Premium Essay

Drinking Age Thesis

Submitted By
Words 802
Pages 4
The first and most obvious objection to the thesis is the common thought that highering the drinking age will lead to lower motor vehicle crashes under the influence. Many health experts and statisticians will say that a lower age lowers motor vehicle crash numbers, but this is purely based off observational data. Current studies on the effect of the minimum drinking age law and motor vehicle collisions are problematic in that there has not been a significant amount of research. This topic opened up more recently with the enactment of the Minimum Drinking Age Act. New studies started up and the current studies use observational data to make conclusions on data trends. However, many of these papers note that the spike in motor vehicle collisions …show more content…
This takes the form of the drinking age. As the number of years that you can both drink and drive is reduced, so too will drunk driving as a result. However, outlawing alcohol or driving would be outlandish in the United States. It seems then that there is a problem that is causing functioning drivers to begin drinking before they drive when they should not. Regardless of whether this is due to a lack of proper alcohol education or even the drinking age itself, this is the issue to press on.
There is an assumption that highering the legal drinking age will decrease the incidence rate of motor vehicle accidents. Instead, instead evidence driven safety measures (such as seatbelts and strict drunk driving laws) should be implemented over more than a proof of …show more content…
If it was shown that the use of alcohol is immoral altogether, then instead of lowering the minimum drinking age, it would need to be banned altogether. It seems as though this will not be the case for a significant amount of time. When prohibition went into effect, the population continued to drink regardless of the law. History has shown that outlawing alcohol is difficult. However, is it ethical to ever ban alcohol? One could argue that by banning all alcohol, you effectively ban all drunk driving. This would satisfy the condition that MAAD set out to achieve. It does not seem outlandish to completely ban alcohol in this regard. While this seems like a perfect solution, it seems to break down when it comes to implementation.
The first challenge this argument poses is that it would be extremely difficult to pass a piece of legislature to ban all alcohol. First, 56% of all Americans report they drink alcohol in some form. Assuming that most of those people would like to continue to drink, then it seems unlikely that such a bill would favorable. In addition, there are lobbyists whose objective is to make sure unfavorable laws are not

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Persuasive/Argumentative

...reader or listener can see how you get from one conclusion to the next. Or you can appeal to authority. Here you may want to find experts or facts to support your argument—think about Tiger Woods endorsing golf clubs. (Of course, do we also trust Tiger to advise us on buying watches? Not so clear.) Or you can appeal to emotion. Emotional appeals can be extremely powerful, especially when you are able to relate your argument to your readers' values or needs. Most good arguments make use of all three appeals in some way. But how do you actually construct an argument? First things first: the thesis. The thesis is probably the single most important sentence in the entire paper, because it's what every other element of the paper is working to support. It's the anchor, providing a point for both the reader and you, the writer, to come back to. This puts a lot of pressure on you to choose a good thesis statement, but...

Words: 2586 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Abortion

...Should Abortion be Legal? PHI 103 Should Abortion be legal? Part I: Thesis As we approach a presidential election, a hot topic has been abortion. The candidates have announced their stance of either being pro-choice or pro-life. Many people have based their choices on who they will vote for based on this stance, especially women. The United States of America was founded by those fleeing from religious persecution. In an article from the News Mail Bundaberg, the writer wrote that they did not “believe abortion should be used as a lazy form of contraception, but nor do I believe women's bodies should be legislated. Some say abortion is "playing God", but then so is all medicine” (unknown, 2010) Legalizing abortion guarantees that women receive the basic right to choose what happens with their own reproductive systems. Part II: Argument The right to choose is a big deciding factor in agreeing that abortion should be legal. There are certain instances in which a woman should be able to choose if they would like to continue with their pregnancy. For example, if a woman was raped and became pregnant, they should be able to choose whether or not they would like to have that child. Otherwise, they will end up with a child that they have to take care of that will be a constant reminder of that rape. Another instance is incest. If a woman is pregnant and the fetus is fathered by a family member, that woman should have a right to choose if they would like to have that child or...

Words: 1736 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Do Alcohol Ads Deliberately Target Youth?

...done on every aspect of alcohol. Anything can be advertised, but it does not do any good to advertise something without first finding an audience. It does not matter what the brand, product, or item is that the advertiser is trying to sell. All good advertisers know who their audience is and what they want to hear. Although underage drinking is against the law alcohol advertisements are shown to many people under the legal age. All advertisers know that although teenagers cannot legally consume alcohol they want to include teenagers in their audience because while it is still illegal now they will be twenty one and legal one day. The question is not so much do they target youth as much as it is do they target youth to young? Though alcohol consumption has decreased slightly in the last 15 years, alcohol use continues to be a major public health issue among youth according to the CDC (11). Actually, alcohol is the number one health and safety risk for young people. Over 74% of high school students have had at least one alcoholic drink; over 25% have tried alcohol before age 13 (17). In 2004, a study by Chisholm and Rehm estimated drinking by youth accounted for at least 16% of all alcohol sales in 2001(787). It has begun to be shown that alcohol advertising could be a factor related to alcohol consumption among youth. If advertising increases alcohol consumption, perhaps it could also increase alcohol abuse. These statistics are alarming. As young adults and future...

Words: 1727 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Reader Response - Teenage Drinking

...sixty five per cent of children have consumed harmful amounts of alcohol by adult standards by the age of fifteen and a large proportion are likely to have been drunk at least once in the last four weeks. This is appalling. Much less than half a century ago this would have been unheard of. Nowadays, it is common practice for a parent or guardian to purchase alcohol for their son or daughters’ consumption at the next house party. Although there are still mixed opinions on underage drinking, a much larger proportion are supportive of it. Farquharson’s responds to the Donaldson’s - the Chief Medical Officer - thesis with shock. He asks “Does he really believe that 17-year-olds, who are allowed to drive a car on their own and have children on their own, shouldn’t be able to drink without mummy or daddy standing over them counting the empty WKD bottles?” He believes that drinking is just another responsibility, that if you can legally drive a car and have children, you should be able to drink on your own too. On the other hand, a counter argument says that drinking is more damaging than any of those things. Alcohol is a drug. In America, more than five thousand underage drinkers per year from alcohol overdose, with 190,000 being sent to accident and emergency. However, he does not mention that children and teenagers are much more educated on having children and driving a car than drinking alcohol. For example, before you get you licence you must take many driving lessons and thoroughly...

Words: 729 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Madd, Impact on Society

...changed the laws regarding drinking and driving throughout the United States. MADD changed the legal age for drinking and purchasing alcohol. MADD has made the laws stricter; including more fines and punishment for breaking the laws. MADD has become one of the nation’s largest agencies to help improve assistance for families that have lost loved ones to drunk drivers. The organization has made historical changes in laws and legislature. MADD, Impact on Social Policy Mothers Against Drunk Drivers has made a significant impact on our society today by bringing changes in our drinking and driving laws. MADD, more commonly referred to, has implemented a change in drinking age and mandated strict laws for people who break these laws. From a simple outcry by the founder of MADD, this organization has grown to service millions. MADD was originally founded by Candy Lightner in 1980 after her 13 year old daughter, Cari was struck from behind and killed by a drunk driver. The driver had three previous drunk driving violations and had been involved in a hit-and-run accident and arrest two days before the incident involving Cari. One of the most effective leaders was Rebecca (Beckie) Brown from New Port, Florida. Rebecca became involved in MADD after her son Marcus died at the age of 18 from an accident involving a 19-year old drunk driver. She created the first MADD in Florida and “was instrumental in passing legislation to raise the minimum legal drinking age to 21 in Florida. The U...

Words: 951 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

United States Drinking Age

...Drinking Age In The United States The drinking age in the united states should be lowered to 18. At the age of 18 you are considered an adult by law and can be tried as an adult in court, you can serve your country in the military, drive a motor vehicle at 16 and even do tremendous harm to your body by smoking tobacco, but you can’t go to the bar and have a drink. I believe there’s something wrong with that. Studies by the National Youth Rights association say that raising the drinking age didn’t save life's it actually lost more life’s for people age’s 21-24. They also said that Alcohol should be introduced in the home hold before the age of 18 parents should gradually teach them how to drink so they will be reasonably responsible later in life then they’ll be less likely to abuse alcohol because they were taught how to drink. Also Alcohol has played a big role throughout our history and to limit it to certain people should not be allowed. Keeping the drinking age at 21 is not going to solve the problem which is underage people drinking alcohol it’s only going to intensify the problem. According to ProCon.org having the legal drinking at 21 hasn’t stopped teens from drinking what so ever, it pressured them into wanting to drink more and it pushes binge drinking in dangerous environments which can lead to drunk driving and even death. While Interviewing a Fresno police officer he agreed that the drinking age should be 18 he said, “I don’t know how many times...

Words: 927 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Military Drinking Age

...Drinking Age of the Military: Should it be Lowered Jason M. Stoudt DeVry University The drinking age in the military is currently set at 21 years old as it is set for the rest of the country. There has been an age old statement widely used by those in the military, “If I am old enough to fight and die for my country, I should be old enough to drink”. The debate is out there that the drinking age should be lowered for all young adults from 18 years old to 21 years old. The idea behind the fact that younger people tend to have less responsibility and are not good candidates for being allowed to drink is a valid point. Those serving in the military are different in that respect for the fact that they have more responsibilities than that of their counterparts in the civilian side of the realm. Anyone in the military from 18 until retirement has to be more responsible and is dealt with more severe consequences if they break the rules. Now the thing to look at is that it has not always been this way. In earlier years the military service members were allowed to drink if they were 18 years old and older as long as they were on a military base. It did not matter if the military base was overseas or inside the United States. In the middle of the 1980’s advocacy groups such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) as well as other groups lobbied Congress to have the rules changed. Per the U.S.C. 10, Section 2683, an amendment was made that changed the policy to reflect that the...

Words: 1983 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Outline For Alcohol On Campus Essay

...Topic: Alcohol on Campus Thesis statement: Methodist University should not be a dry campus and allow the possession and consumption of alcohol to students that are not below the age of 21 years, but not without strict regulations accommodating to possible abuse of the system. Subject: America’s attitude towards alcohol - Drinking culture is different here than in Europe - “Drinking until drunk” attitude in the U.S. versus European moderation - In the U.S. it is not normal to take alcohol to lunch - Bar policy varies • In some countries you must be older to drink in bars, but you can purchase alcohol when younger - In some states you can drink at home with permission from a guardian Subject: Drinking culture with example (Germany) - Cite ““Alcohol...

Words: 548 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Economics

...Suppose the government raises the legal drinking age in the UK from 18 to 21. Conduct an economic analysis of this policy to examine its impact on affected markets. The minimum legal drinking age or MLDA is the most well studied alcohol control policy. It is a controversial problem with different empirical studies showing opposite results. In my opinion the change of age from 18 to 21 will lead to lower demand and will cause prices to go up. The consumption of alcohol affects the economy in opposite ways- every beverage sold raises the welfare but the problems coming from alcohol (deaths, injuries, crimes and reduced workforce productivity) lowers welfare. The change of the MLDA is an answer to the question whether the economy is better off with more drinking or not. There are many studies some saying that the raise of the MLDA is going to cause more drinking. A very important thing that we mustn’t forget is the credibility of these studies. They have been carried out most of them in the 1970s and 80s and all of them in the USA. We need to consider that in the past people perceived things differently and results may not be the same today. Besides the studies were carried out in the USA which has a different culture than the UK. According to Phillip Huff (http://www.scribd.com/doc/31945082/The-21-Year-Old-Minimum-Legal-Drinking-Age-An-Economic-based-Analysis-of-Problems-with-the-MLDA-and-Potential-Solutions, page 2) the law as it is now is causing the loss of billions of dollars...

Words: 1432 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Case Study

...Case study analysis CASE METHOD EXERCISE: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH (by Meg Connolly, in Marketing Ethics: Cases and Readings (2006), edited by Patrick E. Murphy and Gene R. Laczniak) Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) of today differs dramatically from the original waterfront shop in New York that carried high-quality clothing suitable for camping, fishing and hunting. The A&F of 2002 can be found in virtually any major mall in America, and its target market includes preteen and teenagers. Indeed, the shift has been rather dramatic, and it could certainly be asserted that the direction A&F has recently headed strays substantially from the original vision of its founders. The style of clothes offered by A&F could be described as worn, casual, and rather rugged. Some critics contend the merchandise at A&F is seemingly overpriced considering that it is arguably no more unique than any other store of its kind geared toward the same market. One aspect of A&F that does make it unique from other stores, however, is their catalogue that was first published in 1997 and comes out four times a year with a spring break, summer, back-to-school, and Christmas issue. The Quarterly is a magazine-hybrid that, in addition to the clothing portion of the catalogue, has interviews with actors, musicians, directors and even some famous scholars. Fashion legend Bruce Weber does many of the photographs that appear throughout the magazine, and “these photos depict young, healthy, presumably red-blooded...

Words: 1189 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Ethical Dilemmas

...Intro Bus Critical thinking exercise 4-2 Ethical Dilemmas 5. You are the vice president of a beer company in a state that sets the legal drinking age at 21. Your boss asks you to organize a lobbying effort to have the drinking age reduced to 18. What would you do? A. I would do research and report my findings to my boss. Although it might seem like a good idea to do so -higher sales, and therefore higher revenue and profit- lowering the drinking age would be a losing battle. States can lower the drinking age back down to 18 or 19 but the amount of federal highway funds they'd lose (about 10%) makes it too expensive for them to do it. Many politicians don't want to risk getting involved. Why change something that appears to be working. Young people might like a beer at 18 but young people don't vote. 77% of Americans are opposed to lowering the drinking age to 18 according to a 2007 Gallop poll. Research shows that the law saves lives. It is one of the most researched public health laws on the books. When the law was raised to 21, alcohol-related deaths for young people decreased; when it was lowered, deaths increased. Scientific research about brain development and function, traffic accident records and population death rates show clearly that 18-21 year-olds handle alcohol poorly. The idea is strongly opposed by social and religious conservatives, parts of hospitality and retail industry concerned about liability, groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving...

Words: 705 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Lowering the Drinking Age

...Jordan Bryant-Smith 10/23/14 English 120 John Small Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 19 seems to be an automatic yes for college students under 21, but is it actually anything genuinely wrong with lowering the drinking age? Are there any potential benefits to restoring the drinking law to pre-1984 levels? In an article written for CNN, William Cohan argues that the standard drinking age is “all a farce”(Cohan), when alcohol consumption should be the first step towards responsibility. Robert Voas from CSMonitor, however, believes there is no possible benefit to lowering the drinking age. Both authors want to solve the problem of underage binge drinking. Cohan and Voas also agree that the minimum drinking age is not enforced strongly enough, however, they disagree on the effectiveness of the law. Robert Voas believes that the minimum drinking age is effective as it stands and lowering it would be a huge mistake. He feels particularly that society would be beneficial would be better off with the current law. In contrast, William Cohan argues that the national drinking law is incredibly ineffective and should be lowered to 19. William Cohan wants to solve the issue regarding underage binge drinking by simply lowering the law to 19. Cohan referred to the minimum age law as a “national joke” (Cohan), after considering the frequency of its violation, “every week if not every day”(Cohan). He asserts that we should completely refocus our attention instead...

Words: 1048 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Drinking Age

...com, keeping legal drinking age at twenty one save 900 lives yearly. the drinking age should not be lowered to eighteen for many reasons. At eighteen, teenagers are not mentally mature. Unlike adults, teenagers drink just to fit in or just for the fun of it. Drinking at a young age is not healthy for teenagers at such a young age, because by the time they’re are twenty one they’re already alcoholics. When thinking about lowering the drinking age, you have to put the poor choices that would be made by an intoxicated teen in perspective. Such as, dropping out of school, laziness, violent behavior, and drunk driving. To no surprise, too much alcohol can slow down a person’s ability to think, react, and make decisions at the current moment. One important and deadly impact drinking can have on teenagers drinking at an early age is drunk driving. On average, two in three people will be involved in a drunk driving crash in their lifetime. According to huffingtonpost.com, every day in America another twenty eight people die as a result of drunk driving. If the drinking age is lowered to eighteen it would do nothing to decrease those numbers, it will only increase the death rate. In conclusion, we can clearly see that underage drinking is not a good thing, and should be avoided for the sake of lives. As i stated previously, lowering the drinking age to eighteen can cause poor decisions making; which can lead to death, drunk driving, and addiction. The drinking age being lowered will...

Words: 304 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

American Advertising

...recognizes this and has a lot to gain from it. I will then go into the attitudes and behaviors of American youth and how advertisement affects them. I will discuss some research and facts from, “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” on the long term effects of alcohol use, as well as other research facts. (CDC, 2015) Buzzle.com. (2015). [Advertisement].Retrieved from http://www.Buzzle.com AMERICAN ADVERTISING & AMERICAN YOUTH American advertising has a tremendous pull on our youth today. It seems as though every time we turn around we are being exposed to some kind of advertisement. In this essay I will be focusing on alcohol ads and how they are portrayed to our youth today. It is in my opinion that alcohol ads make drinking look fun and harmless. In all reality, the alcohol companies are only trying to sell their product and make money even at the cost of possibly ruining a person’s life or health. According to the, “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” there are several long term health risk a person can get overtime from alcohol use. (CDC, 2015) This is important information the alcohol companies seem to skip in their ads. Alcohol is also considered...

Words: 1632 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Changing Our Nations Drinking Age

...Changing our Nations Drinking Age Now if you have not already figured out the battle of our nations drinking age has been a widely debated and controversial topic for many years. Yet it is still a complicated problem that no one can agree upon. Knowing, as well as realizing a wide variety of topics that go hand and hand regarding alcohol such as health risks and impaired judgment it is important to realize other negative factors without supervision. However, people are still split on the issue of alcohol consumption. I will be focusing on the problem when mixing alcohol into supervised and unsupervised environments, discussing past and present issues when keeping alcohol locked up or out of reach from minors, addressing how the current drinking age demeans young adults under twenty-one, and why I believe the drinking age should be lowered to nine-teen to benefit from unsafe drinking habits. To make the issue clear regarding how when alcohol is mixed with different given environments shows different outcomes two life scenarios come to mind. For insistence, back when twenty-one was not the legal drinking age, sitting up at the bar drinking casually with a couple friends well sharing a couple laughs seemed harmless. Even if the young adults started drinking more and more there were staff, bouncers, and bartenders there supervising and making sure everyone was in line. Now turning the tables around when alcohol is introduced at a party with no supervision, the lack of responsibility...

Words: 1055 - Pages: 5