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Arguments for lowering the drinking age
Arguments for and against lowering the drinking age
Drinking age should stay at 21 research
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The drinking age has not always been 21 in the United States. In fact it was fairly recently that for a variety of reasons the government agreed to pass President Reagan’s law prohibiting anyone under the age of 21 to buy alcohol. In the early 1980’s the drinking age was raised to 21 nationwide in the United States. In short the U.S created this law due to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. This law essentially told states that they had to pass a law stating a minimum drinking age of 21 or lose up to ten percent of their federal highway funding. Since ten percent of the funding is a number that none of the states could afford to lose, all 50 states were soon on board with the law. From 1984 onward the law in the United States has been you are only allowed to drink if you are 21 and older (with a few exceptions). However since this law has been passed there has been much controversy. Since 18 years old is the official age a person becomes an “adult” in the United States, many believe that this should also be the legal drinking age. However, due to the problems they experienced when the drinking age was 18 years old, I believe that the drinking age should stay at 21. As stated before an argument frequently used when concerning lowering the drinking age is as a legal adult at age 18, one should be …show more content…
As a result, they were harming other people. This is not to say that people over the age of 21 are automatically responsible but they have had more time to mature at this point in their lives. It would be unethical if the drinking age were to be lowered because the intervention with government power took place due to the harm that was being
The age of responsibility could not make sense at 18 because of all the rights and responsibilities that are given at age 18 such as financial decisions and college and moving out of the house, but their are still so many things that 18 year olds cannot do such as they still can't rent cars or drink alcohol. “...lowering the legal limit to 18 would only be pushing the drinking problem down to 16-17 year old.” (Wagenaar 17). According to Alexander Wagenaar in Greenblatt’s article lowering the age down to 18 would make drinking a big problem for younger teenagers that are 16 and 17. This could make an even bigger problem in high school because people may say that they are close to the age and they may feel more responsible even though they are not. Therefore, it would not make sense to have 18 be the legal
Lowering the legal drinking age would create problems such as infringing on the mental and physical development of the young drinker. As a respected author, Matt Nagin puts it, “The late teens and early twenties are formative years where character building, leadership in the community, and scholastic excellence should be emphasized. Alcohol detracts from all of these.” In other words, Nagin believes that the teen years are an imperative time of growth in a person’s life. Scientists have proven that the brain is not fully developed until the age of twenty five. If Nagin’s argument is correct, and I believe it is, then people should understand that scientists have proven the negative affects that alcohol has on the development of the brain. Alcohol has the power to kill brain cells and damage growth hormones. By making alcohol legally accessible to an eighteen year old, we are literally poisoning his or her brain.
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.
Each year, about 5,000 teens are killed or injured in traffic crashes as a result of underage drinking and about 1,900 are due to car accidents. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation) In the newsletter, safety in numbers by National highway traffic administration and U.S department of transportation “Of all the people who died in motor vehicle crashes during 2012, 31 percent died in crashes involving a drunk driver, and this percentage remains unchanged for the past 10 years” (Vol 1, 2013). Crashes involving alcohol include fatal crashes in which a driver had a BAC of .01 g/ ld. or higher (Underage Drinking Statistics)). Deadly crashes involving alcohol are twice as common in teens compared to people 21 and older. This is because teens’ judgment skills are harmed more by alcohol. Teens who drink not only risk hurting themselves, they risk hurting their friends, family, and even strangers when driving intoxicated. Teens and parents both need a strong reminder that underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences. According to Health Day News, “one study found that in 2011, 36 percent of U.S. college students said they'd gone binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) within the past two weeks, as compared to 43 percent of college students in 1988. Since 2006, the current law has reduced the rate of drunk driving crashes among young Americans” (Preidt, 2014 and DeJong, 2014). This proves that lives have been saved after the legal drinking age increased. According to an article in Time Magazine called “Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?”, “lowering the drinking age to 18 would stop infantilizing college students, but it would probably kill mor...
Primarily, the drinking age should be lowered to teach responsibility and safety in young adults. The idea seems paradoxical; however, the high drinking age that is present in the U.S. today has only pushed underage drinking underground (Balko 458). In fact, America has the highest minimum drinking age in the world (Balko 459). Even though the American drinking age remains high, America still remains with an astonishingly large number of alcohol-related accidents and deaths. Is this statement a coincidence? Throughout the years alcohol has become more and more of an issue in young adults, but the correct actions are not taking place. If alcohol were to legally be put in the hands of Americans eighteen and above, these individuals would likely be forced to learn a sense of safety and responsibility. As stated by Caryn Sul...
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 - 1st place. There are a lot of benefits to having the drinking age change to eighteen. The amount of binge drinking would lessen, and the amount of outrage to drink would also decrease.
...e minimum legal drinking age in the United States should remain at twenty-one years old. Since the National Legal Drinking Age Act was ratified, the consumption of liquor among minors has abated significantly. With the restriction in affect, the United States is definitely a safer place when it comes to alcohol use. Even though, the reduction of the drinking age would get rid of the taboo that surrounds alcohol which would result in fewer teens drinking just to be accepted by their peers, young adolescents now have a harder time getting access to alcohol due to the minimum legal drinking age resulting in less alcohol-affiliated problems and a decrease in damage to their bodies. Teens and alcohol are not a good mix so citizens of the United States should keep them separated as best as they can. By having a minimum age limit of twenty-one, that is a great way to do it.
The main reason the drinking age was increased was the persuasion by large interest groups, such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). Their main arguments for raising the legal drinking age to 21 was so that the law could protect people under that age and keep them safe. Authorities state that they enforce the underage drinking law for personal safety. MADD’s goal is to put “mandatory ignition interlocks in place for all convicted drunk drivers and the development of advanced technology that will one day make cars inoperable by someone who is drunk.” They believe this will save hundreds of thousands of lives.
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.
Without a doubt, the United States has been facing serious national problems with underage drinking. Depending on personal ideologies, some people might not agree that the current minimum drinking age of twenty-one is based on scientific facts rather then ideology of prohibitionism. For example, since 1975 over seventeen thousand lives have been saved since the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) was changed to age twenty-one (Balkin 167). This shows that even over a short amount of time, a higher MLDA helps decrease the risk of teen suicides, accidents and overdose deaths. However, this widely debated topic has inevitably brought attention to the plethora of supporting and opposing viewpoints. The minimum legal drinking age of twenty-one has shown significant results in the prevention of accidents and death studies across the board. Accordingly, the MLDA should remain at the current age of twenty-one.
Teen drinking is a huge problem today in America. Statistics show that teens are starting to drink younger and younger and that is a huge problem that if not corrected will be catastrophic. How long will we allow underage drinking to plague our society? How long until enough is enough and someone stands up? If something is not done soon it might be too late! It seems like every time one turns on the news there is a story about a teen being killed or injured due to alcohol. Teen drinking has gotten worse and worse over the years making one think why isn't the government doing anything real to stop this epidemic. The laws that are already in place are obviously not working so the government is just not doing their job. Parents are also to blame letting their kids drink and sometimes even buying it for their teens. The drinking age is twenty-one but all these teens are still getting alcohol. At this time I believe the drinking age should stay at twenty-one until there are stricter punishment for alcohol abuse.
There has always been controversy as to whether the drinking age should be lower from 21 to a younger age, like 18. Though there are drawbacks to lowering the drinking age such as, one It may cost for use of illicit drugs. two Its easier to access other drugs, and alcohol. tree it may decrease unsafe drinking activity’s. The benefits would be that it would one get rid of feelings increasing , two people should have freedom of choice and tree, it is wrong to drink at such a young age.
The first establishment of a national drinking age actually started before prohibition. The temperance movement at the time used a minimum drinking age to gradually bring about the ban of alcohol all together. In 1919 the temperance movement got what they wanted and the 18th Amendment was created banning the sale of Alcohol in America. This ultimately failed resulting in increased gang violence and bootlegging. In 1933 due to a change of public opinion the ban was lifted with what is called the 21st Amendment. After prohibition what was left of the temperance movement made sure that a minimum drinking age remained. This made it illegal for anyone under 21 to buy liquor but in some states you could still buy beer at 18. This remained the case for the next forty years. In the early 70’s when baby boomers were dealing with the Vietnam war there was pressure to lower the drinking age, so many states (29 of them) lowered the LDA to either 18 or 19. The big argument was that if one could die in combat why couldn’t he have a drink. But, as the baby boomers aged there wasn’t as much support for these liberties so by the 80’s most states went back to 21. Then in 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age Act passed which forced all states to adopt a drinking age of 21 within 2 years or face being cut federal funds for state highways.
Legal drinking age varies by many countries. In U.S.A, There has been a lot of debate when it comes to the legal drinking age here in US. When it comes to law. There is always an opinion, some are for it and some are against. When it comes to the legal drinking age being 21 we are totally against it. Many people still say the government should prohibit using alcoholic drinks at the age of 18. Legal adults deserve to be treated as such it is time the arbitrary drinking age of 21 Was lowered to 18, because there is no evidence that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act is effective or protects the people it is intended to protect . The Notional Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed in 1984 in an attempt to decrease the number of drunk driving related accidents. The act threatens to decrease a state’s budget for high way construction and maintenance if it sets its drinking age under 21. According to Cuccoli , “ Keeping the drinking age at such a low age is leading to more cases of binge drinking,” (Cuccoli). Mothers against drunk driving reports that the number of alcohol related fatalities involving a vehicle decreased from 26, 173 to 16, 885 between 1982 and 2005.
Many people believe that the drinking age of 21 protects teenagers from harming themselves but the age restriction is only causing more harm for them.