The Pros And Cons Of Underage Drinking

To fix this problem, some people believe that the United States should lower the drinking age because the wait until the magical twenty- first birthday to drink is absurd and contributes to the reason why the U.S. contains a plethora of underage drinkers. Others argue that drinking at any age under twenty-one harms an individual’s health and the law must stay at its current level. Yet, several others believe that twenty-one is too low of an age for the consumption of alcohol, and thus the age ought to increase. In my opinion, the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen since society accepts that age for adulthood, and introducing teens to alcohol while they still go to high school would be beneficial for both society and their health. At age eighteen society expects citizens to act like adults and hence should be given the right to drink.

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.

Buying and consuming alcohol legally varies from country to country. The legal drinking age here in the Virgin Islands is 18-years old. There have been countless amounts of debates on whether the drinking age in the Virgin Islands should be raised from eighteen to twenty-one. Those in favor of rising the drinking age believes there will be less alcohol related deaths and injuries from car accidents. On the other hand, I believe the drinking should not raised to twenty-one in the Virgin Islands because it deprives young adults of their rights, decreases revenue for the government and businesses, and causes a significant amount of illegal activities.

In other countries around the world a person under the age of 21 can drink alcohol, while some countries don't even have an age limit, but in America a person has to be 21 to purchase alcohol. At the age of 18 a person could go to was for their country, could vote, buy cigarettes, but they cannot buy alcohol. One of the main causes of the drinking age being set to 21 was teenagers were getting into car accidents after getting drunk. By no means should driving under the influence should be legal. While, there should be more government programs to educate and prevent people from driving intoxicated.

With all of the alcohol problems with underage drinking should the drinking age be lowered just to offset the problem. Studies prove that those who drink before age 21 have considerably more alcoholic problems at work, with family, and with police (Lyons 18). If we lower the age too soon without enforcing the punishments way more than we do now then we will just of lowered the age at which kids start drinking. There has to be an off set something that will stop teens from drinking illegally. Therefore it would not be smart to lower the drinking age until the punishment will match the crime.

Sure teens drink less often than adults but when they do drink they definitely drink more than adults. This practice is known as binge drinking. These harmful and unsafe activities that many teens are engaging in definitely prove the argument that the Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21 lowers the number of underage drinking wrong. If, as adults, people have the right to serve on juries and make major decisions that can influence a whole nation, then at 18 people should be able to consume alcohol without having to worry about breaking the law. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would encourage people to drink responsibly and it would reduce traffic accidents that are caused by people driving under the influence.

They wouldn’t hide it from their parents or law officers, so they would be less prone to injuries or deaths. Then they would be under proper adult supervision, and at a place where they can learn how to drink responsibly (Drinking Age). According to John McCardell, the change of the drinking age to 21 has become counterproductive. McCardell told 60 Minutes that, “This law has been an abysmal failure. It hasn’t reduced or eliminated drinking.

While the opponents debated that by age 21 you will be more responsible and you can experience precisely what harms you. Agreeing to a national study, 77% of the Americans oppose lowering the minimum age and 22% favorable to decrease it to 18. Drinking at a young age could lead to an early death or crimes which would affect the society due to lack of education, less awareness about self-control and life managements. Drinking alcohol under the age of 21 considered illegal all over the United States, but a few states... ... middle of paper ... ...reasing the skilled workforce and managing the natural resources. Granting to the centers for disease control and prevention that alcohol considered that the greatest contributor to death cases among young people.

“Although many believe that anyone under the age of 21 is prohibited from consuming alcohol in the United States, underage drinking is allowed in 29 states if done on private premises with parental consent, 25 states if for religious purposes, and 11 states if for educational purposes.” ("Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?"). The purpose of having an MLDA is to prevent underage consumption of alcohol, but the current age has been proven to have little effect on the matter. Teenagers have many ways of obtaining alcoholic beverages such as using fake identification cards and getting an older friend or family member to buy it for them. The methods used to purchase alcohol have been successful; teenagers account for twenty-two and a half billion dollars of consumer spending for alcohol in the United States.” ("Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?"). The thrill of breaking the law and being defiant is thrilling to young adults, so raising the age or restricting them from a right they should have is not helping the problem of underage drinking, but encouraging it.

In facts there are fewer drunken driving accidents and fatalities in c... ... middle of paper ... ...a new type of freedom at age 18 and it is probably not a good idea to make it legal for them to consume alcohol. Also many people believe that if you allow such young people to drink that it may encourage them to try different things such as drugs. This could be very hard to say or judge but in some cases it can be true. The MLDA is at age 21 and based of the facts of people it will never be lowered again. The pros and cons of the MLDA both lean towards keeping it at the age of 21.