Benefits Of Lowering The Drinking Age

Underage drinking is a major topic of discussion across the United States; however, many believe that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. Those individuals feel this way due to the

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). all dropped to the age 18 or 19 . Thus, alcohol should stay away from young adults.

A lower drinking age would increase deaths from drinking. Most drinkers die at a younger age due to alcohol poisoning and other issues which would increase with a lower age. This should not be something that we should take lightly, and lowering the drinking age would make this issue worse because more people would end up dying from drinking. Younger drinkers would have a higher risk of death, mostly because their bodies are not fully developed yet. Drinking when brains are not fully developed can slow down the development and learning process.

Why the drinking age is set the way that it is? The national drinking age act of 1984 stated that among 18-20 year old in areas where the drinking age had been lowered have more opportunities of having an accident. Some collage contend that by lowering that drinking age college would be able to bring booze out into the campus and educate students on responsible consumption. For a while Louisiana was a safety place for thirsty teens to drink until the state passed a law that made illegal to buy alcohol if you were under 21. Mothers and many other began to protest for a uniform national drinking age of 21 to help eliminate and keep alcohol out of the hands of less immature 18 years old. I would thinking that the problem wouldn’t be really if you should drink at 18 because you could be immature. Any person can be immature at any age. So therefore I am in favor by lowering the drinking age to 18.

People have said that if the drinking age was lowered it was lower the risk of everything else that is happening with alcohol problems. For example, more than one hundred and thirty people have signed a petition initiated in the 2008 in support of the idea. Since the mid 1930’s, the legal drinking age in the United States has been set at twenty-one. At some point there was no uniform drinking age, with some states choosing eighteen, nineteen and even twenty as the legal age for drinking. Back then, it was safe to drink because everyone knew everyone. There wasn’t random places to have a party it was where everyone was safe. For instance, in this generation, finding a place to party in takes time. You need to find a stable place, but instead of that, people find somewhere out of town, like out in the bad land. The scary part is, not everywhere has service. So who do you call in case of an emergency? Some many people die due to dangerous environments. I honestly truly believe that that by lowering the drinking age, you could possibly reduce that.

When the Minimum Legal Drinking Age changed to 21 years old in 1976, there was a decrease in fatal car accidents which saved approximately 21,887 lives (Alcohol Policy MD). Many lives were saved because there were less young drinkers and less people driving under the influence of alcohol. If it were possible to save lives, why wouldn’t you want to do that? An argument is made that if teenagers are allowed the responsibility to drive when they are 16 years old why can’t they drink at an earlier age? This is simply because Alcohol can put people in danger. Drunk driving seems to be a black spot of our civilization. An average of 17,000 individuals die each year in drunk driving related accidents, and drunk driving continues to be an enormously important public safety issue (MADD). With lowering this drinking age we can only expect more cases of drunk driving and more lives are put in danger. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration estimates that about 900 lives are saved annually due to fewer alcohol-related traffic crashes involving underage drivers. Surely, it should be a priority for the society to minimize the death toll from drunk driving. A higher Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) is effective in preventing alcohol-related deaths and injuries among teenagers and youth. When the MLDA has been lowered, injury and death rates increase, and when the MLDA is increased, death and injury rates decline (Wagenaar, 1993). In addition, a common argument among opponents of a higher MLDA is that because many minors still drink and purchase alcohol, the policy isn't working on minors. The evidence shows, however, that although many youth still consume alcohol, they still drink less and experience fewer alcohol-related injuries and deaths (Wagenaar, 1993). There is also an argument comparing the European alcohol and drunk diving among the youth compared to the United

When teenagers turn 18, they are told that they are adults and are sent into the world. They go to college, get a job, marry or join the military. They do grown-up things like vote, pay taxes and become parents, but they can 't go to the bar for a beer. When it comes to alcohol they are still just kids. Where’s the fairness in the age being 21 and not 18? Why is 21 the "magical" age that makes one intelligent and mature enough to consume alcohol? Surely, some adults abuse alcohol and some teenagers would be perfectly able to drink responsibly. Accidents will happen no matter what age you start drinking it. That 's why the drinking age should be lowered to 18 instead of remaining at 21.

President Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984. All states in the time

The drinking age is at 21 but, some are voting to bring down to 18. The drinking age starts at 21 for a reason and needs to stay where it is. Alcohol is poisonous at any age but, it can be more harmful to a developing brain and a teenager finding a new life. It’s extremely easy to numb the annoyance of life with alcohol and many people have become addicted to the escape. In this country our children are not ready to drink at 18, we have a different system and different children.

The first and most used of the three arguments is that it could reduce or even eliminate unsafe drinking activities. One of the most dangerous times for drinking in the United States is between the ages of 18 - 20. Once a person reaches the age of 18, he or she gains all of his or her legal adult rights, except the right to drink. By allowing supervised drinking ability for those in the age bracket of 18 - 20, it could reduce or even eliminate risky drinking behaviors that can lead to bad decisions. Besides, it has not stopped teen drinking, and it probably never will. It has instead pushed underage binge drinking into private and less controlled environments, leading to more health and life-endangering behaviors by teens. If the legal drinking age was lowered, those teens would be able to drink in a more controlled and much more safe environment where they can be monitored and supervised. Then they will be less likely to harm themselves or others. The second argument that is used is that there are fewer drunk driving accidents in countries with lower drinking ages. In quite a few countries around the world, the legal drinking age is already 18. In these countries, there has been a very large downsize of drunk driving accidents, while in the United States, where the legal age is 21, there is a far larger number of these accidents, some of which tend to be fatal. The third

In the United States of America, eighteen years of age is when teenagers are finally considered adults by others around them. As an adult they now have the same rights as everyone around them. With the exception of one law that keeps them in a lower class. This restriction keeping them from being like everyone else is that they are still not able to consume alcohol legally. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act raising the drinking age in all fifty states as well as the District of Columbia to twenty-one years of age (“In the early 1980’s...”). Once the Mothers Against Drunk Driving presented a very strong argument for why the drinking age should be raised, the law went into effect immediately. President

There has been many discussions all over the United States is whether they should change the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. Most teens will argue that they should change the age because they can go to a store or a gas station and they can buy a pack of cigarettes, a black n mild, play the lottery at the age of eighteen so they will ask so why can they not buy a beer or alcohol at the age of eighteen. Underage drinking has been out of control in the United States because teenager use fake identification cards and they will also try to go to the club with their identification card. As a teenager when I was in high school I have proof that these things happen not only in college but high school it happens more often than college students.

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.

In addition, if lawmakers consider lowering the drinking age because it would lead to more violent and destructive behavior such as academic failure. Alcohol interferes with many ways of

This law changed to 21 because all states would “lose a certain percentage of federal highway dollars” (“Frequently Asked”). Not only that but the rates of excessive drinking went up, along with drunk driving. Driving alone is hard enough, especially if the person is a new driver, but add alcohol and there is a very deadly mix. Being able to legally drink at the age of “21 decreased the number of fatal traffic accidents for 18- to 20-year-olds by 13% and saved approximately 27,052 lives from 1975-2008” (“Should the Drinking Age”). Since there have been less drunk driving accidents when the minimum age for drinking changed to 21, it is a safer environment if the drinking age is left at 21 instead of being