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.
Drivers Ed Module 8 Young drivers are less likely than adults to drive after drinking alcohol, but their collision risks are substantially higher when they do. The combination of driver inexperience with drinking is a deadly mix that all too often results in tragedy. Teens are more likely to exhibit impaired driving skills at a lower blood alcohol level. What are the risks involved? Teens who drink are at higher risk for date rape, pregnancy, HIV and other STDs, assault, drowning, alcohol poisoning, alcohol dependency, DUI-related injury and death (yours and/or others).
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.
Drunk driving is the leading cause of death for people from the age of six to thirty-three years old (Curran, 1). One in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime (MADD, 1). Everyday thirty-six people in the United States die due to the crashes and approximately 700 more are injured in car crashes that involve alcohol-impaired drivers. This year, 10,839 people will die in drunk-driving crashes; one every fifty minutes (MADD, 1). “Cracking down on those who take drugs or drink and then drive is a year round commitment for Warwickshire and West Mercia.”- West Mercia Police.
In addition, premature pleasure is something that drinking at a young age can effect. What it means to premature pleasures is like certain addictions. You can eventually be addicted to sex, food, and many other drugs including alcohol. They all induce to the release of dopamine, which is creates a feeling of pleasure and encourages for the behavior to be repeated. The last and biggest consequence of teenage drinking is the fact
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
“More than 1,700 college students in the U.S. are killed each year—about 4.65 a day—as a result of alcohol-related injuries” (The Marin Institute). With a number as high as this, lowering the drinking age would only increase this ongoing problem of underage drinking. It has even been proven by the Marin Institute to be the leading cause of death among teenagers. Many adults feel as if the 18 to 21 age groups cannot handle drinking responsibly, then they should not be permitted to use it. Alcohol is a very serious depressant and one of the leading problems for death (Hanson, 2007).
)?Some teens are peer pressured into drinking while some may drink because of depression. People can be affected by peer pressure in many ways and also by many people. Friends, strangers, and sometimes relatives can peer pressure teens into drinking and that can lead to things such as alcoholism and depression which can be avoided by raising the age to drink. If that isn’t enough teens who are depressed continue to drink which leads to harm to themselves as well as to others.
In fact, all underage drinking is unsafe drinking. Research has shown that the brain continues to develop into the early twenties. The part that controls reasoning and cognitive ability takes the longest to mature; underage drinking, especially heavy drinking, affects memory and reasoning. The part of the brain responsible for forming new memories, is noticeably smaller in youth who abuse alcohol. Alcohol use in adolescence also decreases executive functioning, memory, spatial operations, and attention among adolescents.
Your perception can be distorted, impaired coordination, you’re learning ability can be disrupted and you can have a difficulty of thinking. Using marijuana can pose a problem in your everyday life. Example heavy marijuana smokers have less satisfaction in life, poor mental health, less academic success and can cause serious relationship issues (DrugAbuse.gov 1 of 5). Marijuana use by teenagers has a higher percent chance dropping out of high school. Marijuana use in general has a higher risk of car accidents, losing jobs and not being on time for work.