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Drinking Age Change

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Recommended: Arguments for and against legal drinking age

The changing of the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 resulted from the false politicization of the very serious and prevalent issue of teenage drunk driving by activist groups such as M.A.D.D.-Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Instead of trying to legislate morality, which is a lost cause, the focus should be put on attempting to create a society which breeds responsible drinking habits. Since there is no significant change developmentally from the age 18 to 21, those three years are, in essence, a state of unfounded prohibition. The drinking age should be changed to 18. One reasoning behind the upping of the age, was the fact that the brain is not yet fully developed at the age of 18, and this can result in not only lapses of judgement (i.e., binge drinking, drunk driving, etc.) but also in alcohol related health issues. However, the prefrontal cortex of one’s brain (which is involved in decision making and executive function) is not fully shaped until late 20’s. Following that line of …show more content…

As a country, we need to redefine the culture surrounding alcohol so that we can create a society which breeds knowledge and understanding about alcohol. People are going to drink and get drunk no matter what the legal age is. Our only hope as a society is to address what it means to us to have “socially responsible drinking.” The next task is to figure out how to teach it. By generating informed citizens and exposing them to this knowledge at an early age, we can aim to demystify the term “drinking responsibly.” Adolescents learn based on experience. The developmental stage of an 18 and a 21 year old is basically the same. Changing the legal drinking age back to 18, would only help to take away the taboo surrounding drinking and promote drinking safety and

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328 Words | 2 Pages

The author of this essay, Michael Clay Smith, believes that the age limit for drinking should be lowered back to 18, similar to before creation of the new drinking age limit in the 1980’s. Michael feels like this is a “Second Prohibition” (1). I believe that the drinking age should be lower, and Smith does a good job at giving reasons why. For the better of society, Smith believes the legal drinking age should lowered, and the age limit is unfair to teenagers who are already adults, causes dangerous drinking, and ruins promising teenager lives. Smith has many ideas to support why the legal drinking limit should be dropped to 18.

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495 Words | 2 Pages

all dropped to the age 18 or 19 . Thus, alcohol should stay away from young adults. In summary, the drinking age needs to be changed. First of all, health organizations are more involved with raising the drinking age, second of all drunk driving happens more frequently nowadays, and finally young adults and teens should not be drinking under the ages of 21.

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1059 Words | 5 Pages

While maturing, the brain encounters major growth and pruning, the brain’s way of removing damaged neurons for better pathways, all the way into adulthood.(2) A specific type of pruning that takes place is synaptic pruning.(2) Synaptic pruning mainly increases during teenage years and decreases during adolescence.(2) An outcome from synaptic pruning is more efficient brain functions.(2) The prefrontal cortex is also more developed at 25 than 18.(2) The prefrontal cortex is accountable for many

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427 Words | 2 Pages

The drinking age used to be 18. Many people wish that it would go back to that. Mary Kate Cary of the US News and World Report wrote an article talking about lowering the drinking age. “There was no need for “pregaming” – binge drinking in private apartments or dorms before heading out in public” says Cary. If the drinking age was lowered we would not have to worry about college students buying and selling fake IDs, distributing alcohol to minors, and less turning to drugs because drugs are easier to get than alcohol.

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2110 Words | 9 Pages

There has been talk for many years to lower the drinking age from twenty-one back down to eighteen. Many people think it should be lowered and others think it is fine where it is. The main reason why the drinking age is at twenty-one is because the United States’ government, told states that if they do not raise their drinking age up to twenty-one the government would take away funding for their roads and bridges. The government threatened these states with this so that they would follow the government’s rules on the drinking age. The reason they threatened them with that was because a few teenagers got in car accidents when they were drinking.

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1636 Words | 7 Pages

The question of lowering the drinking age has been up in the air for a while now and is now a legitimate question to consider. An eighteen-year-old in US has the right to vote, and serve in the military. If an eighteen-year-old can make up their mind as to who the potential leader of the country should be and take a bullet for their country, they should have every right to purchase and drink alcohol (Cognac). Even though there may be some cons to lowering the drinking age, like there is to anything we do, there is a lot of evidence that show the pros outweigh those. Before federal law mandated that 21 only laws be passed or funding would be pulled from states, there were several areas that had made it legal to drink as a teenager (HRF).

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373 Words | 2 Pages

I believe the drinking age should reduce to 18 because it would help teenagers drink alcohol in a safe and responsible way. In the United States, people often view underaged drinking as a nefarious act, and those caught by law enforcement often face many legal issues. However, teenagers have consumed

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782 Words | 4 Pages

Teenagers are responsible enough for the drinking age to be lowered from 21 to 18 due to their legal freedom, knowledge of the lies protecting MLDA 21, and their rebellious nature.

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973 Words | 4 Pages

Everyone knows that the age of 21 hasn’t stopped anyone from drinking. Some professionals believe it’s indeed contributing to extreme drinking. Lowering the age to 18, may seem kinda counterintuitive. I have some key points for my argument. For the record, I’m not a college student who drinks every night and just doesn’t want to get in trouble.

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978 Words | 4 Pages

Teaching children to drink safely starting while they’re 18 and living with their parents will help them develop healthy habits which will stick with them, helping them drink

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766 Words | 4 Pages

The drinking age should be lowered to 18 because that is when one is considered an adult, implying the intake of alcohol between 21 year olds and 18 year olds does not differentiate. Raising the drinking age to 21 has done nothing but make young adults want to drink more alcohol. Teaching people to drink responsibly before turning 21 would greatly enhance public health. “Now, high school and college students view dangerous binge drinking as a rite of passage” (The New York Times). This is because they acknowledge that it is illegal, and feel the need to abuse that by breaking the law and drinking even more.

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885 Words | 4 Pages

The drinking age should be lowered to 18. Turning 18 comes with the rights and tasks of becoming an adult like to smoke

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738 Words | 3 Pages

Should the legal age for alcohol consumption be lowered? In the United States, The legal drinking age is 21, but in my research, I have found that it is actually allowed, under certain circumstances and situations, to people of even lower age. Though all 50 US states have set their minimum drinking age to 21, exceptions do exist on a state-by-state basis for consumption at home, under adult supervision, for medical necessity, and other reasons. In fact, all but 5 states, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, New Hampshire, and West Virginia, under age drinking is permitted. Parents are allowed to furnish alcohol to minors if they are under proper supervision.

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1596 Words | 7 Pages

The drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 because in America teens are now going to drinking a lot more alcohol now that it is illegal at the age of 18 in America. Historically,The drinking age has been 18 in the U.S but recently it was changed to 21.“In the early 1970s, with the passage

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786 Words | 4 Pages

Due to the unsafe behaviour the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA 21) causes teens to perform it should be changed to MLDA 18. MLDA 18 would help the economy immensely, there is no evidence to prove that a legal drinking age of 21 helps lower rates of suicide, homicide, or vandalism, and there is the fact that MLDA 21 causes teens to have to sneak alcohol and when they do that they perform unsafe activities because there is no supervision. People under 21 are forced to sneak alcohol, therefor they are putting themselves and others in danger because of their rebellious actions. Just because the MLDA says that it is illegal for anyone under 21 years old to drink, it does not mean people are going to listen. There could be many counter arguments about how lowering MLDA will cause the same problems for 15-18 year olds.

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