Did you know that the legal age for drinking alcohol was eighteen years of age until 1987? In 1987 the legal drinking age became twenty-one years of age. Shouldn’t the legal consumption age amongst Americans be dropped to the permitted age of adulthood, eighteen years? At the age of eighteen years old, any individual can walk down the aisle without their parent’s consent and can move out of their custodian's house and live on their own. Why should the government dictate what these adults can do when it comes to their choice to consume alcohol? How is it plausible to agree that an adult eighteen years of age can spend time in prison because they are considered adults, but cannot go to a liquor store to buy a drink? How can a person that is eighteen years of age be allowed to vote and are able to protect our country by serving in the military but cannot legally drink a beer? Froma Harrop said it best when she asked “the drinking age has long been a tug-of-war. Is a nineteen year-old mature enough to fight in Afghanistan, but not to order beer in a bar? Almost every other country sets the drinking age at eighteen.” These questions are what causes an extremely serious problem today and takes away the freedom of Americans. There is no reason why a person eighteen years of age should be legally held back from consuming an alcoholic beverage today. If people are going to hold an eighteen year old to the standard of a person who is twenty-one years of age, then an eighteen year old should be treated as equal as the twenty-one year old. Americans are arrested or fined every day for practicing what should be their lawful right.
An easy solution could fix the law for the legal drinking age. One solution would be the government...
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...inking age in the United States is the highest and most ludicrous law of any state in the world. Our free country just does not seem so free if its people cannot partake in something as simple as a glass of wine with their dinner or a champagne toast at their own wedding. The time has come for the American citizens to re-claim and hold on to their well-deserved rights.
Works Cited
Hanson, David J., Ph.D. "The Legal Drinking Age: Science vs. Ideology." Alcohol Problems and Solutions (2001): n. pag. No Records. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Harrop, Froma. "Age Discrimination for the Young." Realclearpolitics.com. N.p., 09 Feb. 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
Heath, Dwight B. International Handbook on Alcohol and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1995. Print.
McCardell, John. "Let Them Drink at 18." Let Them Drink at 18 -. New York Times, 29 May 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Eighteen year olds are just not responsible enough to handle the freedom of being able to legally drink. S...
"Americans Still Oppose Lowering the Drinking Age." Gallup Poll Briefing. (24 July 2014). Web. 19 Feb. 2016. The article provides the views of those who wish to keep the legal drinking age at 21. It states that almost 75% of Americans are still against lowering the drinking age. They believe that the higher age has reduced drinking and driving accidents. Also stated is the belief that since it has been in act for thirty years it should be left the same. The articles also provides statistics based on the specific classes of Americans who are for or against the issue. The purpose of the article is to show readers the benefits of keeping the drinking age as is. It was published on a website that is used to report new and political issues, therefore, allowing it to draw the attention of many people. It is unique in the fact that it provides surveys and information about the specific kinds of people that were surveyed. This article helps me with my thesis because it provides me with the views of people who do not agree with it, therefore, allowing me to show both sides of the
In the contents of this paper, four points of view will be discussed on an extremely controversial issue that has an effect on a large percentage of citizens in the United States. The issue at hand is whether the legal age to consume alcohol should be lowered from 21 to 18, and will state a pro and con side, as well as 2 stakeholders for each side of the argument. The stakeholders on the pro side are as follows: Underage consumers of alcohol, businesses that sell and the companies that produce alcohol. The people on the con side of the argument that would want the legal age to remain at 21 include State and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, as well as the demographic of Parents that would prefer to keep their children from being exposed to alcohol at a potentially young age. As you continue to read the stakeholders opinions and arguments will be explained, after which the author’s personal opinion will be advanced. After doing my own in depth research on the topic, the legal age to consume alcohol should remain at 21 as set by the United States Congress when they passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act (NMDAA) in July of 1984. This act punished every state that allowed persons below 21 years of age to purchase and publicly possess alcoholic beverages by reducing its annual federal highway apportionment by ten percent. (National Minimum Drinking Age Act) This caused all fifty continental U.S. states to set their legal drinking age to 21, and it has remained there for thirty years.
For decades, certain people have been contemplating on how to go about the issue of underage drinking; people of the government, parents, and other individuals concerned in global affairs. The problem is, the issue of underage drinking and the nationwide ineffectiveness of the drinking age law of twenty-one isn't debated and discussed as much and as aggressively as it should be. And the main components of discussion ought to be the matter of binge drinking among teenagers and college students, drinking issues and statistics in foreign countries, and finally, possible solutions for this problem. The main point is that the states of our country can only attempt to enforce the law rather than try approaching the problem in any other way. So for that reason, states should be allowed to figure out and experiment on possible ways to solve this matter on their own without government interference.
Sopher, Christopher. “How We Get Hammered, the European vs. U.S. Drinking Age.” thenextgeneration.com, July 28, 2010. Web
According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not mature enough to handle it, lowering the drinking age actually teaches responsibility and safety in young adults, maintains consistency in age laws, and diminishes temptation.
There has been an ongoing controversy in the United States on whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen like most of the world or if it should stay at twenty-one. Underage drinking has been a major controversial issue for years, yet why is it not under control? Teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol with fake identification cards, drink, get into bars, and drink illegally. As a teen, I have proof that these things are going on not only in college but in high school as well. There are a lot of factors that come together to why the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen; the most obvious reason is that too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one.
Chiappetta, Annie. "Should Drinking Age Be 18?" ABC News. N.p., 14 Apr. 2005. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. .
Muhlenfeld, Elisabeth. “Seeking a Drinking Age Debate.” University Business 11.10 (2008): 53-4. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Mar. 2010.
Lawmakers should not consider lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. Despite the deep value this country places on freedom, personal liberties, and personal responsibilities, the data shows that public safety is greatly at risk if the drinking age were to be lowered to twenty-one. A variety of groups believe that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen deeming that the twenty-one law is unconstitutional. On the opposing side, people agree that the law helps to protect our young people and the communities where they live.
Since this country was born it has been raised on alcohol, even the prohibition couldn 't stop the Americans from doing what they love to do. But back then they were lenient on the age to consume alcohol. But in 1980’s Ronald Reagan passed the Drinking Age Act which permanently raised the drinking age to twenty-one through out the nation. Which people asked themselves is this right? When at eighteen you 're legally allowed to be on a official jury, vote for the next president and fight for your country. So lowering the drinking age to 18 would make sense.
"Young People's Drinking." International Center for Alcohol Policies Meetings & News Press Releases Welcome to ICAP. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. .
The Web. The Web. 02 May, 2016. http://drinkingage.procon.org/.
“By lowering the minimum drinking age to 21. It would give high schoolers and even middle schoolers easier access to alcohol”. As said in drinking age ProCons.org. Newly legal drinking often purchase alcohol for their underage peers, creating a trickle-down effect. surveys show that the common source of alcohol among 18-21 year olds is there 21-24 year old peers. Believing that their is a purchase to alcohol for their underage peers meaning even if you ...
Age discrimination issue is getting serious with the modernization and industrialization of the United States. However, the issue did not catch policy makers’ attention until WWII (1939-1945). The following part shows the time prior the Age Discrimination of Act 1967.