).

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1357 Words | 6 Pages

June 15, 2013- “the night that would change the lives of 10 parents for the rest of eternity. Troubled teen, Ethan Couch, speeding down the road drunk at excessive speeds over 70 mph, struck a vehicle pulled off to the side of the road, fatally taking the lives of four teenagers”(Valiente). If the United States Government had permitted the consumption of alcoholic beverages at a lesser age such as age 18, students would have more of an idea of the effects of drinking, allowing them to navigate through the hardships embedded with drinking alcoholic beverages at a lesser age, rather than binge drinking, risking their health problems, to prove their “coolness” or “toughness” to their peers. Underage drinking is a major problem within the United

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1834 Words | 8 Pages

Over the years, there have been debates about lowering the drinking age in the United States to eighteen. People argue that if a person can fight in the military or vote in elections, then he or she should be allowed the right to drink alcohol. Others feel that it is not wise to lower the legal drinking age because the results would be dangerous. Although there are arguments for lowering the drinking age, there is also an abundance of research that proves lowering the drinking age would be destructive. The legal drinking age should not be lowered to eighteen because it will give high school and even middle school students greater access to alcohol, interfere with brain development, adult rights begin at twenty-one, and increase traffic accidents among the youth.

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686 Words | 3 Pages

Lowering the drinking age is a popular argument, simply because many individuals believe it would cause an increase of drinking and driving accidents ,but others believe it would lower underage consumption. Because there is a possibility that a change in the legal drinking age law could occur, “this law has been one of the most studied in our history” (Dean- Mooney 1). A large amount of our population in the United States consume alcohol, therefore many individuals have a strong opinion as to which way the law will go. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would solve the many different problems of underage drinking, rather than create more of the problems. Underage drinking is one of the largest and most common problems on college campuses in the United States, and lowering the legal drinking age from twenty- one to eighteen-years-old would help manage the situation.

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827 Words | 4 Pages

The drinking age should be lowered, because brains are not fully developed yet, colleges should be able to regulate drinking, and this can solve problems with kids underage drinking. Despite the controversy, the drinking age should decrease for many logical reasons. The drinking age has been a debate between the ages 18 to the age of 21 for a while now. Over the years, studies have showed favors toward the age of 21.

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