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Why The Drinking Age Should Be Lowered To 18

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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 …show more content…

“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

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818 Words | 4 Pages

Statics show that the most common source of alcohol among 18- to 20-year olds is from their 21- to 24-year-old peers. As presented by the drinkingage, a website with the pros and cons of reducing the drinking age, reducing the drinking age will would give high schoolers and even middle schoolers easier access to alcohol. As the drinking age would be reduce the chance of keeping younger children away from the presence of alcohol would be diminished as well. As the high school is effected so is the grade school, as the senior is introduced to alcohol so is the 6th grader, reducing the drink age will cause great harm not just to the allowed genera As the high school is effected so is the grade school, as the senior is introduced to alcohol so is the 6th grader, reducing the drink age will cause great harm not just to the allowed generation but also the younger generation beneath

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869 Words | 4 Pages

Lowering the drinking age would have dangerous long-term consequences. Early teen drinkers are not only more susceptible to alcoholism but to developing the disease earlier and more quickly than others. According to usnews.com the neurotoxic effect of excessive alcohol use is a danger to these key regions of the maturing adolescent brain. I understand that in other countries such as Mexico the law

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1067 Words | 5 Pages

There have been a lot of discussions whether the United States should lower the drinking age from twenty one to eighteen, and it continues to be a discussion around the country. The legal drinking age should not be lowered to eighteen due to the many risks that it involves; from traffic fatalities to lifelong health complications. Unfortunately, millions of people are affected each day by alcohol consumption.

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766 Words | 4 Pages

The drinking age should be lowered to 18 because that is when one is considered an adult, implying the intake of alcohol between 21 year olds and 18 year olds does not differentiate. Raising the drinking age to 21 has done nothing but make young adults want to drink more alcohol. Teaching people to drink responsibly before turning 21 would greatly enhance public health. “Now, high school and college students view dangerous binge drinking as a rite of passage” (The New York Times). This is because they acknowledge that it is illegal, and feel the need to abuse that by breaking the law and drinking even more.

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738 Words | 3 Pages

It has instead pushed underage binge drinking into private and less controlled environments, leading to more health and life-endangering behaviors by teens. If the legal drinking age was lowered, those teens would be able to drink in a more controlled and much more safe environment where they can be monitored and supervised. Then they will be less likely to harm themselves or others. The second argument that is used is that there are fewer drunk driving accidents in countries with lower drinking ages. In quite a few countries around the world, the legal drinking age is already 18.

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1022 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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634 Words | 3 Pages

Even though some argue that changing the drinking age to 18 isn't wise, it actually helps to create more responsible drinking habits and better opportunities for education about the risk associated with drinking. Drinking responsibly is a major problem especially for adolescents who often, consume alcohol in unhealthy and irresponsible ways. Currently, in the U.S. the first time most people can legally drink is during college, often a hotbed for parties and irresponsible drinking practices. It is important that someone's first exposure to drinking is done in a responsible, and safe manner with supervision from a responsible party. What's needed, says Hanson, a Professor of Sociology at the University of New York is better counseling for young

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660 Words | 3 Pages

18 And Alcohol Across the world, there are several different ages that allow you privileges that are labeled as taboo in others; to drive, smoke, and drink of all others. The consumption of alcoholic beverages is a highly controversial topic, which isn’t allowed until the peak age of 21 in the United States-why though? It should not be so restricting as to make you wait until that age 21; instead it should be lowered BACK to 18. In making the legal drinking age 21, it brings up more dangerous situations for those underage since it is illegal; even though 18 is the legal age of an adult.

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429 Words | 2 Pages

Many different unions, including: The American Medical Association, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and even a number of alcohol distributors, have argued passionately against lowering the drinking age (Scharnberg). American’s attitudes towards drinking alcohol show widespread opposition to lowering the drinking age to 18 in all states. Also, a majority of the people support making penalties for underage drinking stricter than they are now to prevent many unfortunate accidents

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559 Words | 3 Pages

The main reason the drinking age should be changed is because of the various affects it can have on precious lives. Drinking before the age of 21 has various effects such as taking part in violent behaviours, attempting suicide, engage in sex that is unprotected and may not know what they are getting into, and also give you alcohol problems in your later life. An Australian study also found physical changes in the brain, which effected your skill in problem solving and cognitive functioning which are vital for your life. More and more young lives are becoming victims to alcohol and majorly influencing young

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821 Words | 4 Pages

Clearly, there is a responsibility issue with alcohol, change is in order from the current age of 21, the drinking age should be lowered to 18.

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769 Words | 4 Pages

This law changed to 21 because all states would “lose a certain percentage of federal highway dollars” (“Frequently Asked”). Not only that but the rates of excessive drinking went up, along with drunk driving. Driving alone is hard enough, especially if the person is a new driver, but add alcohol and there is a very deadly mix. Being able to legally drink at the age of “21 decreased the number of fatal traffic accidents for 18- to 20-year-olds by 13% and saved approximately 27,052 lives from 1975-2008” (“Should the Drinking Age”). Since there have been less drunk driving accidents when the minimum age for drinking changed to 21, it is a safer environment if the drinking age is left at 21 instead of being

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646 Words | 3 Pages

The consumption of alcohol has always been a controversial topic all over the world. The legal age to drink any alcoholic beverages has been causing conflict for centuries. In many nations, the legal age to drink is 18 and many of the times even lower than 18. As a result, many adolescents have the tendency to get drunk because they view harmful products to be pleasing. They don’t realize that drinking from a young age can cause them to have detrimental damages within themselves.

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452 Words | 2 Pages

Kids and teenagers have been drinking in places such as basements and fraternity houses to hide from authority. These teenager’s actions have made them reckless and harmful. For example, the University of the South’s president has entailed that drinking is taking behind closed doors which is more dangerous. Schools, parties, and universities that have the ages between 18 and 20 are drinking being aware of the law.

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827 Words | 4 Pages

People will oppose to this law, but at the age of 18 an adolescent's brain is not fully developed yet. Underage drinking is a common action in today’s society. What kids do not know is the effect that underage drinking has on their brain. Since the brain is not fully developed at the age of 18, drinking

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