Alcohol Use by Adolescents

There has been much debate over the years on what the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) should be. Many people have said that the m.l.d.a should be lowered to the age of 18. The primary reason they support lowering it is because 18 years olds are considered to be adults and have many privileges that come with that such as a being able to vote and smoke, but they can’t drink. The people who support the m.l.d.a be kept at 21use scientific studies to prove their points. I think that the m.l.d.a should be kept at 21 but there should be an exemption to enlisted military.
Some groups such as the Amethyst Initiative (AI), who are a group of college presidents, have called for a debate on the m.l.d.a (Teens at Risk). Some of the reasons they use for lowering it are that 18 year olds can be sued, married, join the military, and smoke but can’t drink. Another example they use is that in other countries such as Germany the drinking age is 18. Some people believe that with lowering the age to drink youth will be less likely to binge drink because “students match their drinking level to the perceived norm” of their environment.(Ackleh et al).A.I. Proponents believe that with lowering the age to drink students would be less likely to observe heavy levels of drinking, such as a at a private party on a campus, and therefore infer infer responsible drinking to be the norm(Ackleh et al).While the people who support lowering the m.l.d.a have some positive points their theories are very suspect. One of the points that they have right is that college students should binge drink less and practice moderation when drinking. The reason I call AI and other supporters of lowering the drinking age theories suspect, is because there little evidence on colleg...

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...old enough to die for your country, you’re old enough to drink”; I think is correct because, the people who are in the military volunteer to be in it and are willing to risk their lives to protect the country and the people who are in it. The culture of the military is very different from the culture outside it because, it is more stringent and disciplined in their approach to the way things are done. Furthermore, if a person enlists and is stationed overseas they will be able to drink but, when they come back home to the U.S. they will not be able to.
In conclusion, the debate on what the minimum legal drinking age will always be a topic up for debate. Many things will always affect the debate With supporters of keeping the 21 m.l.d.a using studies showing how alcohol affects normal body development. How history can help guide us on what makings changes can cause.