Premium Essay

Lower Drinking Age

In:

Submitted By Erik2408
Words 1128
Pages 5
Erikson Pepa
Business writing
Report: Draft
March 3, 2014

Lower Drinking Age Turning 18 is a big year, probably one of the biggest in our young lives. When you turn 18 a million doors open, you can change your name, get tattooed, vote, join the military, go to jail and be trialed as an adult, basically anything you can think of, except one thing and that’s buying/drinking alcohol. That’s one thing that always got my attention: why 21? If you are considered by the law an adult at 18 then you should be treated like one in all aspects of it. Everyone has their own opinion on this matter, and there have been numerous arguments for each side. As I was surfing the web, I came across an article by Matt Nagin. Nagin’s article was “Top 3 Reasons Why the Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered to 18”. It grabbed my attention so I decided to give it a look, Nagin’s 3 top reasons were, drunk driving, binge drinking and alcohol poisoning, and violent behavior all in that order. According to the article Nagin states that there is an average of 17,000 deaths related to drunk driving. This survey was conducted in 2010. The numbers have slightly gone down (Nagin). From all the drunken driving statistics rates were the highest among 21-25 year old at 23.4% and 15.1% for 18-20 year olds, but after the age of 25 the rates decrease (Nagin). The way I see it keeping the drinking age at 21 is not really making a difference because as the statistics show most drunk drivers are over the age of 21 anyways, so what good does it do to keep it at 21? I don’t believe the statistics will increase any higher than they already are, because the people that want to drink are already doing so. As long as alcohol is legal there will always be drunken related accidents and deaths there is no changing that. The second main reason why Nagin believes it should not be lowered is binge drinking and

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Lower Drinking Age to 18

...| Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 | Sociology 100 | | John Max | | STRAYER UNIVERSITY 12/8/2012 Professor Taylor, Grace Individuals born prior to 1966 had the right to drink alcohol legally in the United States at the age of 18. In 1984 the United States changed its legal drinking age from 18 to 21. The legal drinking age in the United States of America should be lowered from the age of 21 to the age 18. Americans today are mature enough at the age of 18 to drink responsibly. Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 will have a positive outcome for American society. Lowering the legal drinking age affects the country as a whole, as well as many countries around the world. When considering the issue in a global perspective view, the United States is only one of four countries that have a drinking age as high as 21. In just about every other country around the world there is little or no social pressure to drink. In the countries where the legal drinking age set to 18 irresponsible behavior is never tolerated. Young people learn at home from their parents and from other adults how to handle alcohol in a responsible manner. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development states that development occurs in stages. The second stage which is known as the conventional level appears in the teenage years. Kohlberg believes that in this stage young people lose some of their selfishness as they learn to define right and wrong in terms...

Words: 1021 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Lower the Legal Drinking Age

...Lower the Legal Drinking Age BCOM/275 Lower the Legal Drinking Age Drinking has become a rite of passage. Many young people count the days to their 21st birthday because they finally can drink legally. This journey into adulthood causes confusion considering other milestones are reached at 18. Upon reaching maturity, young people can vote, serve in the military, and marry without consent. If an 18-year-old can make such significant, life-changing decisions, he or she should have the right lawfully to consume alcohol. In 1984, Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which necessitated that states increase the public possession and buying age of alcohol to 21 or federal funding for highways was reduced. Each state complied to receive its annual allotment. Prior to 1984, the legal drinking age varied for each state. According to the article, “The Top Five Reasons We Should Keep The Drinking Age At 21,” our lives and futures of our children rely on continued support of not lowering the national drinking age. There are valid arguments throughout the article and after researching the data online most of the information is accurate. However, the author did not list any references, which makes the article lose credibility. There are no logical fallacies but without citations, the piece seems like one person’s opinion and not a reliable source. The futures of our children depend on parents and their ability to teach their children to...

Words: 833 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Lower the Legal Drinking Age to 18

...Lower the Legal Drinking Age to 18 Danielle Gonzales The government can trust those between the age of 18 and 20 to do many things, but they cannot treat them like full adults and allow them to drink alcohol. You will find that many Colleges and Universities disagree with the legal drinking age. In fact, they believe that rising the drinking age has increased the amount of ‘binge’ drinkers and only made our countries drinking problems worse. Eighty-five percent of twenty year old Americans reported that they had used alcohol. (Johnson) Two out of five said they had binged within the previous month. To ‘binge,’ is to consume five or more drinks at one time. (Engs) “The period since the twenty-one minimum drinking age took affect has been marked by a shift from beer to hard liquor,” Seaman wrote in Time “consumed not in large social settings, since that is now illegal, but furtively and dangerously in students residences. In my reporting at colleges around the country, I did not meet any presidents or deans who felt the twenty-one year age minimum helps their efforts to curb the abuse of alcohol on their campuses.” (Balk) A kid is going to drink if he or she wants to regardless whether the law says eighteen or twenty-one. In an alcohol related situation you are more likely going to hear “I don’t drink, thank you,” than “I better not, I’m not 21 yet.” When colleges and University presidents disagree with the drinking age, something has got to be done. If the drinking age...

Words: 1760 - Pages: 8

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

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

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

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

Dinking? 18 or 21?

...Amethyst Initiative is a proposal to consider lowering legal drinking age to 18. Some 130 universities have signed on to the initiative. UVa has not. “The initiative has triggered a backlash of criticism from health experts, transportation officials, government leaders, and opponents of drunken driving.” (Nancy) I think lowering drinking age will cause more problems. Because Lowering-drinking age to 18 not only let teenagers even younger than 18 will get alcohol, but also raises the number of drunk-driving accidents. We also cannot ignore this action will increase the number of problem cause by alcohol. All those things happen in our daily life and warning us that drinking age should not be lowered to 18. Lower drinking age is just like give the group of underage drinking teenagers official IDs instead of fake ones. And they will become much more reckless, even those one who used to care about the law so didn’t drink will soon become drunk. “A study done in 2003-4 at Johns Hopkins tested the incidence of binge drinking (as that term is defined in the Wechsler studies) in the age group just below the legal age in various countries. David Jernigan, who directed the study, used Wechsler’s survey methods to quantify the percentage of 16-18 year-olds who reported having become seriously drunk during the 30 days prior to their taking the survey. The evidence is being construed as proof that no matter what the legal age, persons just below it are disposed to drink to excess.” (Nancy)...

Words: 1290 - Pages: 6

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

Minimum Drinking Age

...Of all the 190 countries, only twelve countries have the minimum legal drinking age set at 21. That leaves 61% of these countries that have the minimum legal drinking age at 18 or 19 (Minimum Legal Drinking Age in 190 Countries). Why is the United States part of the minority? Why must our young adults have to wait so long before they can indulge in a drink or two? In those other countries that have a lower drinking age, they are introduced to alcohol at a younger age and have a healthier relationship with alcohol because they learn about the risks and are furthermore educated about those dangers than people in America. The minimum legal drinking age should be lowered to 18 years old because we are considered adults and have adult-like responsibilities, it will decrease unsafe drinking habits, and it can even benefit the economy. The year that a teenager turns 18...

Words: 878 - Pages: 4

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

Premium Essay

Pre-Gaming

...and make me feel that the higher drinking age is to blame for “pre-gaming” and the reason so many students either die or end up in the hospital while in college. The topic of the article is about college students “pre-gaming” for social events by consuming large amounts of alcohol beforehand. The author’s point of view is that with a younger drinking age a lot of “pre-gaming” behavior could be avoided. * Consider your own experience Growing up in a college town being River Falls, WI. I grew up two blocks from the UWRF campus. Around the time I turned eighteen I started getting invited to a lot of college party’s and frat parties and so on. I can relate to the binge drinking aspect. We all had to try and get ourselves good and buzzed up, before we went out for the night. Having the drinking age being 21 in my eyes sets the stage for a lot of young adults to have to “pregame” before going out. When young adults are away at college, sometimes it’s there first time away from home, there are going to want to drink and experience the “college” life. When you tell young adults that they can now vote, and that they can make all their own decisions and even go away to war and potentially die for their country, but they can have a beer. They will find a way to drink. To me that’s like adding fuel to the fire, and in return you give people no choice but to rebel, hence you get ‘pre-gaming” behavior. In my eyes if a person who is eighteen years of age and is old enough to vote and...

Words: 402 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Marketing Plan for Budweiser

...Marketing Plan for Budweiser 2012 Submitted by: Submitted to: August 17, 2012 Budweiser Executive Summary The current business environment for a piece of the beer industry market is very competitive. Breweries must compete against other breweries, both large and small to remain a viable player in the sale of their beer. Budweiser is a product produced by Anheuser-Busch, an American brewery founded in St. Louis in the mid 1800’s. The intention of the following marketing plan is to not only continue to add to the legacy of Budweiser, but to re-energize the consumer’s appetite for Budweiser and increase the market share of the product. The formula for Budweiser is over 130 years old. The recipe has a unique blend of barley malt, brewer’s rice, yeast, water, and hops. These same five ingredients are what still goes into Budweiser today. We will promote how after 130 years the tried and true tradition of these five ingredients are the building blocks that give Budweiser its uncompromised flavor. In addition to the five ingredients, the seven steps in brewing Budweiser remain the same today. The seven steps are milling, mashing, straining, the brewkettle, primary fermentation, beechwood aging, and finishing (Budweiser Anheuser-Busch). Using the beechwood aging process allows more interaction between the beer and the yeast. This is the unique formulation that has propelled Budweiser into the staple beer which...

Words: 5396 - Pages: 22

Free Essay

A Gem of Study

... IMAGE: Getty Images We all know that some entrepreneurs get rich quick, but still others do it even while they're young. Quite a few of them are making their first million before they're even of legal drinking age. http://www.inc.com/john­boitnott/40­young­people­who­became­millionaires­before­they­were­20.html 1/6 19/01/2015 40 Young People Who Became Millionaires Before They Were 20 | Inc.com While most teens spend their youth honing work skills in entry-level jobs, whether that's slinging fast food or working retail, others get that spark to succeed at an early age. There's no shortage of useful advice out there to help even the very young make strong business decisions. There is also no minimum age to become a millionaire, as these "kids" know firsthand. From playing the stock market to starting up their own companies, check out these 40 teens who made millions before turning 20. 1. Ashley Qualls: The founder of WhateverLife.com got her ingenious idea back in 2004 when she was just 14. Meant to showcase her design skills, the site really took off when Qualls started doling out freebie MySpace layouts. An anonymous buyer offered her $1.5 million and the car of her choice, but she declined. 2. Juliath Brindak: She began creating sketched characters at age 10, and then developed a complementary social-media platform at 16. Her Miss O & Friends company is now worth an estimated $15 million, though Brindak gets most of her revenue from ads. 3. Sean...

Words: 2392 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Drinking Age To 18

...The drinking age in the U.S. is a widely debated topic. People everywhere think it should be lowered while other people think it should stay the same. In this report I will explain both sides of the story and all of the pros and cons of lowering the official age, and then explain to you my view on the topic. Why we should lower the drinking age. 18 is the age of adulthood in The United States, and adults have the right to make their own decisions about alcohol consumption. By lowering the drinking age, allowing 18-20 year olds to drink in regulated environments would decrease unsafe drinking activities. Also there are fewer drunk driving accidents and fatalities in many countries with the MLDA of 18. Lowering the MLDA from 21 to 18 would...

Words: 616 - Pages: 3