Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Drinking Age

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Recommended: Arguments that the drinking age should be lowered

Another argument often used by those opposing lowering the legal drinking age brings up the fact that the brain doesn’t completely develop until the age of 20 to 25. If this is the case than why do we let 18 year olds vote and sign contracts. If they are viewed as adults in the eyes of the law then why is it we don’t treat them like they are adults. Another major issue brought up for young adults is that it is legal for 18 year olds to purchase and use cigarettes and other tobacco products, but it is illegal for 18 to drink alcohol. Congress is not being consistent with these laws, restricting young adults to their new found freedoms. An even larger argument how is a man old enough to enlist in the military and fight for our so called freedoms and liberties when 18, 19, and 20 year olds aren’t even old enough to have the privilege of a drink. “If you get shot at, you can have a shot.” Says Alaska State Representative, Bob Lynn. Lynn also served as a veteran in vietnam and tried to establish a drinking age for 18 year olds that are currently active members of the military. I believe that if a man is old enough to go to war and perhaps even have to kill someone than it is unreasonable and unjust not to let those men enjoy a cold one. These young men and women are considered adults and it is wrong not to treat them with the respect and responsibility they deserve as adults. Many say that allowing legalizing alcohol towards 18 year olds would be dangerous because of their over consumption and binge drinking. People are afraid that if the legal age is lowered there would be little to no control on young adults and no limitation on their consumption of alcohol, or what they might do while they are intoxicated. There is no way of keepi... ... middle of paper ... ... be put on them just based off of past experience of alcohol. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for a child to experience something and learn from it, rather than nothing happen at all, and forever that child lives in isolation from that activity. Will more and more be taken away as the future continue and as we make mistakes? Through safety courses and increasing technology we can have these young adults experience the tastes of alcohol but at the same time we can keep them safe from it. The fact of the matter is that we are treating these young adults unfairly. Our next generation of doctors, lawyers, or even just common working people cannot keep living under the restrictions set by their elders. We will have to one day lift the boundaries, let them go off and make their own decisions, but until than they will continue to remain sheltered and restricted by our laws.

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    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.

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  • Why the Drinking Age Should Be Lowered to 18

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    If teenagers that are now turning 18 can vote, then they should be able to drink at the age of 18. If teens are 18 and old enough to vote, they should be able to drink. Saying they can vote, is calling them responsible and mature enough to pretty much vote. At age 18, teens are now called adults and vote. It’s the legal adulthood (“Drinking”). Voting requires a lot of adult decision making. It is a hard choice to put your vote that could help or make worst of America. If they can defend our country, they should at least enjoy a drink when they have time. 18 is old enough for the military and they risk their life. They’re defending our country, so they should have the right to have a drink when they get back from duty. It’ll cut down on young adults drinking, there wouldn’t be much of a rush to underage drink. If they’re being trusted to drive, such as speeding, on the phone, reading, putting makeup on, etc. What’s the harm done in just drinking, if all that happens when people drive. 19 out of the 50 states in the US has not specified that the drinking age is 21. Technically there isn’t an age limit on drinking. (“USA”). If you can buy tobacco at 18, they should be able to buy alcohol at that age. If people can buy tobacco at 18, they should be able to bu...

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  • Lowering the Drinking Age

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  • Lowering the Drinking Age to 18

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    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 that too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one.

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  • The Minimum Legal Drinking Age

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    Bob Marley once said, “Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.” This is the case when it comes to teens and alcohol. In America, the National Minimum Legal Drinking Age is a topic of great debate and controversy. Many people argue that the age restriction provides a safe environment for all citizens; whereas others disagree that the law creates an untrustworthy aura among teens. If the minimum legal drinking age were to be lowered, most people would be affected by it, whether it be by an increase in drunk-driving or a rise in crimes. 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.

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  • The Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered

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    We knocked on the door of the off-campus apartment, as it opened we were confronted with the heavy stench of alcohol. A young girl was passed out on the living room floor, a pile of empty beer cans filled the kitchen sink, and the deafening music rattled the window panes. A group of girls managed to stumble past us. They waved goodbye to the host, who was handing drinks to me and my sister. It was not my first time drinking. In fact, everyone there was quite experienced – after all, it’s college. Half of the guests were completely drunk, and I had no problem with it. That is, until later that night when my sister locked herself in a room with a guy she had met only a week before. This prompted me to seriously consider the effects of alcohol. Would my sister have been able to see the danger of the situation had she been sober? Would the absence of alcohol have prevented the events of that night from occurring? These questions, along with the vivid memory of that night, fueled my examination of the complex social problem of underage drinking.

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  • Should the Drinking Age be Lowered in the United States?

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    The United States define an adult as an individual reaching the age of 18. When one hits 18 years old, they automatically attain responsibilities set forth by the government. The government allows one to get married and divorce without parental consent, rent and buy homes, enroll in the military, vote, and, most importantly, be tried as an adult. The government has set forth these responsibilities for us because they/it believes we have the capability of controlling our choices. Though the government has given us these rights to use or dispose of as we choose, except being tried as an adult, they have set aside other rights for later parts of our lives; such as renting a car, running for federal public office and drinking. Running for federal public office is set by the Constitution, for good reason. However, the age of alcohol consumption has been thrown around and debated over for the last few decades, especially in the more recent decades. Some universities and their presidents have come together to form a coalition for the loweri...

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  • The Drinking Age Must not Be Lowered

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    Before World War II, the age of majority in America was twenty-one. At this age, men entered into their full rights and obligations, such as the expectation to fight for their country, the freedom to vote, and the right to consume alcohol (Poe, 2). There was no confusion pertaining to what a man was allowed to do. Everything was consistent. When the draft age was lowered to eighteen during the Second World War, the nation went into frenzy. The American people did not think it was fair that at eighteen young men could be forced to go out and fight for their country, but were not permitted vote (Poe, 2). In their minds the only compromise that seemed fair was to give the men the ballot in return for their service to our country (Poe, 2). However, no one argued that men be given the right to drink, because of their service to our country. In fact, Senator Joshua Lee believed that soldiers under twenty-one years of age needed to be protected from drinking by their older fellow service men (Poe, 2). Congress concluded that only the states could change their voting and drinking ages, but surprisingly, the states did not rush to do so (Poe,2). Eventually, the soldiers were demobilized,...

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  • Underage Drinking And The Drinking Age

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    Since this country was born it has been raised on alcohol, even the prohibition couldn 't stop the Americans from doing what they love to do. But back then they were lenient on the age to consume alcohol. But in 1980’s Ronald Reagan passed the Drinking Age Act which permanently raised the drinking age to twenty-one through out the nation. Which people asked themselves is this right? When at eighteen you 're legally allowed to be on a official jury, vote for the next president and fight for your country. So lowering the drinking age to 18 would make sense.

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  • Arguments for and against Lowering the Drinking Age

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    The controversy on the proper drinking age is one that has been repeatedly discussed and researched over the years. Its common to hear the argument “If someone is old enough to take a bullet for their country, they should be allowed to drink alcohol.” But is that enough justification? Some would say no. “According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) it is estimated that in 2004 there were more than 1,700 student deaths, 599,000 injuries, and 696,000 assaults annually associated with excessive drinking” (Fennell 247). Given these numbers, would lowering the drinking age really be the best thing for America’s youth?

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  • Persuasive Speech On Lowering The Drinking Age

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    Do you enjoy being told what to do after you turn an 18 and you become an adult? I know I don’t. As you transition into that adult phase you get to enjoy adult activities such as voting and joining the military. As an adult there comes responsibility and at some points you have to make tough decisions. One of those decision include are you going to drink under age. What if I could tell you that the drinking age use to be 18 years old in 30 states. Should the drinking age go back to 18 years old? I am one who believes that as an adult you should have the ability to make those decisions. Lower the drinking age to 18, but we need to enforce the laws and educate our youth.

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  • The Drinking Age Should NOT Be Lowered

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    Several organizations exist that are either in support of or opposed to lowering the minimum legal drinking age. Choose Responsibility, a group founded by John McCardell, proposes that upon completion of a 40 hour course to educate young people about alcohol, 18, 19, and 20 year old people should be licensed to drink. The Amethyst Initiative, part of Choose Responsibility, is a petition to Congress to rethink the minimum legal drinking age. Several college leaders have signed this petition in the belief that lowering the minimum legal drinking age will reduce binge drinking on college campuses. The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety (IIHS) has performed research on the results of states lowering, then raising, their minimum legal drinking ages and found that the minimum legal drinking age and alcohol related deaths and injuries have an inverse relationship: deaths and injuries decrease when the minimum legal drinking age increases. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) believes that 21 as the minimum legal drinking age curbs drunk driving and reduces deaths among youth. The American Medical Association (AMA), along with MADD, argues that the age limit of 21 has a medical basis. I believe that the minimum legal drinking age should not be lowered to 18. Moving underage drinking into the public is not likely to reduce binge drinking, studies show that a higher minimum legal drinking age results in fewer fatal vehicle crashes, and alcohol has several negative medical effects on young people.

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  • The Legal Drinking Age Should Be 18

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    Unsupervised, underage drinking has become an epidemic throughout the world, but in the in America more than anywhere else. Even the president’s 19 year old daughter has been arrested for underage drinking. America has the highest legalized drinking age in the world. In fact, only four countries in the world have a legalized drinking age over 18. When we turn 18 in America we are supposed to be adults, but then what is the 21 age mark it is like we get an adult trial version for three years without some freedoms but with all the consequences. For example a twenty-year old, wounded soldier from Iraq can vote, get married, and be tried as an adult, but he can’t even buy a drink! Apparently, we value the condition of his social life more than life itself. Hundreds if not thousands of soldiers have experienced the same scenario. This is nothing new, there is a long history of alcohol ageism.

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  • Don't lower the drinking Age

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

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