...Should the Legal Drinking Age Be Changed Back to Eighteen? The debate on the legal drinking age has been going on for many years. More mature adults say that the minimum legal drinking age should be kept at twenty-one. Young adults say that the minimum legal drinking age should be changed back to eighteen. There are many reasons that go behind the opinions of each. People believe that since the age of eighteen is the legal adult age in the United States of America that young adults should be able to make their own decisions on the consumptions of alcohol. Teens are still able to get alcohol due to parents, older siblings, friends, and other family members. Also, allowing eighteen to twenty year-olds to drink alcohol under supervision should lower the issue of underage drinking, and it will be good for the economy too. However, there are a lot of consequences that come with drinking at a younger age, such as eighteen year-olds have lower maturity than twenty-one year olds. Therefore, eighteens year-olds are more likely to get into negative alcohol and alcohol-related outcomes. With taking all opinions into consideration, you can see why this has been an ongoing debate on whether the minimum legal drinking age should be changed back to eighteen year-olds. I believe the debate should conclude on the prevision of allowing young adults to have the ability to make their own decisions upon alcohol consumption. Drew Saylor noted the effectiveness of the minimum legal drinking age, “The...
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...Highway Policy Age—it is nothing but a number—as many people say. With age comes wisdom, and with wisdom, wise decisions are made. Maintaining the minimum legal drinking age at 21 will deter life-long consequences, decrease traffic fatalities in result of alcohol consumption, and relieve issues in relation to public safety. In 1984, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act mandated that all states increase the minimum age purchase and consumption to 21. Under the Federal Highway Aid act, also referred to as the National Interstate of Defense Highways Act which was established in 1956, states that do not adhere to this requirement faced a highway-fund cutback consequence. Underage drinking, which affects many adolescent-and-young-adult households, is a problem and a significant public health concerns. It is correlated with an abundant array of damaging consequences (Spoth, Greenberg, & Turrisi, 2009, pg. 1, para. 1). Over the past several decades or so, the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) has raised debate in the United States. The influence to decrease the MLDA from 21 to 18, 19, or 20 came from a decrease in the legal voting age to 18. A total of 29 states lowered their MLDA between the years of 1970 to 1975. Because of this poorly thought through revision, traffic collision due to alcohol consumption have dramatically increased in adults between the ages of 18-20. With such dramatic outcomes of the MLDA, state-level movements to reverse the MLDA back to the age of 21 came underway...
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...November 2010 Lowering the Legal Drinking Age Is Not the Solution “In 2005, about 10.8 million persons aged 12 to 20 (28.2 percent of this age group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Nearly 7.2 million (18.8 percent) were binge drinkers, and 2.3 million (6.0 percent) were heavy drinkers,” according to the agency, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in the Department of Health and Human Services. To solve this problem, would be to try to avoid it from happening, and that is, keeping the legal drinking age at twenty-one years old. The minimum drinking age has been an argument as to lowering the drinking age to 18. Candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich, from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, argues, “Of course, they should be able to drink at age 18, and they should be able to vote at age 16.” Then there are groups that have been formed such as, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who are strongly against lowering the drinking age to 18 and fully support 21 to be the legal drinking age. Lowering the drinking age to 18 resulted in more car accidents, deaths, and harmful effects to the body at such a younger age. Having the legal drinking age at 21 is for everyone’s own safety and health, also less under age kids will and have the ability to drink. In the 1970’s the drinking age was 18 years old because it was thought if you could fight in the Vietnam War you should be able to drink. However, having the legal drinking age at 18 lead to an outrageous...
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...The Effects of Raising or Lowering the Legal Drinking Age The debate about whether the legal drinking age should be raised or lowered is a common debate in the public domain. The decision on what age one begins drinking is determined by various factors which involve the gene combination of the person and the immediate environment around the person (Vingilis and Smart 415). For instance, the changes that adolescents go 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...
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...Drinking age is a common thing in the United States. Based on what I found out in the articles is that the minimum age for a person to drink is at 21. People argued that they should lowered the drinking age to 18. In some parts of the U.S, they are allow to drink, with exception of the Muslims religion. Underage drinking can result an increase on teen pregnancy or a disease. Drinking age can result a brain disorder or even dead. In some college schools 10 out of 20 students have try alcohol and the does not stop them from doing it repeatedly until they can’t handle no more. The idea of drinking age legal is that the government want to lower the legal drinking age to 18, but we know that students are not full develop to drink or do drugs. Perhaps...
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...The debate about whether or not to lower the drinking age has been going on for years now with people on both sides having strong points. The side with the stronger side of the argument, in my opinion, would have to be yes, we should lower the drinking age to either eighteen or nineteen years old. I will be going over four points on why the drinking age should be lowered and they are as follows: it would teach responsible drinking behaviors and stop irresponsible college drinking, if we tried to raise the drinking age we would have another prohibition-like era which we all know how that turned out, there are fewer traffic accidents in countries with the drinking age of eighteen, and the morals around it, because if we can send an eighteen year old to Iraq then why can’t he make his own decision and have a drink? Lowering the drinking age to eighteen or nineteen would help the irresponsible drinking and help educate youth to know moderation when it comes to alcohol. “According to procon.org they state that if youth between the age of eighteen and twenty were allowed to drink in controlled environments such as bars, restaurants, social events, and other licensed locations would allow them to learn moderation and not resort to binge drinking in other areas such as fraternity houses or house parties.” (Should) Many college students are drinking as a pass-time and we can’t seem to do anything about it that is just it is. If we lower the drinking age, however, it will not only show...
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...Minimum Legal Drinking Age Debate Name University Affiliation Date There are many topics where people have different opinions whereby they either agree or disagree. An example of these topics is should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to a younger age. All states in the United States have their minimum drinking age stated as 21 although there are some exceptions in some states based on consumption at home, medical necessity, under adult supervision and other reasons. This paper is a synthesis on the ideas brought out on the debate of whether the drinking age should be lowered from 21 to a younger age. The position that I hold on the topic is that lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 would not make a difference or have a major impact on the society. I disagree with the law on lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 years due to some of the premises that have been brought forward to support the law. The Procong.org website explores the pros and cons of controversial issues such as whether the drinking age should be lowered from 21 to a younger age. I will examine three premises from the Procon.org website that support my position on this topic. One of these premises is that lowering the MLDA 21 would be medically irresponsible (Dejong, & Blanchette, 2014).I do not think that lowering the age from 21 years to 18 years should be considered as medically irresponsible. I agree that consuming alcohol below 18 years is harmful to the mental health of an individual...
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...3/24/2013 Argumentative research paper Why Not Change the Drinking Age Back to 18? In the United States of America you are considered a legal adult at the age of 18 years old. You have all the major rights of a fully grown adult, voting, enlisting in the military, buying a house, buying tobacco products and many more. However there is one right that was taken away from the 18 year old adult back in 1984. In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was put into place which changed the legal minimum drinking age from 18 years old to 21. Does this law mean that you are not really a mature adult until you are 21 or should the drinking age be brought back down to 18 when you receive all the other rights of a mature adult. It makes perfect sense that this right should be returned to young adults for plenty of reasons and also holds potential solutions to one of the nation’s biggest alcohol related problems. What does it mean to be an adult? United States law states that you are legally considered an adult at the age of 18. It makes sense right? You can buy a house, enlist in the U.S. military, get married and loads of other rights you don’t have until the age of 18. But United States law also states that all states must enforce a legal minimum drinking age of 21. We are the only major nation to have such a high drinking age. The drinking age wasn’t always this high though. On July 17th 1984 the national minimum drinking age act was passed which meant that 18 year old young adults...
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...Since the early times of human civilization, alcohol has been an enjoyable drink to accompany dinners, parties, celebrations, and almost any other occasion. As time and research has progressed laws have been put into place to regulate alcohol consumption. Countries around the world have laws and bans on under-age drinking and set certain ages at their minimums. There are a few countries with no limits, but for the majority the ages range from fourteen to eighteen, with the United States as an exception with their law at twenty one. Twenty one is too high for a limit and has been the cause of many fatalities, alcohol poisoning and other tragedies; it should be lowered to add more benefits to the youth of America including a safe at-home environment...
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... 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)...
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...the legal drinking age of 21 have saved nearly 900 lives in traffic accidents alone. Personally, I believe that the law should continue throughout the United States. Since 1988 all 50 states have a minimum age of 21. In “Keeping Legal Drinking Age at 21 Saves 900 Lives Yearly: Study,” Bahar Gholipour argues that the legal drinking age should remain at 21. As a contrasting opinion, in “The Drinking Age Is Past Its Prime,” Camille Pagila states that the drinking age of 21 has pushed young adults down the path of using pills and other drugs. She also claims that setting the drinking age at 21 makes the United States different from other Western Nations. Pagila also debates the decrease in drunk-driving deaths and argues that there are other reasons for the decrease in fatal accidents, such as the use of seatbelts and higher DWI penalties. Pagila declares, “Today, furthermore, there are many other causes of traffic accidents, such as the careless use of cell phones or...
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...The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 required that all States prohibit people under the age of twenty one from purchasing or publicly possessing alcohol beverages. This act is currently a law in all 50 states. This is a debate about whether or not should the national drinking age should remain at the age of twenty one or if it should be lowered to the age of eighteen. With this topic having many concerns, like health, having the minimum alcohol consumption lowered to the age of eighteen would give a sense of adulthood that should, so to speak, follow up with turning eighteen years old on ones birthday. With that, the age limit to purchase and consume alcohol should be lowered to the age of 18 in the United States. In the United States, adulthood begins at the age of eighteen. Some would say that with age also comes with responsibilities. In the United States turning eighteen means becoming a legal adult with new and different rights, responsibilities, and privileges from those of minors. Such privileges as having voting rights, ability to get legally married, legally sign contracts and other legal documents, have the ability to buy and smoke tobacco products, join the military and much more things without the consult of a parent because one is considered to be an adult at that age (ProCon). A drinking age of twenty one is an embarrassment to a supposedly liberty-loving nation. If you are old enough to enlist and old enough to vote, you are old enough to swill cheap...
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...Alcohol at 18: Perhaps The debate whether or not the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) in the United States is lowered to 18 years of age has come up plenty of times in the past. Some people may argue that lowering the drinking age would destroy our country. How come it hasn’t destroyed Canada or England? Some people believe that lowering the drinking age should not be that big of an issue, and that the problem lies on the fabrics of the population. Some even argue that lowering the drinking age will solve many issues we face today, and that underage drinking, alcoholism, and drug abuse would decrease. “Since 1984, we have had, in effect, a national drinking age of 21. The law imposes prohibition --we must call this what it is--on everyone under the age of 21, including those age 18-20 who are, in the eyes of the law, in all other respects, adults” (McCardell, 2010). Why would our country go into despair if the MLDA is lowered? Many factors point to the facts that underage drinking is a big problem in our age. “In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, largely independent efforts to raise state MLDAs resulted in differing state minimum drinking ages across the United States. This patchwork of drinking ages encouraged underage individuals in states with higher MLDAs to drive across state borders to drink or purchase alcohol in neighboring states that had lower MLDAs, probably contributing to higher rates of traffic crashes among youth aged 18–20” (Toomey, Traci L., Toben F. Nelson...
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...major focal point in the opinions and debates in society. Questions, comments and concerns revolving around how and what the system should do about the limits teenagers have only added to the stereotypical yet evidently true battle between the youth and the more matured adults. In one case, teens have suffered losses as big as having to complete school or acquire a GED to reach a certain level of employment. While in other cases, the fight for earning one’s driving license at the age of sixteen appealed to the favor of teens. Currently, the dispute that is now being presented touches a subject that if ever addressed by the government, would change the way America operates forever: the age of consent for drinking. The debate is simple- the teens want it lowered against the adults who would like it to stay the same. The issue stirs major controversy mainly to focus on the safety of young adults, and how the consumption of alcohol can affect the mortality rate in their age bracket. However, there are firm rebuttals that show that lowering the legal drinking age to eighteen can not only benefit society, is the only fair addition to the list of rights and privileges one assumes when they reach America’s definition of adulthood. The pros and cons of the issue both have their strong and weak points aimed towards convincing their respective counter retorts. Yet when push comes to shove, it’s hard to deny that the law surrounding the drinking age in its standing, is not only unfair to...
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...The debate that has recently come to my attention concerns the regulation regarding alcohol. The question has been raised: is it genuinely practical to enforce the draconian drinking laws that rigorously prohibit citizens under 21 from buying liquor? Are the efforts of these strict laws truly worth their stated goal? According to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, the US federal government outlaws purchase and public possession of alcohol by people less than 21 years of age. The history of regulation of alcohol in the US began in the 1920s, during the Prohibition Era where no alcohol was allowed at all. Now, laws still remain very strict with one group: those under 21. Ironically however, even with these high...
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