Essay on Lowering the Drinking Age

Once a person turns eighteen, he or she receives many rights and privileges. One major right that all of these teenagers are missing is the right to buy and consume alcohol. The question is posed is whether lowering the minimum drinking age to eighteen would be a better or worse idea. Jeffery A. Miron, a senior lecturer at Harvard University’s economics department, and Elina Tetelbaum, a law student from Yale University, write in their argumentative article in Forbes Magazine, “The Dangers of the Drinking Age”, in which they believe that the minimum drinking age of twenty-one is not working. After conducting studies, they found that the minimum legal drinking age of twenty-one has little or no effect on traffic fatalities. Lowering the minimum drinking age to eighteen would likely have the same effects as the minimum age of twenty-one; it is reasonable to assume that underage teenagers may feel less rebellious knowing that they can legally buy and consume alcohol at the age of eighteen.

One last reason why the legal drinking age should begin at the age of 25 years old because it also leads up to underage drinking, in which they think it’s something cool to do. But nobody considers the danger that comes along with irresponsible drinking. Most people do not educate their selves when it comes to drinking and driving, drinking and mixing medications is dangerous as well. Drinking is a risk factor, no matter if it’s among yourself or out in the public of others. It’s understandable that everybody feel that once they become an adult or even the legal drinking age that they can do whatever they want. Drinking is a volunteer choice preference people make regardless the consequences that can result from bad judgment once under the influence from drinking. Drinking can affect your vision, your speech to speak clearly, and your actions to things that could have been avoided.

Every year, thousands of deaths occur as a result of drunk driving, and every day people are facing the consequences of irresponsible drinking. Because of the issues caused by irresponsible drinking, the US government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984 which raised the minimum drinking age to twenty-one to prevent drinking-related accidents and violence. Despite the intent of its passing, it was a counterproductive decision. Because of the higher age restriction, high school upperclassmen and college underclassmen see drinking as an exciting, rebellious act. Consequentially, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act resulted in an increase in dangerous and irresponsible drinking which continues to this day. Not only does the

Some people find it hard to understand that at the age of eighteen you can fight and die for your country, but you cannot legally drink or purchase alcoholic beverages. Others find it hard to believe that there are people who want people under the age of twenty-one drinking. The important question is: should the drinking age be lowered to eighteen instead of remaining at twenty-one?

The first reason that the drinking age should be lowered, and possibly the most obvious, is that an eighteen-year-old has the right to vote and serve in the military. If you are of the mental capacity to decide you will die for this country rather than let it be overtaken, as well as logically determine who you want leading the country, you should absolutely be able to drink alcohol. This is the easiest argument to make and there is not much of a counterpoint to contradict this specifically. A similar argument is that an eighteen-year-old is tried as an adult in court. Someone who is capable of making essentially every other decision in their life as an adult suddenly cannot decide whether they should drink or not. Logically, having one outlier like this does not make sense. It is a hypocritical stance and there simply should not be this disparity in age. A counterpoint often made here is that a higher drinking age has to do with one’s brain development. The simple fact here is that “There’s no magic that happens physically to

A college freshman walked into his new living quarters on the third floor of the on-campus dormitory to witness his first wild back-to-school college party. Students strolled through each other’s open doorways with red plastic cups in hand. Music blared, a drink was spilled, laughter echoed off the walls, and the young man was offered an alcoholic drink. The young man was encouraged by his new peers to drink, and so he did. But the college freshman was not yet 21 and therefore agreed to many risks by taking that first sip. In my opinion, the drinking age in America should not be lowered. There are too many risks involved in underage intoxication to pass a law promoting drinking at a younger age.

Underage drinking has been occurring since laws were set in place for age qualifications, but it is better serving American society by continuing it because we can’t accept lowering the national age? Ruth C. Engs, a professor for Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University, finds that the mandated drinking age should be lowered to 18 or 19. If young adults were legally allowed to drink in controlled environments, then responsible drinking methods could be taught, resulting in mature behavior when consuming alcohol (Engs, 1). By keeping the drinking age so high, students or young adults are forced to hide drinking and more often than not, turn to binge drinking, an unhealthy, addictive, and extremely dangerous form of drinking that often results in blackouts and alcohol poisoning. Engs states, “For example, 22% of all students under 21 compared to 18% over 21 years of age are heavy drinkers.” This is not the only issue that arises from underage drinking. Newsweek writer, Jeffrey A. Tucker, sees that this law is only causing “over-indulgence, anti-social behavior, disrespect for the law, secrecy and sneaking and a massive diversion of human energy.” To diminish these issues, people are turning towards the examples of other nations that have managed to maintain low drinking age laws, with low risk results. In other countries, alcohol is seen as a cultural norm and are taught at young age how to responsibly consume. However, it is treated the opposite in America, instead, it is seen as how Wil Fulton from the Huffington Post sees it, “forbidden fruit”. Fulton states through a claim made by the World Health Organization, that while Europeans tend to consume more alcohol, Americans still die from more alcohol-related causes. In efforts to change this law and hopefully encourage safe and responsible drinking, many are turning towards the Amethyst Initiative, a movement created by John

On July 17, 1984, at the heels of extensive lobbying from groups such as MADD, President Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, ultimately creating a national minimum drinking age of 21. According to MADD, “this drinking age approach prompted states to raise their legal age for purchase or public possession of alcohol to 21 or risk losing millions in federal highway funds”(M, n.d.). All 50 states have raised their MLDA to

The drinking age has been a controversial issue for many years. Each democratic country has imposed a certain legal drinking age. The government of the United States of America has an uncompromising and conclusive prospect on the matter; they insist the legal drinking age be 21. As set laws are typically imposed to serve a specific demographic, there will constantly be certain minorities or groups who possess conflicting views. Teenagers exploit the system in many ways by buying alcohol with fake identification cards, drinking illegally, and going into bars. There are multiple factors for the reason that the legal drinking age should be changed to 18. One of the most obvious reasons for changing the drinking age would the amount of people who

In 1984 Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole lobbied for all states to raise the legal drinking age from eighteen to twenty-one. The consequence for a state not raising the age was to lose a portion of their federal highway funding. I personally believe that the drinking age being twenty-one is just like when the voting age was twenty-one, if I can go to war and die for my country, then I should be able to go to the bar and buy a beer.

“We don't hand teenagers car keys without first educating them about how to drive. Why expect 21-year-olds to learn how to drink responsibly without learning from moderate models, at home and in alcohol education programs?” As asserted by Gabrielle Glaser, in an article posted on New York Times, lowering the drinking age is a hot issue with many approaches and reasonings. Countless people, aging from twelve to twenty-one, are calling for a change regarding the legal drinking age. This issue is not only a testament to the health of Americans, but also to their rights and responsibilities. Furthermore, many newly-turned adults are bamboozled that being eighteen has seemingly left one thing out; the ability to buy and drink alcohol. Teenagers see being eighteen being an age of complete independence, so why limit this new found freedom? If they are old enough to participate in elections, take up arms and fight for their country, and decide if they want to be a lifetime smoker, why is alcohol the last ‘privilege’ they receive? Whereas many researchers, professors, bloggers, and health care professionals believe the drinking age at its twenty-one standing is working, I firmly believe it should be lowered for a multitude of reasons including DUI laws, increase in tax money, leisure activity, and more.

There has been controversy in the United States on underage drinking, and if the age should be lowered. According to the book “Underage Drinking”, “It should be noted that more than tobacco and illegal drugs, alcohol is easily the most commonly used and abused substance among the youth in the U.S” (Dr. Bush). Underage drinking has had major controversy for years and the government has yet to get it under control. The law states that anyone under the age of twenty-one should not be in possession of an alcohol beverage. Yet many people under the age of twenty-one have possession of it and consumes it. One writer states, “Young people are adults at 18 and if they're allowed to vote and go to war, they should be allowed to drink ..- And I don't think raising the age limit will make any real difference to our binge-drinking problem” (Gross 3-5). When it comes to lowering the drinking age, there are a lot of factors that we have to think about. I feel as though the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. I say this because in the United States when you turn eighteen you are able to buy tobacco products, vote, get married, can be charged as an adult for a crime, and even join the military. According to ProCon, “18 is the age of adulthood in the United States, and adults should have the right to make their own decisions about alcohol consumption” (Drinking Age). I agree with that statement because most teens are already drinking before the age of twenty-one anyways. There could be great benefits if the drinking age is lowered to eighteen. Most teens drink because it’s against the law and if the drinking age was lowered, the amount of binge drinking would decrease. According to the SSDP website, “A legal drinking age of 21 significantly impacts undergraduate students, a majority of whom fall in the age range of 18-20 years old and still use alcohol” (Lowering the drinking age). Most people are eighteen when they go off to college and with that being said, I’m not saying they’re going to consume alcohol, but some may choose to do so and I don’t feel as though they should be punished for doing it because technically they are considered as an adult so why can’t they live their life like one?

In 1984 congress changed the legal drinking age to 21, prior to that the legal drinking age was 18. In 1984 was when congress change the drinking age to 21. Is it time to change the legal drinking age back to 18? There are a total of 190 countries in the world. Sixty one percent of those countries have a legal drinking age of 18 or 19 years old, whereas the United States has a legal drinking age of 21. The age 18 in the U.S. is considered an adult. The adult abilities include, the right to vote, buy tobacco, work full time, acquire special licenses or permits, get married, apply for loans, for males you are required to register with the selective services, join the military, and also can be selected to serve in jury duty; yet being 18, no personal can legally drink.

By 1970 nearly all states lowered the drinking age to eighteen but in 1984 in response to a drunk driving epidemic, President Ronald Reagan passed the Minimum Drinking Age Act in July 1984 increasing the drinking age to twenty-one.(p.2). Drinking will happen illegally no matter what the age limit is. Lowering the legal age to eighteen will allow more people to drink responsibly because more individuals will drink in public and it can be supervised by either police, security guards or adults like parents. The counterargument that many people have is that the law was changed to twenty-one due to the fact of how many adolescents were getting in car accidents. Many of them believed it was due to drunk driving but, changing the law to twenty-one didn’t change much. Studies show that as of 2016 individuals whose ages ranged from 16-20 there was a total of 800 drunk driving accidents (drunk driving age group graph). Seems like a lot but the number of drunk driving accidents that happen for the ages that legally can drink are even higher. From the ages twenty-one through twenty four a total of 1,400 drunk driving accidents occurred. The first 3 years of being able to legally drinking are years where individuals learn how to responsibly drink by irresponsibly drinking, causing more drunk driving accidents for that age group. If the legal drinking age was to be

By allowing teens aged between 18 and 20 years to take alcohol in environments that are regulated and with supervision would decrease activities of unsafe drinking. Through prohibition of teens to take alcohol in restaurants, bars, and other licensed locations, makes them turn to unsupervised places like fraternity houses. And house parties where they are even more prone to binge drinking as well as unsafe behavior.