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. (Moses, 2011) This in turn convinced federal law makers to raise the MLDA again to 21. However, in order to encourage states to comply, the federal government would tighten their purse strings and states would receive little or no funding towards highways. So while there are those who do not necessarily care one way or the other about the actual age limit on alcohol consumption, they do prefer having the federal
[26] MLDA 21 reduces alcohol consumption. In a 2002 meta-study, 87% of the analyses found higher legal drinking ages associated with lower alcohol consumption. [19] In 2009, the NHTSA found that the percentage of weekend nighttime drivers with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher declined from 5.4% in 1986 (two years after the MLDA was raised to 21) to 2.2% in 2007.
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.
Another problem they have is some don't see the risks or don't care. The authors then emphasized how limits and risk could decrease death, along with parents’ involvement. They suggest restrictions like prohibiting driving between 10 p.m and 5 a.m, limiting passengers to one and not lifting restrictions until the age of 18. They say with these laws imposed death could be decreased among teenage deaths by 38%. In fact in the state of Georgia, Vetter and Lostys say teen driving death were decreased by 37% because of their teen driving laws.
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.
This sends a conflicting message to the young person, that drinking is permissible at an earlier age than 21. Scientists conclude that early drinking by adolescents increases the lifetime likelihood of alcohol dependence, and that overall drinking levels in a society are directly linked to drinking problems (NIAA p. 2). The peers of an individual can also have a strong influence upon drinking habits. A person is likely to behave according to their friends’ standards in order fit in and be accepted. If peers encourage others to drink alcohol underage, often teens will drink to feel more accepted by their peers.
So why can’t they enjoy a few beers legally? That is the question asked by many and has yet an exact and final answer on whether it will be allowed. According to David J. Hanson, an alcohol policy expert at the State University of New York-Potsdam, “Raising the drinking age to 21 was passed with the very best of intentions, but it’s had the very worst of outcomes” (Johnson, 1). Drinking in young people is becoming a serious problem as days move on, but having the drinking age at 21 is not helping solve these problems. Something
However, these declines started in 1980 before the national 1987 law which mandated states to have 21 year old alcohol purchase laws. The decrease in drinking and driving problems are the result of many factors and not just the rise in purchase age or the decreased per capita consumption. These include: education concerning drunk driving, designated driver programs, increased seat belt and air bag usage, safer automobiles, lower speed limits, free taxi services from drinking establishments,
Getting a hold of alcohol isn’t really that difficult. People, who will drive drunk, will drive drunk. If someone is willing to break the law, then they might be willing to break it by driving drunk. There are some people that believe lowering the drinking age for people under 21 serving in the armed forces would have horrible effects on their future. Those who serve tend to have to deal with a much higher job stress level than your ever day person on the home front.
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.