Minimum Legal Drinking Age Analysis

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.

Why drinking age should be lowered? If one is considered an adult at age eighteen in most of the country, are they not allowed to purchase and legally consume alcohol? The minimum legal drinking age needs to be lowered, and not just for that reason. The amount of teenagers with drinking problems and alcoholism is far greater than in Europe, where drinking ages are far lower. Also, studies show that the current minimum age drinking laws have been ineffective to a high degree. By the time they are high school seniors, seventy-two percent teenagers say they have already consumed alcohol. Proper education at younger ages is needed for our country’s youth to learn the proper use of alcohol through experimentation with their own limits in safe environments.

Alcohol seems to be an important part of daily life for many people. It's a substance associated with having fun amongst friends and family. Fortunately, certain laws help to protect us against the dangers that alcohol potentially brings upon our society. Although a section of the population argues for lowering the drinking age to 18, there have been many benefits with keeping it at 21. The main purpose of setting the Minimum Legal Drinking Age at 21 is to provide safety for the public, which should be the primary responsibility of the government.

In 2005 a tragedy struck my hometown of Cameron Wisconsin. Following the annual homecoming parade, the high schoolers were driving back to the school to cheer on the football team for the game that night. Sitting on the toolboxes in one of the trucks was Bailey Zimmerman and her good friend Jasmyn Becker. As their driver, Matthew Stoyke, was making the turn into the parking lot, he saw a bunch of his friends already waiting for him. Without thinking, Matthew slammed his foot onto the accelerator to show off for his buddies. Bailey and Jasmyn were thrown from the bed of the truck and hurled onto the asphalt below, killing Bailey instantly. Matthew, not realizing the severity of what he did, fled from the parking lot in fear of the consequences. After the investigation, it was found that all three of the high schoolers had been drinking underage. How many more stories like this would there be if high schoolers could be allowed to drink?

This past summer I was out to lunch with my mother. As the mature adolescent I am, I asked her to by me a beer so I could enjoy my food. She obliged, and we enjoyed our lunch with little commotion. Towards the end of our meal, the restaurant manager came up to me and asked if I was 21. Instead of lying and having to go through a whole conversation with the manager, I said “no, I am 18”. Before I could even finish that sentence, the manager took my drink, and told my mother that she should have known better. This really made me quite frustrated and I began to ask my self more and more since then “why can’t I legally drink yet? If I am allowed to vote and serve for my country at 18, why can’t I drink legally at 18?” Thus begins the question that

A poll taken on July 2014 asked the public opinion of US adults for lowering the US legal drinking age from 21 to 18. Approximately 74% of the people opposed the idea, whereas roughly 25% of the people supported the idea ("Public Opinion" 1). The statistics indicate satisfaction among the majority of the people; however, with the current laws many issues arise that must be addressed concerning alcohol use. For starters, studies show an increase of dangerous drinking habits among young adults (Hall 2). In addition, the enforcement of the drinking laws and education on alcohol is insubstantial (Moyse, Fonder 3).

“If the legal age were lowered in the US it would have to come with much more education in this area, not just the shock-value of Every 15 Minutes” said Ulrike Skillman, math teacher at Saugus. Skillman suggests the lowering of the drinking age will have to come with more alcohol education and that is the exact purpose of a “drinking license.” Which would allow 18 year olds to consume alcohol, with strict regulations, then take classes to officially receive a “drinking license” at 21 years old. The license would replicate a driver’s license, but be geared toward consuming alcohol.

When the government decided to lower their drinking age from 20 to 18 years old in 1999, they correctly predicted that there would not be an increase in alcohol abuse because many teenagers already drank alcohol they obtained illegally from adults (ICAP, 2002.) This supports the philosophy that it is better and healthier to allow young people to drink at a lower age so that their habits can be controlled, and that this can be done without increasing dangerous behavior. Statistics from around the world also suggest that a decreased legal drinking age creates healthier drinkers in the long run. A study on the percentage of people older than 15 years old with an alcohol use disorder reveals that 5.48% of Americans are affected, compared to 1.07% of people in Spain and 0.5% of people in Italy (WHO, 2004). Analyzing this data shows that the rate of alcoholism is significantly lower in countries including Spain and Italy where the drinking age is lower, likely because citizens drink responsibly throughout their entire lives.

There is a lot of websites that say that if the US lowered the drinking age will increase drunk driving accidents. In procon.org “since 1982… driving fatalities occurred across all age groups….therefore it can not be reliably attributed to MLDA 21”. The biggest argument against lowering the drinking is the driving fatalities. But know there is reason to believe that it will not affect the fatalities. The alcohol flow has not been stopped by MLDA 21.

The legal age to drink alcohol should be lowered back down to eighteen, because almost every other country has a lower drinking age, people will drink more responsibly, and there will be less deaths. The United States should lower the legal drinking age because it is not a problem in other countries that have an even lower drinking age. The United States is among the few countries that have a minimum drinking age of twenty-one, which is the highest MLDA in the world except for in India where it is twenty-five or even thirty is some parts of the country ( ) . Alcohol is banned in sixteen countries, which all of them are

“There’s No Benefit to Lowering the Drinking Age” explains, on average about eleven teens die daily as a result of drunk driving (Voas 464). When teens throw a party, alcohol is usually involved. Then once the party is over the kids have to get home somehow and they often drive themselves. When an alcoholic drink is placed in an eighteen-year-old hand decisions are made that harm them and others

If young adults at the age of 18 are old enough to vote and enlist in the army, then why can they not purchase and consume alcohol? Over the years, the set drinking age has been a controversial topic among society. Some people believe the MLDA (Minimum Legal Drinking Age) should stay at the age of 21 because it is safer for their kids. However, lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 would change the standards of alcohol as it encourages those of legal adulthood to make responsible decisions as adults, learn to control binge drinking and promote less automobile accidents.

The use of alcohol is very controversial to all people especially to adults and young adults. Some adults feel that young adults are going to get alcohol poisoned or get abused by others. Young adults feel that lowering the legal age for drinking would be beneficial to their life and health. The legal age should stay the same because people’s health will be affected, crime and violence will increase, and people’s social lives will be affected. Many organs can be damaged by alcohol and this can lead many problem in the future. Crime and violence are run by alcohol due to the fact that people have no sense of reality going through their brain when intoxicated. People get isolated because they are not do the other kids of their age do Alcohol

Alcohol abuse and alcoholism seems like an issue that keeps getting increasingly worse each year in the United States. According to USA Today and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both say that approximately 6 people die from alcohol poisoning, caused from binge drinking, each day, which amounts to roughly 2,200 people each year. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says that “In 2013 an estimated 697,000 adolescents ages 12–17 (2.8 percent of this age group) had an [alcohol use disorder]” (“Alcohol Facts”). Something has to stop and something has to change from preventing this more because 6 people dying each day from binge drinking alone is a lot, not to mention that 12-17 year olds are having alcohol problems at such a young age. Lowering the drinking age will enforce this act even more, promoting more drinking in fact.

Underage drinking is illegal yet very popular. There are many different reasons why teenagers drink. Some teenagers drink to appear cool, while on the other hand others drink for stress related issues. It has now become a rampant activity being done by many teenagers of today’s generation. Some teenagers sneak and drink at parties and other places without their parents even knowing. Some parents know their children are going to drink so they allow them to drink at home, with a hope that it will prevent them from going out doing senseless things. Underage drinking is very risky and can lead to variety of unoftunate and even tragic circumstances such as car accidents, violent behavior, alcohol poisoning, and other dangerous things. Most parents