Why Not Eighteen? Why is it legal for an eighteen-year-old to be able to sacrifice their life for their country, to get married, and to vote, but illegal for them to drink? The controversy and arguments for lowering the drinking age have been debated for years. Beginning with the early 1900s, the eighteenth amendment was ratified and had outlawed the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States following the Prohibition Movement. However, this amendment was ineffective in its enforcement and people continued to smuggle and consume alcohol as freely as they wanted.
Pros and Cons of Lowering Legal Drinking Age The United States minimum drinking age has been twenty one since the mid 1930’s. During the Vietnam era soldiers were granted rights to drink in uniform, but varied between each states while some limiting which beverages could be bought. As a result car fatalities had a significant increase in young teen drivers that were related to alcohol. Much of this was from driving to other states due to different laws. For example teens in Illinois would drive to Wisconsin simply because you could purchase alcohol at 18, but not in Illinois.
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.
The enforcement of the 21 year old drinking age has implemented a culture of serious binge drinking, and has become a nation-wide epidemic amongst high school students, college-aged individuals, and full grown adults. The negative effects from the current drinking age are doing nothing but harm towards society as a whole, and it must be repealed
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.
Also today, a teenager can easily provide himself or herself alcohol. 21 is largely ineffective and majority of teens continue to consume alcohol. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, underage drinking accounts for 17.5% ($22.5 billion) of consumer spending for alcohol in the United States. In 2006, 72.2% of twelfth graders reported drinking alcohol at some point in their lives.I think it is very wrong and unnecessary to prohibit alcohol for them and just cause trouble when they get
This is one that has been debated upon for many years. At one time in the 1970’s the legal age to purchase alcohol was lowered to 18 in a few states, but was raised back to twenty-one for a rather disturbing reason. The number one reason that states raised the legal drinking age back to twenty one was because in 1984 federal law decrees that if a state picked anything less than twenty-one as its legal drinking age it would lose ten percent of its federal highway funds (Wilkinson, 2008). This is a manipulative way of getting the legal age changed without having to have a heated debate. Of course the states immediately changed the legal age back to twenty-one, had the age not been changed the state would have lost a considerable amount of highway funding.
Plans to Eliminate College Binge Drinking Nearly half of today’s college student population is stumbling through the college years due to binge drinking. Binge drinking on college campuses isn’t just an issue of public health, but it’s one of self-interest. Failure to act in the face of foreseeable harm places schools at risk for damaging their academic reputations and liability lawsuits in millions of dollars. Also, students experience a wide variety of alcohol related problems including hangovers, blackouts, and engaging in unplanned sexual activity. According to Lini Kadaba’s article, Colleges Hitting the Bottle Binge Drinking Remains High, but Initiatives at Area Schools Raising Awareness, “College binge drinking is remaining in colleges due to the intractable problems that contribute to 1,700 student deaths, 599,000 injuries, and 97,000 cases of sexual assault, or date rapes.” (24).
Eighteen-year-olds can run for public office, vote, serve in the military and get married. So, the lower-drinking-age question has to be considered in the context of all those other decisions," Jordan said. "My concern and that of many of the other presidents who signed the initiative is that we aren't doing our students a favor by avoiding this. Saying that keeping the minimum age at 21 is reducing highway deaths is ignoring the bigger problem." Dr. George
Make 18 the Age to Drink Many people begin experimenting with alcohol in their early teenage years. During these experimental times all of the users are underage. This underage drinking has become a major problem in America’s schools throughout the nation. If the drinking age was lowered to eighteen there would be fewer incidents where students get caught with alcohol and receive minor in possessions charges, drinking wouldn’t seem as appealing if it were legal, and if an eighteen year old can be drafted and risk his life for this country he or she should be allowed to have a drink at the end of the day. Lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen would lower the amount of alcohol related tickets, make drinking less appealing, and give young soldiers have an easy way to relax and help them cope with what they have seen at war.