During the past two decades, more and more young Americans have been dying violent deaths. The United States suffers far more young violent deaths than any other wealthy nation. For many years Americans have been dying at younger ages than people in almost all other wealthy countries (huffingtonpost.com). In these years the rate of youths involved in motor vehicle and other accidental deaths has been climbing while suicide and homicide rates have shot up dramatically. Moreover, violent deaths are becoming a larger proportion of all youth mortality.
State Research - Elements that influence State Government Interest Group News Piece - Suicide Trends and Prevention in Nevada Suicide has been around for as long as human society and it continues to challenge our collective wisdom. Each year about 1 million people commit suicide worldwide. Every year some 30.000 Americans end their lives by suicide, and approximately 650,000 people receive emergency treatment after attempting suicide. Every 41 seconds someone in the U.S. Attempts suicide; every 16.7 minutes, someone completes suicide; and every day over 85 people die by suicide.
Riley Bartlett 5/17/11 Every year thousands of underage teens are dying from alcohol related accidents. Around 28% of fatal traffic crashes involving teens are alcohol related. Does the United States keep the drinking age 21, and enforce it strongly or lower the drinking age and teach teenagers to drink in moderation not binge drinking? Even though the Legal drinking age is 21, not everyone believes it should stay that age. Prohibition failed in 1920-1933 which shows that strict regulation of drinking is counterproductive, unenforceable, and leads to an increase in legal underground activity.
An average of 17,000 individuals die each year in drink driving related deaths. The numbers have come down slightly , for example, in 2010 10,228 individuals died from drink driving related fatalities, drink driving continues to be an enormously important public safety issue. What is more, drinking and driving is strongly correlated with youth. After the age of 25, the drink driving rates rapidly decrease. It seems quite plausible that were alcohol to be illegal for those under the age of 18, the 15.1% of 18 to 20 year olds who drink before getting behind the wheel would decrease significantly.
To examine this issue one should look at the following: Firstly, I would love to see the death rates in Alcohol related deaths go down drastically. The U.S has the highest drinking age in the world and it has been estimated to have saved 17,000 lives. More people would get to live till their oldest. Secondly, the highest deaths among teens are road crashes, and 2 out of the 5 teens had been drinking. Thirdly, how would you feel driving to your child’s funeral knowing it could have been prevented?
Ending prohibition on marijuana could save tax dollars and win ‘the war on drug”. (norml, 2013) 1. Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers $10 billion annually and results in the arrest of more than 829,000 individuals per year. (norml, 2013) 2. Nearly 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year, and more than 14 million do so regularly despite harsh laws against its use.
Alcoholism is a serious medical problem in our country. Criminal justice experts have estimated that at least 75-80% of defendants included in felony crimes or serious misdemeanors were either under the influence of alcohol or drugs when they committed their crime or they did their mistake/mistakes to survive because they had lost their financial resources due to their addiction. Work productivity has been lowered due to divorce, suicide, increased medical problems, and also school drop-out rate. These are only a few problems caused by alcoholism. Studies have shown that for the most part, we have increased the probability that our child or children will not have a problem with alcohol or drugs.
Professor Zapolski mentions of a survey that reports,“ High school seniors, about 20 percent binge drinks, consuming more than 5 drinks in one occasion.” This shows how much an high school student will and can drink before reaching 20 years old. Professor Tina Watson states a research done by Christopher Carpenter and Carlos Dobkins who suggested, “ Arrest rates for violent and nuisance crimes rise sharply at age 21 though at least age 23.” Both claims that drinking at the legal age has caused a rise in crime and criminal behavior in young adults. Yet, many think that lowering or keeping it the same age will benefit and educate young adults. Professor Steinberg believes, “ Lowering the drinking age to 19, which would help solve the problem of illegal drinking on campus.” Steinberg claims lowering the age to 19 will prevent illegal activities on campus. Professor Glaser expresses.“ America’s 18 -year-old have the right to vote, marry, buy a gun and join the military."
Although we have educated and preached to our children about drinking and driving, the statistics in 2001 showed an estimated 2.8 million college students drove under the influence. That’s half a million more than in 1998. An alarming statistic from Mothers Against Drunk Driving is that more college under-graduates will die from alcohol related causes than will receive a masters or doctorate degree. Another statistic, one I found sickening and very upsetting was,” During a typical weekend, an average of one teenager dies each hour in a car crash. Nearly fifty percent of those crashes involved alcohol” (MADD).
Statistics The Century Council has been a leader in the fight against underage drinking for nearly two decades. While rates have declined, alcohol consumption among youth under the legal drinking age remains at an alarming level. More than 10 million youths, ages 12 to 20, in this country report they have consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. The rate of current alcohol consumption increases with increasing age according to the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2% at age 12 to 21% at age 16, and 56% at age 20. The Century Council works with all segments of the community, including parents, youth, law enforcement, judges, educators, public officials, government agencies, and advocacy groups to provide valuable information and develop comprehensive programs to delay first consumption of alcohol, prevent underage drinking, and reduce the access to alcohol by minors.