During the 1970’s reports showed that teenage car accidents increased in states where the MLDA had been lowered from 21 years old. This in turn prompted Congress to help alleviate the problem by passing the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. Although the federal government has no constitutional basis for setting a MLDA, it has
However, these teenagers also live in fear of getting caught for drinking and thus, consume their alcohol in unsafe environments; typically, these dwellings are where they can “escape” disturbances and predicaments, but usually encounter more. These environments are generally unsupervised and in groups of “children” that are ignorant of responsible drinking habits. Due to their apprehension of being caught, teenagers tend to never confess to an adult of the troubles they encountered as they drank and, therefore, may further affect their experience. Thus, if the drinking age was lowered to eighteen, a teenager would have the ability to be more straightforward with their drinking and would be able to drink in more supervised locations. They would also begin to drink in moderation since there is no longer the appeal of a “forbidden” rebellion.
Should the Legal Drinking Age be Lowered? Alcohol has taken the lives of many young adults and in order to stop this chain reaction from occurring once again with new generations there needs to be a change. Young adults under 21 drink now because it is illegal and it is what causes them to drink irresponsibly and causes them to do many regrettable things, knowing that they are going against authority. On college campuses nationwide students are currently drinking illegally while under the age of 21 and if the drinking age was changed the whole aspect of drinking would be looked at differently. Lowering the drinking age, I feel would be the best solution to solving the underground drinking problem, it would allow for drinking to be more “open.” Having the drinking age at 21 allows for there to me more difficulty in keeping track of the kids who use it because they do it secretly and tend to abuse it more.
The drinking age should not be lowered to 18. Lowering the drinking age from 21 years old to 18 years old could lead to an increase in dangerous behavior such as drunken driving and car accidents, risk of developing alcoholism and people under the age of 21 do not fully understand the dangers of alcohol. A teenage driver and alcohol is a dangerous combination. Drinking and driving accidents are the number one cause of death among teenagers. “Traffic deaths from drunken driving have fallen steadily, with those involving teenagers 16 to 19 declining by 39.1 percent from 1982 to 1990, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)”.
Teenage Drinking Raising the drinking age to 25 years old will prevent teenage drinking. “The strongest evidence for reducing alcohol-related harm is by increasing the price and reducing the availability”(Raising legal). Alcohol is a dangerous drug that causes accidents and deaths every year. Every year there are records of driving while intoxicated for under age drinkers. So raising the age of which you can consume alcohol will result in less accidents and deaths caused by drinking.
Many believe that reducing the drinking age would be an opportunity to increase safety in under-twenty-one drinkers, and reduce yearly fatalities. “In 1999…New Zealand lowered the drinking age from 20 to 18 and…alcohol-related crashes involving 15-to-19-year-olds subsequently fell” (Sanghavi). Public safety is better now than it was in 1984, “thanks to the effective public advocacy of organizations [such as] Mothers Against Drunk Driving” (McCardell). Also, “we are far more aware of the risks of drinking and driving” and “[a]utomobiles are much safer” (McCardell). “Alcohol related fatalities have declined over the past 25 years…in all age groups” (McCardell).
[23][36] MLDA 21 exerts valuable social pressure on potential underage drinkers. Youth may choose not to drink, or to drink less often, because of decreased social acceptability or increased risks from parental or legal authorities. Older youth and adults may furnish alcoholic beverages to minors less frequently, and licensed alcohol outlets may sell to minors less frequently, because of their perceptions that it is illegal, morally wrong, or because they might be caught.
The drinking age isn't meant to be a big deal, but the first couple years of lowering the drinking age could cause many students to be reckless. There are many responsibilities that come along with drinking at a low age, most importantly drinking and driving. Lowering the age will reduce all such problems, but at first will seem extremely hectic. Lowering the current drinking age of 21-and-over will allow young Americans, most of who are perfectly capable of drinking responsibly; to no longer drink in private or in short amounts of time, thus alleviating potentially dangerous conditions. Drinking privately is extremely unsafe and when kids are in a situation they can't handle, they can then ask for help.
The Science Daily explains that consumption of alcohol under the age of 21 has significantly reduced drinking related car crashes. The article explains that the study published in the July 2008 issue of the journal “Accident Analysis and Prevention,” found that laws making it illegal to possess or purchase alcohol by anyone under the age of 21 had led to an eleven percent drop in alcohol related traffic deaths among youth. Secondly, they found that states with strong laws against fake ID’s reported seven percent fewer alcohol related fatalities among drivers under the age of 21. (Accident Analysis and
The majority of the people voting for the age limit to drop to 18 are the people who are under 18 or who are 18. They feel that 18 year-olds are prepared to make responsible decisions about drinking (Amethyst Initiative). The Amethyst Initiative believes that lowering the drinking age will only make situations worse for society. But the fact is, these people are not thinking about the consequences and are only looking at the pleasure. “More than 1,700 college students in the U.S. are killed each year—about 4.65 a day—as a result of alcohol-related injuries” (The Marin Institute).