“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). With a number as high as this, lowering the drinking age would only increase this ongoing problem of underage drinking. It has even been proven by the Marin Institute to be the leading cause of death among teenagers. Many adults feel as if the 18 to 21 age groups cannot handle drinking responsibly, then they should not be permitted to use it. Alcohol is a very serious depressant and one of the leading problems for death (Hanson, 2007).
Unfortunately many states have taken the easy road and have become over-reliant on the federal government for support. In return they are forced to relinquish power and freedom. This is one of the “cons” to following the federal mandate of the universal MLDA of 21. The main argument against lowering the MLDA again, is the inevitable rise in drunken driving related deaths. In the 1960’s and 1970’s when many states had lowered the MLDA, besides the rise in drunk-driving deaths, studies showed that people raised from childhood in under-21 states were involved in higher rates of alcohol and drug use as adults, and had a higher rate of homicides and suicides.
Ryan Witt Doug Peterson ENC1101 December 5, 2014 The Soda Ban Act With portion sizes at chain-restaurants skyrocketing 457 percent over the last 20 years, it’s not hard to believe that in 2030 an estimated 42 percent of Americans will be obese. Statistics like this are what began the Soda Ban’s evolution. In the efforts to “help people help themselves by simply saying ‘No.’” as Nadia Arumugam would say, the soda ban restricts or puts a limit on the size drink Americans can purchase at most food franchises. However, will restricting the public of what they desire ultimately control the consumption of sugary beverages? The world can only advance through education, thus the Soda Ban’s restriction on sugary drinks contributed towards a
But the organization continues to struggle to prevent deaths, eliminate drunk driving, and deal with juvenile drinking. The organization provides the one of the biggest victim support services in the United States. Support is offered to a victim once every eight minutes. A twenty-seven percent decrease in deaths due to drunk driving was noted since 2006. A reduction in juvenile drinking was also noted.
Britney Pickering Mary Fahey English 1A; 2-3:20 16 April 2014 Legal Drinking Age: The American drinking culture is a nice chunk of American history, especially when one targets the youth and their rambunctious acts of drinking alcoholic beverages. All around drinking culture tends to be a very important factor when it comes to youth’s social life and although the legal drinking age is 21, everyday that law is broken. According to a study conducted in 2007 by NESARC, in the past years, 46% of young adults involved themselves with extensive drinking that were well over the suggested limits (Nakaya 39). This subject is crucial for others to investigate, especially that of the younger generation, because it will allow insight behind the
I believe that we should focus on safe drinking more than age restrictions. We need to educate teenagers about safe drinking. Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 with providing proper education will decrease illegal and binge alcohol drinking on teens. I agree that something has to be done with the problem of alcohol abuse in this country, but why not start from the bottom and steadily increase as we teach teenagers how to drink responsibly? Then we need to learn to trust them.
This controversy can be broken down into three main points of argument: safety, bingeing behavior, and maturity. The legal drinking age has always been a source of debate in this country, but in 2009, when “the 1984 drinking law that helps determine the drinking age [came] up for renewal,” the debate became a very popular and heated topic. According to a national survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “Alcohol Use Among Persons Aged 14 to 20,” in 2005 was “28.2”
In fact, all underage drinking is unsafe drinking. Research has shown that the brain continues to develop into the early twenties. The part that controls reasoning and cognitive ability takes the longest to mature; underage drinking, especially heavy drinking, affects memory and reasoning. The part of the brain responsible for forming new memories, is noticeably smaller in youth who abuse alcohol. Alcohol use in adolescence also decreases executive functioning, memory, spatial operations, and attention among adolescents.
Introduction Big Tobacco, the leading tobacco companies in the industry strategically exploits the marginalized groups to maximize their bottom line. The marginalized community, which includes society, most socially and economically challenge such as youths, the homeless, the mentally challenged, those with substance-abuse problems, anxiety and depression are at a tremendous disadvantage and the habit of smoking brings significant financial and health burden to these individuals. Research has shown that 25 percent of the United States adult population has some form of mental illness or substance abuse disorder, 65.2 percent of adult smokers also use alcohol and 44.3 percent of all tobacco sold in the United States is consumed by this marginalized
Therefore, the social cost of alcohol is greater than the private cost. These factors give a justification for government intervention to deal with some issues related to alcohol, by putting an age limit on its use. The first reason why the drinking age should not be lowered is the obvious health issue. Despite popular belief, the drinking age was not only set to prevent teens from drinking and making bad decisions. It was set because teenagers can develop serious health issues.