The Impact of Lowering the Drinking Age on State University

Lowering the Legal Drinking Age Almost everyone can agree that alcohol should not be given or allowed to children under a certain age. Alcohol is a substance that is very dangerous and if you used incorrectly or immaturely the consequences can be a great danger to the users or the ones around them. The recent discussions regarding drinking are about whether the legal drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. This controversial issue has been specifically relevant to college students because drinking has become a big part of college life and can be found all over college campuses. Proponents of lowering the legal drinking age from 21 argue that it has not stopped teen drinking, and has instead pushed more illegal underage drinking.

Many say that the drinking age should remain at 21 because of the health risks caused by drinking. Alcohol abuse can cause many different diseases and health risks. The main question is why some people believe that the age should be lowered, while other believe that it would be a danger to those drinking and the people around them. There are many good arguments for why the drinking age should be lowered. In the United States at 18 a person is a legal adult.

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 government's intent to lowering the legal drinking age was to decrease the number of negative outcomes resulting from irresponsible alcohol use (Allen 34). By limiting the consumption of younger individuals, they thought that alcohol related traffic accidents and crimes committed by younger people could be reduced. Since the last state adopted the 21 and over law for drinking, these activities have decreased. But is it because of the new laws, or other factors? The government would like us to believe that the new laws governing underage drinking are completely dependant on the new laws, but there are other factors as well.

Lowering the drinking age to 18 would help prevent the crime and personal injuries that are caused by alcohol abuse. Although many states are trying to get the drinking age lowered, there are many groups and national statistics that are keeping the drinking set at 21. For example, “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says laws setting the drinking age at 21 have cut traffic fatalities involving drivers by 13 percent” (Keen). They are hoping that by keeping the age set at 21, people are mature enough at this point to make smart decisions and not drink and drive. 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.

Minimum Drining Age Laws: Effects on American Youth . Retrieved 2013, from Monitoring The Furture: Monitoringthefutre.org ProConorg Headlines. (n.d.). Retrieved 2013, from Drinking Age: http://drinkingage.procon.org Wechsler, H. D. (1995). A gender specific measure of binge drinking among college students .

In America, the law is extremely strict with the policy of being 21 or older to have the right to drink. I feel that age is not very necessary when it comes to limitations on drinking. The drinking age should be lowered to a younger age if not lifted all together. I believe that a positive results will come from the drinking age being dropped. In this paper I am going to defend why there should not be a drinking age, because I believe that it is essential to help solve the underage drinking problems we have in our nation.

Even though the two authors have different perspectives on lowering the the age from 21 to a younger age, there is plenty common ground in compromise with both authors and both can agree that something needs to be done in order to educate young people on the responsibilities of alcohol use. Young adults of minimum age 18 are likely to drink more than young adults older than 18 (Dee and Evans). Binge driving, physical fighting, poor school performance, sexual activity and smoking are mainly all the issues associated with drinking (CDC). Teen drinking is not something that is cool just to fit in with a group of friends or people, when deciding to get on the road think before you act. Is drinking under the influence worth risking innocent people lives, yours and also your entire future?

These programs are being implemented in colleges around the country, and are about the choices of using alcohol. "At the University of V... ... middle of paper ... ...er deaths from alcohol related causes since more people would know how to consume without excess. Now a-days people are more aware of the effect of drinking and driving can have on themselves, and other people. As a responsible American society, continuing to educate the public and people under the current legal drinking age, about the effects of alcohol is key to the successful ability to lowering the drinking age. Now that more people are aware of the effects of alcohol, the question is should they lower the drinking age to 18 because at that age a person is considered an adult.

These facts clearly indicate that the current law is not even helping deter people under 21 from drinking, but instead are encouraging them to drink more. Counters/Solutions It seems logical that when turning eighteen, and gain the status of legal adult, people should have the choice of whether or not they want to drink. However, some believe that “enforcing the legal drinking age of 21 reduces traffic crashes, protects young people’s maturing brains, and keeps young people safe overall” (Why 21? 2011). “It saves lives by preventing alcohol-related traffic fatalities among 18-20-year-olds and the rest of the population” (Kindelberger, 2005).