...The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) actually affects more things than people think. Think about how often somebody drinks alcohol to have fun, relax, enjoy a family gathering etc…. With the drinking age being twenty-one in the United States it makes underage teens and young adults want to drink even more. Why someone might ask. One reason is that it gives teens a sense of adulthood. When teens take a drink of that alcohol it gives them that grown up feeling. Just the fact you have twenty-one makes it so urging for teens and young adults. The drinking age should be lowered to eighteen in the United States. If you take a look at driving under the influence rates (DUI) in the United States and compare them to countries with the drinking age eighteen the United States is significantly higher. Why is that? In almost every other country the drinking age is lower than twenty-one found from...
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...have argued over whether or not the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) in America should be lowered or stay the same. One of the main controversial issues regarding alcohol consumption in our society today is whether or not the legal drinking age is appropriate. Both sides to the argument have very considerable points that support their side of the argument. Do to these disagreements, the issue of whether or not to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 has become controversial. The best solution is to allow citizens that are 18 and older to drink but also follow strict rules and regulations to make sure it is not taken advantage of. This solution will help keep people safe while also allowing those 18 or older to have a good...
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...Edwin Muniz English 1010 Lowering the Legal Drinking Age There are many controversial topics in today’s news involving the younger generation. One of the most talked about topics is lowering the legal drinking age in the United States. Lowering the drinking age could have a really good impact on society as a whole. Although there are people that believe that lowering the age limit will have a really bad effect on the US, the good outweigh the bad. The drinking age being at 21, makes those underage look at alcohol sort of like the “forbidden fruit,” making them want to drink even more, sort of as a rite of passage. Lowering the drinking age to 18 seems almost undeniable considering that in the US, 18 is considered the age of adulthood. In the United States, turning 18 gives you the right to vote in elections, smoke tobacco, serve on juries, get married, sign legal contracts, be prosecuted as adults, and even join the military. Just imagine being 18 in the military, watching everyone 21 and older having a cold beer while you’re sitting there drinking water because you’re not old enough to drink alcohol. Not only are you risking your life being in the military like the others, you are also able to do everything the older members are able to do but, you absolutely cannot have an alcoholic beverage. In 1984 the U.S. Government raised the legal drinking age to 21 in an effort to decrease instances of drunk driving and related injuries and fatalities. However, this attempt...
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...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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...The legal drinking age needs to be lowered because fewer people will abuse alcohol , adult supervision will help teenagers at a young age ,and drinking helps with anxiety and depression. If the legal drinking age is decreased many teens would more than likely start drinking wisely. Adult supervision will tell the teens when enough is enough. If the teenagers suffers with anxiety or depression they could drink and feel better about what they are suffering and going through. If the drinking age is lowered many alcoholics would learn how to control their drinking habits. Even though the majority of humans argue that we should not lower the legal drinking age, but raise it, raising it could be a bad idea. Having the age remains the same or raising...
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...parents do except legally consume alcohol. If they are caught in public drinking alcohol they will be arrested. College students and soldiers are being forced to drink unsafely in the privacy of their homes because they are not legally able to purchase or consume alcohol. Minors are surrounded by their drunken peers every day and want to join in on the fun, but can’t legally drink. They are forced to drink heavy amounts of alcohol in a short amount of time, and this leads to alcoholism, drunk driving, heart and liver disease, and alcohol poisoning. Over time lowering the legal drinking age to eighteen will greatly reduce binge drinking which will result in less alcohol related deaths. Binge drinking is having ten or more drinks on one occasion. Binging can lead to violence, alcohol poisoning, drunk driving, and alcoholism, all of which can be deadly. This has become a major problem in the United States. The majority of binge drinkers are minors, people under the legal drinking age of 21. Over the last five years, the number of students binge drinking went up three to five times, which means the number of alcohol related deaths per year is also rising. This is a new problem that was a result of raising the drinking age from eighteen to twenty-one. If it was lowered back to eighteen there would be no need to binge drink. Over time binge drinking will stop being the new thing to do, and less people will...
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...drinking age should be lowered to the age of eighteen. The Minimum Legal Drinking Age has changed from each state setting their own to the government passing the National Drinking Age Act of 1984 making the drinking age twenty-one. The drinking age should be lowered because eighteen is the age of maturity, helps for better control, and helps stop binge drinking and sneaking around. The drinking age should stay at twenty-one because it is medically irresponsible and helps prevent addiction. The bible neither condones nor encourages the usage of alcohol but does warn and gives rules about it. The drinking age should be lowered because it benefits the teaching and control of alcohol. The Drinking Age Should Be Lowered to...
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...If by the age of eighteen young adults can buy tobacco products, but not be able to buy alcohol. What's the difference? They are both beast that can drag you into an addiction. The government expects eighteen year olds to be treated as adults, they might as well be able to buy alcohol. Legal drinking age is twenty one. What is the difference between twenty one and eighteen? Three years difference but lets have in mind that not all twenty one year olds drink responsibly. Eighteen or twenty one Same thing! there is a fifty, fifty chance that whether you're twenty one or eighteen you can be as irresponsible or as responsible when you drink. At the age of eighteen there shouldn't be any restrictions to any alcoholic beverages if supposedly eighteen is “adulthood”. People should be able to buy alcohol at age of eighteen....
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...Science 101 | July 18, 2015 Drinking Age Should Be Reduced to 18 in the United States by laurie rose Drinking Age Should Be Reduced to 18 in the United States by laurie rose The law states that you can start drinking legally at 21 in the United States. Some people think that a federal law should be passed that reduces the drinking age to 18 in all states. I agree with this side of the argument. It is not just young people who are for lowering the drinking age but some legislators as well. Representative Bob Lynn who is in the state legislature of Alaska also argues that the drinking age should be lowered for 18 year olds in the military. “Why do we consider 18-year-olds old enough to join the military, to fight and die for our country, but not to have a drink with their friends before they ship out or while they are home or on leave?” (Minton) Phyllis Kahn who is a state representative of Minnesota has fought for years to lower the drinking age in her home state. She proposed two bills this year on this topic in her state. One bill would lower the drinking age in bars and restaurants to 18. The other bill would allow underage teenagers who are accompanied by a parent or a spouse who is of legal age. She feels that if teenagers want to drink, they need to do it socially instead of getting alcohol from an older friend or relative and then binge drink. It would also eliminate the need for fake IDs. (Belden) In the 1970s the drinking age in many states used to be 18. In...
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...for a Legal Drinking Age? Maria Anna Dante Arellano University (Jose Abad Campus) ABSTRACT The debate of a legal drinking age has been long discussed. The legal age in the Philippines is 18 and people in the country wonder whether or not is the right call. At the age of 18, Filipinos has the right to vote. If an 18 year old can make up their mind as to who the potential leader of the country should be then, they should have every right to purchase and drink alcohol. The majority of the world has their legal age set at 18 and if you are old enough to be regarded an adult by society, you are old enough to have the same rights afforded to you. Introduction Teen drinking is on the rise. By the age of eighteen the law recognizes these young people as adults, they can be tried as an adult in the law, parents signatures are no longer necessary, and it is assumed you are mature enough to make sound decisions regarding things such as alcohol. Alcohol is abused heavily by teenagers across the nation. As they grow older their alcoholism grows worse and worse. The effects of teenage drinking affects many aspects of your body and mental state that it can lead to risky behaviours. DISCUSSION In the Philippines, although there is an age limit for purchasing alcoholic beverages it is estimated that 60% of young people will have at least tried alcohol before then. Hard liquors and beers can be easily buy in convenience stores by teenagers under the minimum legal drinking age or got...
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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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...Some may wonder the age old question, why should we be able to serve our country and possibly die in war but not drink until you turn 21? This question has been asked many time but instead of a right or wrong answer it is more of an opinion type of an answer instead of a set answer. But there are many factors that go into this key role in the debate War age V. Drinking age, like war and drink aren’t the same thing and drinking if for fun but war isn’t. Most of the things said about these are opinions and are right and wrong. I do believe that I will go with the side that allows you to drink when you are 18 and not 21 mainly because if kids are going to drink they will do so ether way. Second off drinking is common in other countries and how...
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...raising the legal drinking age in Australia from 18 to 21. I believe it is the right thing to do for the good of our health and the good of our futures. Young people are particularly vulnerable to the effects of heavy drinking. Excessive alcohol consumption affects how our young brains develop. Studies have shown that alcohol consumption negatively affects academic performance and can impair judgement resulting in risk taking behaviours, unsafe or unwanted sex or injury. Our brains continue to develop into our 20’s. Areas of the brain that undergo the most dramatic changes during adolescence are the frontal lobe and the hippocampus.These are areas of the brain that are associated with motivation,planning,judgement, decision making, language, impulse control and addiction. Aspects that heavily affect people of our age. Alcohol is a neurotoxin. Neurotoxins are substances that are poisonous or destructive to nerve tissue. In simple terms, alcohol poisons the brain. Excessive alcohol consumption at a young age interferes with vitamin B absorption; this prevents the brain from working properly. Professor John Toumbourou of the Deakin University School of Psychology says that ‘Alcohol causes permanent brain damage in young people, and raising the legal age will reduce not only youth alcohol problems but also other forms of drug use.’ P-Plate drivers are 3 times more likely to be killed or injured than more experienced drivers. When you turn 18, you can legally drink and legally...
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...Should the legal drinking age be reduced to 18 years of age? When a citizen of the United States reaches the age of 18, they receive all their rights of a legal adult, from voting too marriage. They receive all of them, however, except for the right to legally purchase and consume alcohol. In this essay I will discuss why the drinking age of 21 should be lowered to 18 due to country wide disobedience of the law, How most developed countries already have their legal drinking age reduced to 18, and how it is counterproductive to society to give people some of their rights at 18 but not all of them. I choose these due to most parents and their kids drinking before 21 regardless the law is in place, how places like Europe have their drinking age set to 18, and how kids do not fully feel like an adult and use drinking as a way to be irresponsible, when they should see drinking alcohol as one of their rights....
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...Twenty-one is too long The issue of alcohol consumption dates as far back as 4,000 BC. Currently the only limitation on consuming and purchasing alcohol is the twenty-one drinking age. It is an irrational law that should be changed to eighteen. Once an individual is eighteen they are legally an adult with the freedom to vote, enlist in the military, gable, rent a honey bucket, and many more responsibilities. If a person is allowed to vote, then they should be allowed to drink, voting is a higher responsibility than drinking. According to Szalavitz, at age eighteen the brain is still not fully developed and drinking only harms the developing brain. The issue isn’t about it being bad health wise, but rather it being illegal. It is widely known that people under the legal age drink regardless of the law. The legal age of consuming alcohol should be lowed to eighteen due to it being less of a responsibility than some responsibilities that are granted at eighteen, there would be less teenage criminals and less alcohol related problems. A shocking 80% of all high school students admitted to drinking alcohol (alcholnews.org). This high number shows that the legal age is simply being overlooked by teenagers; the efforts in place have repeatedly failed. Once a underage teenager does get caught with alcohol in their possession, they receive a M.I.P meaning “Minor in Possession” which is a misnomer offence. A MIP charge carries a fine and additional punishments which vary by state....
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