...Underage Drinking Introduction Underage drinking has long been, and continues to be, a serious public health concern. “Teen alcohol use kills more than 4700 people each year and high school students who use alcohol or other drugs are five times more likely to drop out of school” (MADD, 2014) than kids who do not. There have been years of underage drinking prevention programs to curtail the use of alcohol by those under 21 years of age and yet alcohol is the most widely used drug by adolescents in the United States (Wagoner et al. 2012). Underage drinking is a real problem in all 50 states, even though there are laws in place to prohibit anyone under 21 years of age from drinking alcohol. Parental involvement might be the missing link to decrease underage drinking for good. Statement of the Problem This study proposes that if parents are involved in prevention and intervention programs too, underage drinking will significantly decrease, in addition, age of onset will increase and more adolescents and young adults will abstain from alcohol use until legal age. Access to alcohol for underage drinkers comes from various sources. Many students are aware of local stores that sell alcohol to underage customers, know people who will purchase alcohol for them, and many utilize fake identification cards to purchase alcohol (Phipps, 2013). Surprisingly and sadly, a large provider of alcohol to underage partakers are parents themselves. When individuals become parents...
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...contemporary world, underage drinking has become a global phenomenon especially in the developed countries such as in the US. As a result, the Oklahoma State has taken various measures to curb the vice. This is the reason behind the enactment of the Underage drinking laws-Social Host Law. The law was enacted in order to; a) Minimize the circumstances that lead to death of a minor or suffering physical injuries b) To enhance concentration at school especially for the minors c) To make societies responsible for their young people and develop virtues that would lead to productive work in future d) Promote healthy social life Body (Translation: I will begin by outlining the aspect of underage drinking, Oklahoma’s Social Host law and specifically where Cody’s law emanated from) 1. Consumption of alcohol by the young people in the US is prohibited especially for people who are below 21 years. However, despite the minimum age that is set for people who buy alcohol being 21 years in all the states, the legal requirements varies significantly. For instance: a) Wagenaar and Melvin argue that some states have exceptions whereby they allow some individuals who are below 21 years to consume alcohol (37). This indicates that the laws are not uniformly implemented across the states. b) In Ohio State, the social host law has not been limited to the drinking parties by the underage. Therefore any action that is undertaken by an underage guest such as the procession off alcohol is perceived...
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...A Claim Against the Drinking Age in the United States of America The substance of alcohol has long been a topic of intense debate, particularly in the United States of America. In its relatively short history, the United States has had a prohibition which completely banned all alcohol distribution and consumption, as well as a drinking age which has changed over the years. Ultimately, it seems that legislative bodies in the U.S. cannot make up their minds. A big part of that indecision may stem from the fact that most amendments have been largely ineffective in culling what has been a very real, very large problem in the United States: alcohol related deaths or sicknesses. Nearly one out of every ten deaths in working class adults dies from alcohol-related incidents (10% of all deaths), making alcohol the fourth largest cause of preventable deaths in the United States. As a result of this, promoting responsible alcohol consumption and continued responsible actions once its effects take place are paramount in responding to those significant statistics. The method that seems to have been most focused on in curtailing dangerous alcohol consumption has been legally regulating who is allowed to consume it (as mentioned above: prohibition, and drinking ages). In short, alcohol consumption has been made illegal, and consequently deemed unjust, for people below certain ages. Many people have raised ethical, practical, scientific, and legal arguments surrounding...
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...National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which changed the national legal alcohol purchase and consumption age to 21. Though states were not required to comply, those which did not change the drinking age to 21 were threatened with losing 10 percent of their federal highway money. Though the act successfully reduced traffic fatalities related to drunk driving accidents, underage drinking has not stopped. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, underage drinking accounts for 17.5 percent ($22.5 billion) of consumer spending for alcohol in the U.S. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would allow 18-to-20-year-olds to consume alcohol safely in regulated environments, with supervision. Since the drinking age is 21, underage college students often consume alcohol in unsupervised spaces, such as house parties, where binge drinking and other drug use occurs. Lowering the drinking age would also reduce the number of alcohol-related accidents among underage drinkers. Many underage drinkers will not seek medical attention, no matter how severe injuries may be, because they fear the legal consequences of their actions. At age 18, citizens are allowed to vote, purchase tobacco, be prosecuted as adults and serve the country, so why can they not be allowed to purchase and consume alcohol? If the drinking age was lowered, alcohol consumption could be less taboo for adults between ages 18 and 20. Alcohol could become a more integral part of American culture, making...
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...lowering the Drinking Age from 21 Central Idea: Lowering the legal alcohol consumption age will reduce the rate of underage drinking charges: INTRODUCTION I. The Attention Step A. 10.4 million kids reported drinking last year so obviously this law is not working. The average teen begins drinking at 14, seven years before they can legally drink. 1. I’m sure at least a few of you have taken some of your parents alcohol without them knowing about it or have participated in underage drinking at some point in your life up to now and if not you might in college. 2. If you haven’t and don’t plan on it because it is illegal, just know that if the legal drinking age were changed, one would have nothing to think about. Transition: So why do we need to lower the drinking age? II. The Need Step: A. Since the drinking age was raised teens have tended to drink in more of an abusive manor. 1. In 2011 in the United States, 13,000 underage kids died from alcohol poisoning. The next closest country had just 5,000. 2. If the number of underage drinking charges in America reduces, then the overall rate of crime in America will drop therefore making America a safer country. 3. A recent Kansas City newspaper asked 8,726 students if the drinking age should be lowered. Out of 8,726 asked 7,992 said yes B. Underage kids want to consume alcohol and them not being of legal age will not be enough to keep them from getting the alcohol and getting drunk. 1. Police will be able to focus on more...
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...stay at twentyone. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act made it impossible or persons under the age of twentyone to purchase alcohol. This Act did not ban those under the age to consume alcohol. There were only seven states, along with Washington D.C.; that put a complete ban on alcohol to be bought or consumed under twentyone. Those other six states are Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. As the consumption laws vary from state to state, some allow the consumption of alcohol under the supervision and consent of parents and others do not. Some states do not even have a law of consumption at all, which proves a small portion of my point. The legal drinking age in the United States should be lowered from twentyone to eighteen because at this age one is considered an adult, there would be a lower risk of underage drinking and if one can serve in the military then they shall be able to The first point is the fact that in the United States, one is considered a legal adult. Therefore, the purchasing of lottery tickets, scratch tickets and tobacco products is now legal. Tobacco products cause heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in America. Well sure, you are thinking that alcohol can cause the same damage. Well then you would be right, but, if alcohol causes the same issues then why can’t legal adults at the age of eighteen purchase it? The United States is one of the few countries...
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...through in their biology and physiology can influence the age at which they start drinking alcohol. The behavior of a child influences his environment as the child gets to make friends and these influence the age at which the child can start to experiment with alcohol. Raising or lowering the legal drinking age is bound to raise major concerns. This will be a major concern for parents whose children are directly affected by the issue. Likewise, adolescents and youth are bound to get affected thus they are likely to engage in this debate too (Vingilis and Smart 415). Raising the legal drinking age lowers death rate. According to Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Congress members who met to mark the 20th anniversary of passing of a federal law that rose the minimum legal drinking age to 21, about 20,000 lives were saved through the passing of the law (MADD). The law signed in July 17, 1984 by the then President Reagan set the minimum drinking age as 21. An estimate by MADD approximates that underage drinking kills 6,000 people every year through traffic crashes and other alcohol related deaths such as homicides (MADD). Through this, is open that MADD is for the raising of the legal drinking age. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), raising the age at which people are allowed to legally buy and have alcohol is the most appropriate way of curbing alcohol related accidents in people below the age of 21...
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...approximately 5,000 young people under the age of twenty-one die as a result of underage drinking; this includes approximately 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, and as well as hundreds from other injuries (NIAA). In today’s society we are presented with a real epidemic, underage drinking. As children grow older they are brought into different environments where they are presented with different obligations. Children bring alcohol into their lives to be cool or to fit in, but dying of alcohol poisoning leaves young people to fit into which group? Teenagers begin drinking as early as middle school or even sooner. (NLM) It is said that teens who drink are more likely to be victims of violent crimes. They are more likely to have serious problems in school. They are more likely to be involved in drinking and driving accidents. Children who start drinking young are also more likely to develop problems with alcohol later in life. With such a huge epidemic in underage drinking, why would law makers want to lower the legal age? Throughout the United States, most seventeen year olds receive their drivers’ license. Seventeen year olds are still in high school and still testing different waters; some of the “water” is alcohol. It is hard to believe, but 70 percent of all teenagers drink alcohol, and 60 percent of all teen deaths in car accidents are alcohol-related (Eagle). Most parents want to believe that when they hand their children...
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...In 2013, Ethan Couch was sentenced two years behind bars after killing four people while he was drunk driving. Underage drinking and driving does not only put the driver in danger but it risks other people’s lives and it has been a major issue that our society has been facing for many years. Under the law it is illegal for a person under the age of 21 to drive a motor vehicle with a blood or breath alcohol concentration level of 0.02% or higher, yet many teens make exception for themselves and decides to drive, and ends up getting into a deadly or very serious accidents which can cause to kill innocent people as well. Underage Drinking and driving is issue that has been underestimated by many people over the years and it is essential to...
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...liquor. He drank them in about 1-� hours. The Media's Effect on Underage Alcohol Abuse The Media’s Effects on Underage Drinking The use of alcohol is a major aspect of our society. It is used in religious ceremonies, during socialization, and its presence ...His friends took him home and put him to bed as he passed out. His BAC continued to climb to a lethal level of .44 g/100ml, as the depressant did its work. His breathing stopped and the coroner estimates that he died at approximately 4:30 AM. He died on his 21st birthday, November 5, 1998. Tragedies similar to this one happen too often. People say that the age of 21 is an age of responsibility, and one is now responsible The Media's Effect On Underage Alcohol Abuse The Media’s Effects on Underage Drinking The use of alcohol is a major aspect of our society. It is used in religious ceremonies, during socialization, and its presence is seen ...to drink. Well in this particular case, responsibility was not there. Having an age limit for alcohol use does nothing if individuals are not educated to use alcohol properly. Lowering the age limit to 18 will not cause any more problems that are significantly present already with the age limit of 21. In the great land of America, responsibility is a measure of one’s age. Many privileges are granted when one reaches a certain age. At age 13, you The Pivot Points Of Alcohol Consumption Control For thousands of years alcohol has been regarded by society as a temporary escape from reality...
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...drinking a beer in a military uniform or having a beer with their father. Many of our underage society have consumed alcohol one time or another before the legal drinking age of 21. Tosmarttostart.com states that “By age 18, more than 70 percent of teens have had at least one drink”. The government should lower the legal drinking age to eighteen to coincide with other similar laws pertaining to younger adults. The legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. If male or female join the military in our country and are legally able to hold a gun and defend our nation they should be able to legally consume alcohol before the age of twenty-one. Just as being allowed by the law to join the military and defend our nation and what we know, as freedom is a huge responsibility. Saying that, many of those young men or women that defend our freedom should be able to legally enjoy a beer or any consumption of alcohol when they feel the need. According to the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act “States prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly Lemmon 2 possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages”. Not being able to legally consume alcohol under the age of twenty-one, but can be employed to defend our freedom by the same government who makes the law, is very inconsistent. The government should recognize what is before us and make changes according to the in consistency of the laws that they uphold. The legal age to join the military is seventeen years old with...
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...debate of the use of alcohol has challenged the nation for many years. The age limit that has been put into place in many states to legally drink is 21. Yet some still believe that 18 should be the legal age for the consumption of this drug called alcohol. Some argue that if a person can join the military, vote and be held responsible for themselves at the age of 18 that they should also have the right to drink alcohol. Others claim that fatalities from underage drinking are just too high and at the age of 18 a person is still not responsible enough to drink. In 1984 a bill was brought before government to raise the age to 21 or states would lose highway funding and in 1987 the government complied and signed a bill that forced most states to raise the legal age to 21, if they did not comply the state would lose ten percent of their highway funding. Some saw this as unfair and put laws into place where it was still legal for underage drinking with certain conditions attached, such as being supervised within your parents’ home. This bill has claimed to of saved 17,000 lives since 1988. The debate on the drinking age has raised many concerns for both sides and still continues to be a subject that brings controversy to any conversation. The pros of lowering the drinking age to 18 can be a very valid argument. At the age of 18 a young person is considered an adult and most believe that if you have the rights to join the army, get married and vote that the use of alcohol legally should be...
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...reasons that prove both arguments correct, the law still remains where it was set at. Most say the drinking age should not be lowered because it would increase the danger and deaths to underage drinkers, but that all has to do with the main argument for lowering the age, maturity. In the United States, at the age of 18, people are not able to buy alcohol but are able to join the military, vote, be considered adults, and buy cigarettes which can be as harmful if not more so than alcohol. I propose that we also add being able to legally buy alcohol at the age of 18. Prior to 1984, states were allowed to choose their own legal drinking ages. The legal age limit varied from state to state anywhere between 18 and 21 years of age. “One of the more compelling arguments for setting the age to 21was that the prohibition had only exacerbated drinking, particularly among the young”(Seaman 242). In 1984, the United States congress passed the national minimum drinking age act. Ronal Reagan instigated this act when he set up a study to look at the drunken driving problem in the United States. Scientists recommended that there should be a national uniform drinking age of 21. Since then, there have been many that oppose and want to reform the drinking age. Many propose to lower the drinking age because it will promote maturity, lower peer pressure, reduce the probability of binge drinking, and have less teenagers breaking laws. Alcohol consumption at the age of 18 promotes maturity and responsibility...
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...prevalent. The Minimum Legal Drinking Age Debate Since 2008, 136 college chancellors and presidents have signed the Amethyst Initiative, asking that the United States reconsider the minimum legal drinking age-21 (MLDA-21) laws that have been in place in all 50 states since 1984. The Amethyst Initiative argues that the MLDA-21 laws simply do not work, create a culture of binge-drinking, and that a policy of legalization and education would be more effective in protecting the safety of American adolescents. Elisabeth Muhlenfeld, the president of Sweet Briar College in Virginia and Amethyst Initiative signatory writes that 70 percent of the student population is underage. Teaching abstinence to students that blatantly ignore the MLDA-21 laws, or urging responsible behavior while drinking underage and breaking the law, are both hypocritical positions for the college administration to be in (Muhlenfeld 2). The Amethyst Initiative position is that current MLDA-21 laws have created a culture of heavy alcohol use by making drinking clandestine and extreme (Saylor 1). The statistics seem to back up this claim. Recent survey's of the 18-20 year old population by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show that a full 72 percent report having used alcohol in the last year. 36% of those polled reported having “gotten completely wasted” by binge-drinking within the last month. Other polls conducted by Harvard University put this number much closer to 50%. One in five teenagers...
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...The Pros and Cons of Underage Alcohol Consumption (Canada) Whitney Aldrich, Armando Cruz, Bryan Munoz, Lucy Cortez, Mitchell Guidry Team A BCOM/275 May 29, 2012 Scott Earle The Pros and Cons of Underage Alcohol Consumption (Canada) Canada is a country that is pro for under 21 years old to consume alcohol. They believe that if you have young adults start using alcohol at a younger age they learn how to monitor and control their drinking. Some of the reasons Canadians believe its okay are; they are less likely to see alcohol as a badge of adulthood and rebellion. Allows them to learn their limits in a safe space may also help ward off risky experiments in more dangerous settings later. By allowing 19 year olds do it makes alcohol illegal for high school students but allows virtually all college kids to legally drink. This means that at least some of their drinking is supervised and that there is no incentive to binge to avoid being caught possessing alcohol. The lower legal drinking age means that more Canadian students drink than American students; however, those who imbibe display more moderation than their U.S. counterparts (Larry Hemelin, 200). Even thou Canadians believe that the age of 19 is the right legal age for youngster to start drinking, many activists are still pushing new laws to raise the age limit for drinking alcohol. There are programs that are pushing to stop underage drinking. Awareness is being publicized in many ways. Mothers Against Drunk Drivers...
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