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Alcohol abuse among adolescents
CONSEQUENCES of lowering the drinking age between ages 18-20 years easier access to alcohol
Pros of lower drinking age
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Recommended: Alcohol abuse among adolescents
In the United States there have been many deaths due to alcohol. If it were not for the lack of education of alcohol abuse, many of the accidents could be prevented. The U.S’s biggest problem that Americans are facing is underage drinking. In our society we see many young teenagers that begin to drink at an early age of 10. They want to experience it without knowing the health risk factors that are associated with alcohol. There are many problems occurring because of alcohol abuse. In America the misuse of alcohol causes many teenagers to experience alcohol poisoning, alcohol dependency in the long run, and accidents. This has continued and will continue to happen to the youth unless the Americans intercept and do something about it.
Alcohol poisoning is a serious condition that can lead to death. It is caused by drinking too much that it affects the heart rate, breathing and gag reflex. There are many young Americans that are not twenty-one and are consuming large amounts of alcohol. These teenagers believe that because it is something that they cannot always attain, that when they do have it they tend to drink excessively. “In 2008, 64.1 percent of eighth graders reported that alcohol is “very easy” or “fairly easy” to get. This is down from 73.1 percent a decade earlier” (MADD). In many situations this leads to binge drinking and shortly after alcohol poisoning. The person must be immediately treated and taken to the hospital to get the proper help for alcohol poisoning. In many situations if the person is untreated he or she can choke in their own vomit causing a tragedy to happen. Therefore, knowing the risk behind drinking alcohol is a huge factor that everyone should be aware of.
Drinking at a younger age leads t...
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...? Because these two solutions are strong together and can make a difference if only Americans can help and begin to be realistic that there is a problem with alcohol and it is called “Underage Drinking”. The help that this county can get from the parents is far more than enough to assist launch a great American society. The problems associated with underage drinking have to be addressed with every help and campaigns as well as organizations to stop it from rapidly growing consistently. However, without addressing the problem with these two great solutions the United States could continue to be in serious danger. Not only will there be more deaths associated with alcohol poisoning, insufficient information over underage drinking, and the consequences that result from it but also more accidents. The youths are the future of this country. The U.S has to take action.
According to Center for Disease Control and Protection, about 4,700 people under age twenty one die from injuries involving underage drinking every year. Illegal alcohol consumption has been a major problem with high school students around the nation. Lowering the drinking age from twenty one would result in major consequences for America’s adolescents. By lowering the drinking age, alcohol would be more accessible to those who choose to participate in underage drinking. The desire to drink for teens and young adults between the ages of fourteen and twenty can be caused by peer pressure or an act of rebellion. One beer might not seem like a big deal at the time, but it could lead to a life of addiction and alcoholism.
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.
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.
Many students don’t understand why the drinking age is above the voting age. Some people think that if you are old enough to vote for the President of the United States then you are mature enough to drink at eighteen. But, these regulations were put in place for a reason. The Uniform Drinking Act was passed in 1984. Before this, twenty-nine states set the drinking age at eighteen, the age at which you could enter the military, but this posed an issue. Once the states did this, drunk driving and alcohol related crashes shot up. That’s why the Uniform Drinking Age Act was enacted. This act took place during the Reagan administration and it stated that all fifty states had to move their drinking age back to twenty-one within a five-year period. Since that act was enacted, the death toll ...
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 too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one. Liquor stores, bars, and clubs all want to make money and if they can get away with selling to underage teens then they will. A study done by the Academic Search Premier agrees that, ?By now it is obvious that the law has not succeeded in preventing the under-21 group from drinking? (Michael Smith 1).
Should the United States follow other countries in their quest to end the debate on the drinking age? The United States can take a look at other States such as: Germany, the Netherlands and France, and see how successful they are. Many teenagers would jump on the bandwagon of lowering the drinking age just because they want to have the ability to drink, the argument of being able to die for the United States but can’t drink and it would take away the “Forbidden Fruit” of drinking. Much of the older generations would jump on the bandwagon of keeping the drinking age the same because they had to wait to drink, because drinking has adverse effects on the brain and drinking could lead to binge drinking.
There are numerous problems involving alcohol in the world today, including alcoholism, drunk driving, and alcohol poisoning leading to death. Many of these problems involve minors and are linked to drinking underage. The legal drinking age in many states is twenty-one years old. The purpose of this law is to keep minors out of danger: away from drunk driving, alcohol poisoning, and injuring the brain before it is fully developed. The government supports the belief that people are not ready or responsible enough for alcohol until this age. However, various professors and researchers are discovering ways to disprove this belief. These people think that reducing the drinking age to eighteen would influence our country in a positive way. Not only do minors support this idea, but there are numerous people and organizations that support the idea of lowering the drinking age as well. The current drinking law is counterproductive in our society because it’s not effective in eliminating underage drinking, and leads to unsafe situations such as drunk driving and alcohol poison instigated deaths. This problem could be solved by lowering the minimum drinking age to eighteen, with a drinking license.
Although this article does show the magnitude of the problem of teenage drinking, it doers not touch many people or clarify what we can do about it and the lack of clarity is an important factor that limits its impact.
The current drinking age in the United States of America is 21. There are some people who agree with the current drinking age even some who think it should be raised. On the other hand, a number of people feel that the current drinking age produces more problems than it prevents (“Cross Fire”). The United States has unsuccessfully tried prohibition legislation not once, but twice in the past. These laws were eventually done away with due to the inability to enforce and the repercussion towards them that ended up causing even more trials and tribulations (Engs). “Prohibition demonstrates beyond a doubt that drinking and the problems caused by drinking cannot simply be eliminated from the United States” (Olson). In the present day, the government is still reiterating the same mistakes that they made in past attempts (Engs). Research from the early 1980’s until present-day shows a decrease in per capita consumption instead, there has been an increase in other problems involving excessive and negligent drinking amongst college students after the twenty –one year old law in 1987 (Engs). The current drinking age of 21 is not effective and is causing other social problems. (Engs). This calls for us as a nation to change our existing drinking law.
Alcohol is the most abused drug in the United States. There are more than 5,000 deaths of people below the age of 21 every year due to underage drinking. Many teens drink due to stress or difficult home life. Underage drinking can affect all aspects of life, including physical, psychological, and even your social life.
Despite the problems that would arise, many people are beginning to feel that the drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. Studies have been made; however, no hard evidence suggesting lowering the minimum drinking age would help have surfaced. Although there are countless studies of how alcohol has many harmful effects on teenagers, there is a great deal of negative criticism about what if the drinking age is lowered. Some would say the morally right decision is to not allow teens the chance to hurt themselves. Everyone is entitled to having his or her own opinions and beliefs. However, the overall health of the youth of our country seems a little more important than some personal belief. The drinking age should not be lowered due to the fact drunk driving, juvenile delinquency, and alcohol-related medical issues related to teens will increase.
Underaged drinking has effected many people especally those who are consuming large amounts of alcohol at an age younger than twenty-one. The government has the ability to raise not only awareness about the dangers but also can raise the drinking age nationally to a more safer age. At the age of twenty-five, not only has the brain developed correctly but it can also decrease chances of disasters and car crashes in the United States.
Young people grow up seeing their parents and other adults make toast of wine and champagne at special occasions, as well as casually enjoying a few beers at a picnic. Today alcoholic beverages are frequently as common at business lunches as they are at college frat parties. Underage drinking is a huge problem which everyone must face. Underage drinking not only has devastating effects on those who drink but also on our society. "Young people illegally consume almost 3.6 billion drinks annually which is 10 million drinks each day."
As a result of underage drinking, 5,000 adolescents under the age of 21 die annually due to intoxication (taking motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides, and other injuries while intoxicated into consideration) (paragraph 2). Later in life, underage drinkers are more likely to develop alcoholism, poor performance in school, and risky sexual behavior (paragraph 43). Although this research is not opposed to my argument, there is an importance to acknowledging it as proof of dangerous, underage drinking occurring significantly regardless of whether it is illegal. More importantly, this research stems from adolescents drinking without the supervision of adults and in uncontrolled quantities. Since adolescents must wait a long period of time to drink legally, I believe they fear they must take advantage of drinking opportunities by excess drinking and risk of safety due to their restriction to alcohol. Based on this mindset, I believe exposure to alcohol at a younger age in controlled environments would not only decrease underage drinking in large quantities, but injury and death related to intoxication, as