Lowering The Drinking Age Essay

My opinion on the whole situation is that the drinking age should be lowered because of binge drinking. Since the drinking age has been twenty-one it has not stopped underage teens for drinking and has actually caused more problems. Binge drinking has especially been caught in college. With the mix of ages ranging anywhere from around 17-24 years old it’s easy for teens to fall under peer pressure. The opposing side to this argument says however that lowering the drinking age would be...”Pushing the drinking problem further down to 16-and 17-year olds.”

Dean-Mooney emphasizes the public agrees that “72 percent of adults think that lowering the drinking age would make alcohol more accessible to kids”(Dean-Mooney 3). Another claim of the author it that lowering the drinking age would put more responsibility on the parents and educators. Additionally, she claims that lowering the drinking age would have dangerous long- term effects. Early adolescent drinkers are, “more susceptible to alcoholism”(Dean-Mooney 10). Overall the main argument of this essay is that the drinking age should stay the same because drunk driving crashes have lowered since the 21 law was enacted and young adults brains are still developing during this

According to James C. Fell is a senior program director at the Alcohol, Policy and Safety Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation in Calverton, Md. By lowering the drinking age to eighteen it just moves the spectrum down. So instead of an eighteen-year-old drinking underage that will move down to sixteen year olds drinking underage. He believes that it will make alcohol more accessible to younger teenagers, “A 16-year-old or a 14-year-old doesn 't look 21, but they may look 18.” (Ogilvie 2011)

Another opposition to the legal drinking age is that 21 years old does not stop teenagers from underage drinking, so why keep it at 21 years old? There are so many kids drinking during high school and college when they are under the age of 21 years, they believe that it should be 18 years of age. Kids that believe the drinking age should be lowered are wrong because it just makes school harder for them to achieve at. Also if seniors in high school are allowed to have alcohol that just means underclassmen will also. Accidents using alcohol end in many fatalities.

Alcohol Age Limit Would you rather the drinking age limit be lower, higher, or does it even matter? The legal drinking age limit should stay at 21, it is a pretty mature age to handle alcohol and the age limit is always changing. Under aged kids always find a way to obtain alcohol, and often times parents do not care and they’ll buy their kids alcoholic drinks. Does this law really change anything?

Also, lowering the drinking age will cause more car accidents and other types of accidents with younger teenagers. Teenagers will get into cars with their friends to go places, and this can end up badly if the driver has been drinking. Some teenagers can not drive so if they get into cars with their 18-year-old friends who can drink, car accidents are bound to happen. Not many 15-16-year-olds are friends with 21+-year-olds, so this is not as big of a problem currently. Drinking and hanging out with friends who are only a couple years older causes even younger teenagers to drink, which is why the drinking age should not be

The studies show that after implementation of this restriction, the number of drunken driving cases with lethal outcomes, the number of homicides and suicides as well as injuries among people in the category of 18-20 was reduced. This is claimed to be the result of a working law on limitations. However, even from the economical point of view, the deaths that would be caused by the removal of age restriction to the point of 18 would cost more than the benefits that would be gained from such actions. There is even more to mention. Despite the fact that the legal limitation on alcohol consumption is acting throughout the whole country, the “right to set any drinking age remains in the states' control” (Choose Responsibility) so that the age index may vary.

There are so many kids drinking during high school and college when they are under the age of 21 years, they believe that it should be 18 years of age. Kids that believe the drinking age should be lowered are wrong because it just makes school harder for them to achieve at. Also if seniors in high school are allowed to have alcohol that just means underclassmen will

However, the real question of debates lies in whether or not the criminal justice system’s primary purpose is efficiency or justice. Is time and money saved more valuable than truth and human life? Even if abolition can’t be implemented entirely, is it not worth implementing at all? For example, current US alcohol laws dictate that people must be twenty-one years or older to drink, however, young people still find ways to obtain alcohol. Even if young people can obtain alcohol, does that mean our system shouldn’t try to restrict it at all and provide it freely?

A lot of people believe that age should not be considered at all when the felony is extremely severe. Justice needs to be served and they need to pay for the crime they have committed, juvenile or not. According to the Time magazine article ‘What Makes Teens Tick’ Dr. Jay Giedd states that “The very last part of the brain to be pruned or shaped to its adult dimensions is the prefrontal cortex, home of the executive functions.” An adult brain is different than teens, because an adult brain is more developed.

For example, drinking and driving is dreadful to our society. Drinking and driving is considered to be irresponsible, Their would be more arrest within juveniles. When a teenager turn 18, their considered as being a responsible young adult but in other cases, 18 is still a child which is not legal. “The law would irresponsibly allow a greater segment of the population to drink alcohol in bars and nightclubs which would increase the rate of deaths in America” (Thomas). This calls for not lowering the drinking age so the citizens would have a greater chance of living.

SUMMARY: In the article, “ The Minimum Legal Drinking Age” written by Traci L Toomey, Carolyn Rosenfeld, and Alexander C. Wagenaar in Alcohol Health & Research World, the reasoning behind the why the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) is 21 is addressed. Till this day similar claims that were used to lower the MLDA many years ago are being applied. Regardless of the continuing debate about the MLDA studies show the effectiveness of a higher MLDA in averting alcohol related deaths and injuries within the youth. The lowering of the MLDA resulted in rates of injuries and deaths increasing.

The Injustices of the Drinking Age The drinking age in the US was changed from 21 to 18 to solve the problems it had caused when it the legal age was 18, however, instead of fixing these problems, the new age has just covered them up and is causing further trouble. “The change of drinking age to 18 in 1971 was quickly changed back to 21 by 1984 to counter-act the epidemic of drunk driving accidents that it had caused” (“Lowering”.). The drinking age in the US should be lowered to 18 because it would increase the safety and health in teens.

The number one cause of adolescent deaths is due to car crashes, with adolescents being in the majority, at fault. Decades of law reform efforts have led to mandatory seatbelt laws, an increased legal drinking age, and graduated-driver-licensing systems (Hamilton, V. E. (2014). Adolescents receive their drivers’ license at a much younger age than their counterparts in other countries, making driving the greatest health threat among adolescents in the U.S. Despite decades of law reform efforts that have led to mandatory seatbelt laws, an increase in the legal drinking age, and graduated-driver-licensing systems this still doesn’t seem to be enough to reduce the percentage of fatalities caused by adolescent drivers involved in fatal car crashes

Over the years , a research has been conducted by the Public Health ,James .C saying that “ young adults react differently to alcohol, getting drunk faster and being less likely to know when to stop”(2013, Pg: ½). That is why the legal drinking age in Ontario has been changed many times starting off with “ 21 and then we lowered it to 18 and then we raised it to 19, because when we reduced it, Alcohol-related deaths among young people skyrocketed”(2013, Pg: ½). Ontario thought that changing the drinking age in 1971 from 18-21 would be a good choice since “the eight provinces before in 1960’s were the age 21” (2013, Pg: ½).