Voting, being in the military, marriage, and Driving. These are all responsibilities when you become an adult at age 18, except for one-drinking. Our country gives people the age of 18 the responsibilities of taking lives in war, but not consuming alcohol? Making decisions about how much alcohol you take is part of growing up, becoming an adult, and being more independent. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 because heavy drinking is more common among young people than legal age. Lowering it would take the “cool” and “illegal ” parts out of drinking, and the new law would actually be enforceable.
Alcohol legal age at 21 instead of 18 creates a cyclical problem. It makes it moredifficult to get alcohol, which makes it even better for teens to get their hands on it. The inexperience and enjoyment of alcohol causes teens to lose control and drink unsafely. Ruth C. Engs, a Professor, Applied Health Sciences at the Indiana
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“National alcohol prohibition from 1920 to 1933 failed, which shows that strict regulation of drinking is counterproductive, unenforceable, and can lead to an increase in illegal and underground activities” (Mintz 1). We are sending the wrong message to society as well. Even when you turn age 21 you’re still not educated enough on what excessive drinking does to your body. For instance, when you get your driver license, you don’t just get the keys and let you figure it out for yourself. You learn over time, take tests, and really get a feel of what you’re getting yourself into before you go out and drive on your own. What good is chasing around an underage college student with beer in their hands instead of giving them the facts? There are bigger issues with alcohol like drunk driving and knowing your limits with alcohol. We should focus more on alcohol awareness in high schools and give 18 year olds the facts to understand the effects of alcohol better than most 21 year