Is it Beneficial to Lower the Legal Drinking Age?

The national minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of The United States is twenty-one and it is ineffective; therefore it should be lowered to eighteen. The minimum legal drinking age does not prevent underage consumption of alcohol. Lowering the age of consumption can possibly reduce the number of injuries do to underage drinking. The legal age of adulthood in the United States is eighteen, so all adults should be able to make their own decision to drink or not. “Although many believe that anyone under the age of 21 is prohibited from consuming alcohol in the United States, underage drinking is allowed in 29 states if done on private premises with parental consent, 25 states if for religious purposes, and 11 states if for educational purposes.” ("Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?").

While the opponents debated that by age 21 you will be more responsible and you can experience precisely what harms you. Agreeing to a national study, 77% of the Americans oppose lowering the minimum age and 22% favorable to decrease it to 18. Drinking at a young age could lead to an early death or crimes which would affect the society due to lack of education, less awareness about self-control and life managements. Drinking alcohol under the age of 21 considered illegal all over the United States, but a few states... ... middle of paper ... ...reasing the skilled workforce and managing the natural resources. Granting to the centers for disease control and prevention that alcohol considered that the greatest contributor to death cases among young people.

Lowering the age to eighteen is not either but I think that it will reduce the amount of teenagers that drink because it will not be “cool” to do once drinking is an activity that some of their peers are permitted to do. The main drive for drinking alcohol in teenagers is that they are doing something prohibited. Once their peers can drink, they will not feel it necessary to drink since they will be able to in a couple of years. The United States government should lower the drinking age to eighteen because at this age teenagers are considered adults, and most eighteen year olds still live at home thus making it easier to safely introduce alcohol to them. Drinking always has been and will be an issue in our society if we do not start taking action to curb the dangerous underage drinking occurring throughout the nation.

Although teens are legally considered adults by the age of eighteen and the minimum legal drinking age prompts underage teens to exhibit risky behavior, the age restriction should not be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen because young teens would have easier access to alcohol, the minimum legal drinking age has decreased alcohol-related problems, and alcohol can cause damage to underage drinkers. In the United States, there have been a numerous amount of laws and restrictions put into place to regulate and control the use of alcohol. During the twentieth century, most states had drinking age restrictions ranging from ages eighteen to twenty-one. Many states lowered their limits to eighteen in 1971 due to the lowering of the voting age, although the states re-raised their age restrictions when they received discontent over the increase in drunk-driving accidents. The lowered age also created problems between states.

The debate of the drinking age has been long discussed throughout America. The drinking age has been 21 for the last 22 years, and people around the country have wondered weather or not this was the right call. People say that 18 year olds may not be mature enough to drink alcohol and might not know when to stop. It isn’t that teenagers don’t know how to stop, but rather have not been properly taught when enough has been consumed or how to drink responsibly. Changing the drinking age from 21 to 18 years old will take the thrill that teens get from breaking the law while drinking, will no longer give them the idea that drinking is the final stage of adulthood and full maturity, and will no longer force teenagers to drink in unsupervised areas.

The opposition may say that the higher drinking age discourage teenagers and young adults from consuming alcohol. They say the laws that force merchants to refuse to sell alcohol to persons under 21 years of age will help stem the "problem" of underage consumption. They believe this will make it virtually impossible for people under 21 to obtain alcohol. The opposition also believes that the laws against underage consumption of alcoholic beverages will dissuade young people from drinking alcohol. The laws that prohibit merchants from selling alcohol to persons under 21 are hard to enforce.

Most of the time drinking injuries and fatalities are cause by drinking and driving, so these groups do not want the age lowered at all. Also, States that are considering lowering the drinking age face opposition from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) as they say, “Congress voted in 1984 to penalize states that set the drinking age below 21 with forfeiture of 10 percent on their federal highway funds” (Keen). Most states are not willing to give up the federal money in order to pass state laws that would lower their drinking age. Groups such as MADD try to make sure that states are aware of these restrictions so they will change their minds before passing a lower drinking age law. Sta... ... middle of paper ... ...onsible adults they will act maturely, therefore they will not abuse their privilege.

In other countries around the world a person under the age of 21 can drink alcohol, while some countries don't even have an age limit, but in America a person has to be 21 to purchase alcohol. At the age of 18 a person could go to was for their country, could vote, buy cigarettes, but they cannot buy alcohol. One of the main causes of the drinking age being set to 21 was teenagers were getting into car accidents after getting drunk. By no means should driving under the influence should be legal. While, there should be more government programs to educate and prevent people from driving intoxicated.

Introduction For many years, underage drinking in America has been a very controversial topic. However, because of the many discrepancies that some US state representatives have added to the federal underage law, this subject will hardly be solved or going away, anytime soon. Proponents argue “The current underage drinking law of 21, has not stopped teen drinking, and has instead pushed underage binge drinking into private and less controlled environments, leading to more health and life-endangering behavior by teens” (ProCon, 2012, para. 2). Therefore, the minimum legal drinking age for teens should be lowered from 21, to 18.

America Must Lower the Drinking Age In other countries around the world if you are under the age of 21 you can drink alcohol some countries don't even have an age limit, but in America you have to be 21 to buy alcohol. You can go to war and die for your country when you are 18, you can also vote, buy cigarettes, but you can't buy alcohol. One of the main causes of the drinking age being set to 21 was teenagers were getting into car accidents after getting drunk. I am not saying driving under the influence should be legal. What I am saying is there should be more government programs to educate and prevent people from driving intoxicated.