In 2001, 17,448 people died due to alcohol-related crashes (NHTSA, 2003b). This was the highest number of fatalities in a decade. About 17,000 people die due to alcohol-related crashes each year in the Unites States (DeMichele, 1). As mentioned before, Sensation Seeking is why people get drunk then get behind the wheel of a car. Drunk driving is the leading cause of death for people from the age of six to thirty-three years old (Curran, 1).
Lowering MLDA 21 would be medically irresponsible because the brain's frontal lobes, essential for functions such as emotional regulation, planning, and organization, continue to develop through adolescence and young adulthood. Alcohol consumption can interfere with this development, potentially causing chronic problems such as greater vulnerability to addiction, dangerous risk-taking behavior, reduced decision-making ability, memory loss, depression, violence, and suicide. [20][21][22][23] Lowering MLDA 21 to 18 will irresponsibly allow a greater segment of the population to drink alcohol in bars and nightclubs, which are not safe environments. 76% of bars have sold alcohol to obviously intoxicated patrons [43], and about half of drivers
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.
Alcohol impairs judgment, and being under the influence of alcohol causes bad decision making. “The legal drinking age should be lifted to 25 to limit the violence associated with drunkenness, the head of the nation's peak medical organisation says”(Raise drinking age to 25, says top doc).Teenagers already make bad decisions as it is and we know that, so raising the drinking age will prevent this further. Not only that, but alcohol is a depressant. If teenagers get a hold of this depressant it could lead to bad decision making such as dropping out of school and even
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
You may also be more likely to binge drink if you are feeling peer pressure to do so. Or, you may be feeling anxious or socially awkward, for example at a party, and you may binge drink with the aim to reduce those feelings. 14 per cent of men and 11 per cent of women drink every day Half of Britain's young adults first got drunk before the age of 15. liver disease could become one of the biggest killers as a result of the country's binge drinking culture. 48 per cent of those in the 18 to 24 age group were between the ages of 13 and 15 when they first got drunk, while 6 per cent were aged under 12. It also found that 14 per cent of men and 11 per cent of women drink every day and 6 per cent of men drink more than a week's recommended alcohol intake in one night.
Consequences of Underage Drinking & A Lower MLDA Health Issues • Individuals who start drinking earlier than age 21 are more likely to be a driver in a motor vehicle crash, be injured, and be in a physical fight, according to a recent study. The younger the individual, the more likely he or she will experience these The cost of pain and suffering top a outcomes after drinking.10 • Repeated use of alcohol during adolescence can lead to deficits in cognitive abilities, including learning and memory. • Heavy drinking during adolescence and young adulthood is associated with poor cognitive functioning in young adulthood.11 • Serious chronic diseases involving the liver, heart, and digestive system are associated with heavy alcohol consumption.
Teenage drinking affects the academic achievements of many teens that drink; in some cases that involves poor or failing grades and excessive absences. A long-term effect of teenagers consuming alcohol is the fact that they are more prone to addiction. 87% of teens who drink alcohol before the age of twenty one are susceptible to being alcoholics for the rest of their lives. Drinking is a major factor in the leading cause of teen deaths. Most teenagers do not outgrow the unhealthy habit of heavy drinking.
They learn how to control their drinking and what to expect from the effects of the alcohol (Nayak 141-142). This may be true for some parts of the world, but it does not deem overall success in achieving overall healthy drinking habits. It still leads to harm development and early age drinking still has potential to raise the risk of alcohol abuse in adult life. As an example, by Wechsler and Nelson, most European countries have lower drinking ages, this has resulted in a rise of drinking problems among teens and the amount of binge drinking is doubled that of the U.S. When New Zealand lowered their drinking age in 1999, they were definite increases in the number of emergency injury influenced by alcohol, as well as the higher rate of
Teen drinking is one of the leading causes to deaths and can also cause damages on growth and health for them. The consumption of alcohol in adolescents has a different effect on them then it does for a grown man or woman. Califano proves Reid’s idea that the English and Europeans have fewer drinking problems than we do in the states to be wrong by stating, “British fifteen and sixteen year olds were more than twice as likely as Americans to binge drink (50% vs. 24%) and to have been intoxicated within the past thirty day (48% vs. 21%).” Continuing to support this he uses another statistic by The World Health Organization that found that British boys and girls were far likelier than U.S. equals to have been drunk twice or more by the age fifteen. After discussing how with a lower drinking age teens will drink more often, Califano then goes on to talk about the consequences that teen drinking has on their growth and health issues. One fact he presents is that even a teen drinking at a responsible rate can cause damage in the brain that is long term and irreversible.