Alcohol can put this sort of development to a stop, which puts the young adult at a much higher risk for addiction, depression, violence, and increases the chances of suicide. Having the drinking age set at 21 lowers the overall amount of alcohol consumption. There was a study back in 2002 to prove this. The results showed an 87% decrease in alcohol consumption with a higher legal drinking age. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) did some research in 2009 and found that nighttime drivers’ percentage on the weekend with a BAC of .08 had dropped from 5.4% back in 1986 when there was a lower drinking age, to 2.2 %.
Being rebel and not following the rules is an important role of a teenager life somehow. (Teen Ink, 1989) The repeal of alcohol prohibition by the 21st Amendment on Dec. 5, 1933 allowed each state to set its own alcohol consumption laws. At that time, most states established the MLDA for alcohol at 21 years of age, although two states set an MLDA of 21 for men and 18 for women: Illinois (1933-1961) and Oklahoma (1933-1976). The 1976 US Supreme Court case Craig v. Boren (1.58 MB) ruled 7-2 that this age difference violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Following the July 1, 1971 passage of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18 years of age, 30 US states lowered their MLDA to 18, 19, or 20; by 1982, only 14 states still had an MLDA of 21.
Moreover, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims that since establishing the drinking age of 21 in 1975, the number of car fatalities among 18-20 year old drivers in the United States decreased by 13% (SFGate). The medical irresponsibility of allowing teenagers to drink alcohol on a legal basis is also obvious to those who have at least a basic knowledge in biology. Consuming alcohol on a regular basis can negatively affect the development of an individual’s brain’s frontal lobes, which are responsible for emotional regulation, as well as for planning and organization (ProCon.org). Underage individuals who consume alcohol put themselves at more risks of addiction, decreased
As an adult, you should be trusted to make your own decisions about alcohol consumption. Maintaining the legal drinking age at 21, causes a whole lot of problems for a majority of college students. They tend to binge drink because they are not allowed to drink in supervised areas such as bars and restaurants. Binge drinking is professionally defined as episodic excessive drinking which basically means having way too much to drink. There is no current worldwide consensus on how many drinks constitute a binge, but in the United States, consuming five or more standard drinks on one occasion can usually be expressed as binge drinking.
Since the government gives 18 year olds those responsibilities, young American adults should legally be allowed to drink alcohol. The drinking age needs to be lowered from 21 to 18 because it could prevent alcohol-induced accidents and more enforcement should be put on preventing drunk driving. Drunk driving is a serious issue that occurs in the United States. According to the website The Cool Spot, “…alcohol is linked with an estimated 5,00 deaths in people under age 21 each year” (Too Much Online). Something must be done to reduce those innocent children from dying and it can happen by lowering the drinking age.
Though, as a community, we do recognize this ongoing problem. McCardell gives no solid reasons as to how lowering the drinking age to 18 would solve the binge drinking of young college students. “When my 20 year old son comes home from college at Christmas time, if I serve him alcohol, I’m communicating a message I’m not sure I ought to”, says John McCardell. This shear statement says to me there is an opposing side with everyone including McCardell who is the strongest supporter of this topic. For me facts were facts.
Lowering the drinking age Underage drinking has become an epidemic in today’s society among the young generation. Statistics shown more than half of adolescence between the ages of twelve and twenty have at least consumed or encountered alcohol at least twice. Alcohol is the drug of choice to some adolescents. As a result of the adolescent consuming alcohol binge drinking can occur. Frequent adolescents binge drinkers are more likely to engaged in dangerous behaviors such as, partaking other drugs such as, marijuana and cocaine, having multiplies sex partners and earning d’s and f’s for academic grades.
The government’s most recent drug survey, the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, “over 800,000 adolescents ages 12-17 sold illegal drugs during the previous 12 months preceding.” (NSDUH). Marijuana has damaged and brought chaos to lives of many young Americans. Medically, it is not addictive, but some people say that they begin to form a habit, and it becomes a psychological, rather than physical, addiction. Although marijuana is less harmful than other substances that are legal, chances are that if more people smoked marijuana because it became legal, there would be an increase in health problems. A study was done by the DEA in 2004 in which 19.1 million Americans aged 12 or older used illicit drugs in the 30 days prior to the study.
Many people enjoy the beverage and cannot wait until their 21st birthday to legally consume it. At eighteen you’re allowed to buy tobacco in most states, you can purchase a house, take out a vehicle loan, and be tried as an adult for crimes committed but not treated as an adult and be allowed to have a beer. So what made the government decide that twenty one is the appropriate legal drinking age when you are legally able to vote, join the military and be considered an adult by society at eighteen? Many people believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen to match the legal age of majority in most states, however there is the other side of the argument that fights for the legal age to remain at twenty-one. Reasons the legal drinking age should be lowered are the fact that eighteen is the age of adulthood meaning as an adult you should be allowed to make your own responsible decisions about alcohol usage.
America has the highest legalized drinking age in the world. We are considered to act like adults at a pretty young age however we still feel childless and young because we don’t have the same opportunities as a “21” year old does. Some of the biggest countries in the world have holidays where kids of all ages drink as a tradition. The deaths from alcohol in these countries are less than the us, which should tell people something. I think that if you grow up around a legal drinking age of 18 instead of 21 kids would mature more at any earlier age.