Teen Drinking Age Argumentative Essay

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Dakota J. Clark Janet Weston English 12 04-18-15 Teen Drinking: Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered? There has been much debate on whether or not the legal drinking age should be lowered. It has been argued that due to the age of adulthood being 18, that the right to drink should be lowered to match that age of “maturity”, but what is not commonly known is that the brain is not fully matured until age 25, making this decision medically irresponsible. Another point is that having the legal drinking age at age 21 reduces alcohol consumption overall. And what some fail to understand is that the legal drinking age of 21 is supported by a majority of the public, and for very good reasons such as helping prevent underage binge drinking. These are brief examples as to why the legal drinking age should stay at 21 and not be lowered. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would be completely medically irresponsible. Alcohol consumption interferes with the development of the frontal lobes that are vital for emotional regulation, preparing and planning, and for organizational skills. 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 %. This shows that having a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21 does really have an effect on overall alcohol consumption. An MLDA of 21 helps prevent underage

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