Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21 Analysis

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Should the Minimum Legal Drinking Age be lowered from 21? There are many arguments about the Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21 (MLDA21) in the United States. One says that we should maintain MLDA21 because alcohol is bad for young people. Young people does not have prudent mind, so they tend to fall into a drunk driving. On the other hand, the age of 18 is enough to drink alcohol because people who are 18 years old are regarded as legal adults and therefore they are able to get married, smoke cigarette or drink alcohol by their own decision. In this essay, I read and evaluate two essays that are written about different positions for MLDA21 and figure out which essay is more convincing, clear, strong logical and so on by the skills that I have …show more content…

Morris E. Chafetz. As we can know from the title, he is proponent for lowering MLDA 21. He regrets voting reluctantly yes for raising MLDA from 18 to 21, but he thinks that MLDA21 has not worked because “drunk driving fatalities are lower now than what they were in 1982.” The main claim is that MLDA should be 18 because “at age 18, one is a legal adult.” and the author believes “there is no evidence of brain impairment, alcohol dependency, or underage alcohol abuse” Another important claim is that “the problem is not drink – it is the drinker.” The author says that we should not emphasis on alcohol itself but emphasis on the person and its surroundings. In conclusion, the author believes that we should be allowed to think freely about MLDA21 and more responsible alcohol consumption is likely to …show more content…

The essay implies no matter how old drinking people are older MLDA will lead to less drinking, fewer injuries and fewer deaths. In other words, if MDLA is lowered to 18 or lower, then young people tend to fall in drunk driving and they will be injured or die. As a statistical example, this essay uses the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s estimation which has saved more than 25,000 lives since 1975 after setting the MDLA 21. This research strengthens this essay’s claim that higher MDLA proves the higher life-saving. On the other hand, the proponent essay says that “drunk driving fatalities are lower now than they were in 1982”, but the author does not uses any statistical research which proves that they are lower

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