The lowered age also created problems between states. A blood border, which is named after the many accidents that happen on the roads going from one state to another, would be formed between states with a hi... ... middle of paper ... ...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.
Most states in the 1970’s had a legal drinking age of 18, 19, or 20, the majority of those being 18 years of age. According to Daniel N. Allen, M.A., David G. Sprenkel, M.A., and Patrick A. Vitale, Ph. D., changing the age limit for one to consume alcohol in the eighties was a failure in its mission to control drinking and lower deaths from alcohol related automobile accidents. Statistics hav... ... middle of paper ... ... and to preserve our meticulous way of life. When the government is not protecting the rights of its citizens, reform is most definitely required and so it is needed here.
It is more common for young adults to binge drink in the United States that in most countries that allow underage drinking. “The health crisis caused by underage drinking proclaimed by the National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia (CASA) does not exist,” by. Doug Bandow (Balkin, and Szumski 44). The study done by CASA is filled with inaccurate statistics and was only made to advance the group’s message. Parents should teach teens how to drink responsibly, to reduce the problems related to binge drinking among adolescents (Balkin, and Szumski 44).
There are many reasons that support the minimum legal drinking age remaining 21 years old, such as the decrease in the percentage of fatal traffic accidents for teenagers since 1975 and other social ills, most importantly, the likelihood of binge drinking in college students than people above the age of 21. However, there are reasons that oppose the minimum legal drinking age remaining 21 years old and believe it would be beneficial if lowered. The reasons that support the minimum drinking age being lowered are teenagers become “adults” when they turn 18, gaining many rights and responsibilities like voting and joining the military, and it is believed that lowering the drinking age would teach young peo... ... middle of paper ... ...Education, 52(2), 3-8. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Sheffield, F. D., Darkes, J., Del Boca, F. K., & Goldman, M. S. (2005).
A political problem that has been argued over since prohibition is the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA). This is a controversial subject because many believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 years old. “In the 1970’s the 26th amendment was passed which lowered the legal voting age, this caused 30 US states to lower their MLDA to 18, 19, or 20 which left 14 states with a MLDA of 21 by 1982” (Minimal Legal Drinking Age, 1). But reports later showed an increase in teenage car accidents in states with a lower MLDA; these states soon changed the MLDA back to 21. One of the biggest pros would be that the age of 18 is the age of adulthood.
According to Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, 20% of the alcohol purchased from alcohol stores are consumed by underage drinkers. Therefore, the law really doesn 't really affect the underage drinkers until you get ticket or in trouble for drinking. This being said, I believe that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 years old. Turning 18 is a big stage in life. When you turn 18 you can vote, get married and start a family, fight for your country, and buy tobacco products.
By July, 1, 1970 thirty states minimize their MLDA to 18. By 1980 most of the United States lowered the MLDA to 18 except 14 states. Referable to the legislation of the Minimum Legal Drinking age act of 1984, all the United States raised their minimum age again to 21. The minimum legal drinking age should be 21 because the car accidents will be less, and the possibility of intoxication will decrease, The proponents expressed that the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) did not prevent youths from drinking, but further it made them drunk in a really dangerous place away from their parents and the guild control. While the opponents debated that by age 21 you will be more responsible and you can experience precisely what harms you.
While, there should be more government programs to educate and prevent people from driving intoxicated. More and more people under the age of 21 are experiencing alcohol. "A survey released by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (TCADA) found that by the time Texas teenagers are seniors in high school, more than 80% of the teens admit to having some experience with alcohol. The same study found that secondary students say it's easy to get beer, wine or liquor" (Westbrook). Texas is a zero tolerance state for underage drinking it has some of the strictest penalties for underage drinking, and if 80% of the teenagers in Texas have had experiences with alcohol that tells me that the campaigns against underage drinking, and zero tolerance programs are not working.
Alcohol was known to be both helpful and harmful. In the 1920's, Prohibition laws came into effect which made alcohol illegal. After Prohibition ended, almost all of the states made into law that the age of twenty one was the minimum legal drinking age. Between 1970 and 1975, twenty-nine states lowered their legal drinking age to 18, 19, or 20. This change happened because the voting age and enlistment for war was also lowered.
Most teenagers want the drinking age lowered to 18. If people can go off and die for there home country, they should be able to have a drink of alcohol. “According to a report published by CNN, back in the 1970s, when the government lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, many states followed up by lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18” (Drinking Age 21). According to Drinking Age 21, around 4,700 deaths per year. The reason for the drinking age being raised back to 21 is in part of the Mother’s Against Drunk Driving (Drinking Age 21).