Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Drinking Age

1501 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of lowering the drinking age to 18

In America, on a person’s 18th birthday, not only does that person turn another year older, but they also become a legal adult. Becoming an adult is a big thing, you can vote, be drafted into the military, enlist in the military, serve on a jury, buy a lottery ticket, gamble, donate blood, and many, many other things. One thing that doesn’t make sense about turning 18 in the United States is that you can not legally purchase or ingest any alcohol. I am going to talk about why lowering the drinking age could help eliminate binge drinking, why increasing the drinking age hasn’t made a substantial difference, and what lowering the drinking age would do. Each state in the United States use to be able to determine their drinking age on their own terms. Although, in July of 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed a Minimum Drinking Age Act. This act says that the minimum drinking age in the United States must be 21. Reagan also said that if any of the states did not obey this act they would face a reduction in highway funds under the Federal Highway Aid Act, not getting money to fund road constructions and highway funds. Most teenagers younger than 16 have already admitted to binge drinking. Binge drinking …show more content…

Some say that lowering the drinking age would create more problems. Many college presidents are in favor of keeping the minimum drinking age at 21. Having a uniform national drinking age has saved lives by removing the incentive for underage drinkers to travel to nearby states with a lower age limit to consume alcohol, this makes the drive home after a night of drinking easier for people above the age to 21. People also say that 18 is not a right and the United States declared that 21 is a reasonable age for a minimum drinking age. Lowering the drinking age will give high school and even middle school people easier access to alcohol (ProCon,

Show More
Related

  • Laurence Steinberg Lower The Drinking Age Analysis

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this article Aguirre talks about the possible benefits of having a raised minimum legal drinking age. She talks about the fact that lowering the drinking age would create a safer venue for young adults to drink. She also says that a lowered drinking age would limit the amount of binge drinking, which would also limit the amounts of deaths caused by binge

    Read More

  • The Consequences of Lowering the Legal Age for Consumption of Alcohol

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Underage Drinking and the American Citizen

    1119 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Impact of Lowering the Drinking Age on State University

    4155 Words  | 9 Pages

    Almost everyone has an opinion on what the drinking age should be. Some people believe that it should stay at 21. However, others argue that it should be lowered for the sake of teen safety. The opposition to lowering the drinking age backs their argument with science. Advocates of keeping the drinking age above twenty one believe that alcohol causes permanent damage to the still-developing brains of teenagers. This group of people includes scientists such as Susanne Hiller-Sturmhöfel, and H. Scott Swartzwelder, who have conducted scientific trials studying the effects alcohol has on the human brain. On the other hand, proponents of lowering the drinking age believe that the pros outweigh the cons of their story. To this group of people, including Ruth C. Engs, lowering the drinking age will come with restrictions still, although most of the restrictions will help educate young people about alcohol in the hopes of preventing alcohol related deaths.

    Read More

  • Lowering the Drinking Age to 18

    2613 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Drinking Age

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    As society progresses more and more it seems as though there is one aspect of American culture that is not keeping up with the times- the minimum legal drinking age. Whilst the rest of the world shares a similar view on this issue, with 96% of other countries holding a drinking age of less than 21, the American legal system seems steadfast in its resolve to keep it due to a manner of precautionary reasons. Yet these reasons are often lacking substance and validity, hence it seems that the Land of Opportunity needs to break the shackles of feigned abstinence and embrace a more practical and realistic criterion-such as the widespread norm of 18 years old.

    Read More

  • Reconsidering the National Minimum Age Drinking Act

    1457 Words  | 3 Pages

    The National Minimum Age Drinking Act was signed into law on July 17, 1984. This law was carried out at the federal level and forced all states to raise the minimum drinking to 21 or face federal-aid cuts in their highway funding. I believe this law must be repelled and that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. We must decriminalize the notion of underage drinking because why must 18 through 20 year olds be treated like children but charged as adults? The United States has the highest binge drinking percentage worldwide, with 5,000 people under the age of 21 dying each year due to alcohol poisoning.

    Read More

  • The Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered

    1712 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Drinking Age Must not Be Lowered

    1746 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Arguments for and against Lowering the Drinking Age

    1916 Words  | 4 Pages

    The federal law has not always contained these restrictions. President Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act on July 17, 1984 (MADD 5). This required that “states prohibit the purchase and public possession of alcohol for persons aged younger than 21 years.” If ...

    Read More

  • Lowering The Drinking Age Essay

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    College students are often classified as “party animals,” but these students are most under the legal drinking age when starting college. Students are drinking under the legal age; therefore, they must accept the adult consequences for trying to take adult actions. Lowering the drinking age would show how easily our government is persuaded to choose a side in controversial issues. If the drinking age was lowered, student’s grades would start to drop and the student’s drop-out rate would rise tremendously. Students in this generation have plenty of distractions that take them away from fully focusing on school; therefore, if the age was lowered, students would only worry about the next party instead of their next class. Also, excessive amounts of alcohol have been proven to kill vital brain cells, and brain cells do not replicate like other cells within the body. The brain is not fully developed until age twenty-one, so an eighteen year old should not be killing brain cells necessary for everyday communication and decision making. In order for students to excel, they need minimal stress and minimal distractions. Alcohol will only increase stress and increase distractions, so students should refrain from any type of alcohol related activity. Keeping the drinking age at age twenty-one will result in more successful, responsible

    Read More

  • Lowering Drinking Age to 18

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the drinking age ProCons.org, lowering the drinking age will invite more use of illicit drugs among 18-21 year olds. It is more likely that they will use other illicit drugs. Lowering the minimum drinking age to 21 would increase the number of teens who drink and therefore the number of teens who use other drugs knowing the effects of this situation, and understanding what can happen. Young adults cloud face many more problems than just . Drinking is one step forward to many more drugs. According to drinking age ProCons.org, the minimum drinking age at 21 reduces traffic accidents and fatalities were reduced, 100 of the 102 analyses ( 98 percent) in the 2002 meta-study of the legal drinking age and traffic accidents found higher legal drinking age associated with lower accidents.

    Read More

  • The Legal Drinking Age Should Be 18

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • 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.

    Read More

  • Drinking Age Persuasive Essay

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    Now let’s imagine a United States where the drinking age is lowered to age 18. What you would expect to see is that people would drink less because the temptation of drinking alcohol would be lowered. There would be a lot less alcohol related incidents because binge drinking rates decreased significantly due alcohol education and supervision. The mentality of “getting wasted” would also be gone because drinking would be treated as a normal social activity. Wow, if that really happens, drinking would be like how it is in Europe, where they have a lowered legal drinking age that actually works!

    Read More

More about Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Drinking Age

Open Document