Drinking age

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Recommended: Lower the legal drinking age in the United States to 18

Should the Legal Drinking Age be Changed?
What is up with all the arbitrary age limits in our society? One must be 18 to marry (without consent) and to vote, 35 to be president, 25 to rent a car, 59 ½ to start collecting on your 401k without tax penalty, 62 ½ to begin collecting on social security, and so on, and of course the subject of this paper, which is 21 years old to legally drink. As one can see there appears to be little cohesion or structure with these random ages. Yes, members of society and some organizations will say there is good reason for all of these and will produce manufactured proof to back up all of these age restrictions. Obviously from my opening remarks one can surmise that I am in favor of lowering the legal drinking age. Why? To what age? What about these groups that are against it?
In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed which basically says that if a state chooses to set a legal drinking age below 21 a percentage of highway funding will be withheld. So states are allowed to set the drinking limit at whatever age they want, but no state would sacrifice money and the ire of its constituents, and none have. Globally, the United States is one of very few nations with a drinking age as high as 21; Some of the others include Indonesia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Palau. (International Center for Alcohol Policies. January 2010. Retrieved 2013-01-08. ) The population of Palau is smaller than Oyster Bay, so let’s eliminate them. So mostly 3rd world, poor nations have this drinking age.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am all for keeping people safe. Tough DWI laws, increased penalties on those who drink and drive, huge public awareness campaigns by groups such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk D...

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...hing made up. There are many people who think like this. Take a course, pass the course and then you are entitled to drink. If you violate any rules, your license to drink is revoked. Perhaps as part of the course one is required to go to an AA meeting. Does anyone really think that college kids don’t drink because the legal age is 21? According to Stony Brook University, 82% of its campus has had a drink and 72% have had a drink in high school. (The Statesman, March 10, 2013).
Another idea would be to not penalize states for lowering drinking age. Why should the highway administration be dictating social policy? If states could act on their own, eventually America would see a movement to lower the age limit. Similar to marijuana legalization and gay marriage, the people would see states gradually decide what is best for them without federal intervention.

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