Changing the Minimun Legal Drinking Age in the United States

Society proposes at the age of eighteen an individual is mature and responsible to make decisions without the consent of a parent or guardian. In the United States an eighteen-year-old is considered a legal adult. By law you are able to fight for your country, vote, and buy cigarettes. Some impose, giving a newly young adult the privilege to consume alcohol would enhance their responsibility as an adult. Mary Cary from

The drinking-age law would surely be a winner in a competition for the least obeyed law. The notion that this law is accomplishing anything to actually stop or even curb teen drinking is preposterous. Instead, we see all the unintended effects of Prohibition: over-indulgence, anti-social behavior, disrespect for the law, secrecy and sneaking and a massive diversion of human energy.

Eighteen is the age in which many teens become legal adults which gives them the right to get a tattoo, vote, join the military and the independence of making your own decisions. Twenty-one is the age which allows young adults to legally drink alcohol and smoke marijuana medicinally and recreationally, in 28 states. However “the presidents of 135 universities are campaigning to consider lowering the drinking age from 21”(Greenblatt) which, can cause problems between the federal laws and would seem unfair to students attending different colleges or high school graduates not attending college. The article notes “that binge drinking on campus is rampant despite stricture.”(Greenblatt) The CDC Fact Sheet of Underage Drinking also states how “people aged 12 to 20 years drink 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United States” and “90% of the alcohol is consumed in the form of binge drinks.”(CDC) So would lowering the drinking age really do much of a difference to ending binge drinking in young adults or would it increase the problem? Finally, at twenty-five, adults are allowed to rent cars from a rental establishment. Recently, however, some car rental companies rent to underaged drivers. For example, Hertz car rental now rents to drivers at the age of 20. We are given different ages to reach rights because “states are finding ways to recognize this by introducing youngsters to increasing levels of responsibility, rather than foisting it upon them all at once.”(Greenblatt) By mentioning this he is elaborating how laws give multiple ages in order to introduce responsibility in small portions rather than forcing it ,too quickly, onto young

The government is conducting an idea to whether lower the minimum legal drinking age in the United States or not. Many Americans forbid the idea of legalizing the drinking age so that it would be profitable to the businesses. Likewise, there have been many advantages and disadvantages of why should the government allow young adults drink under the age of 21. To prevent this issue, many Americans have provided reasoning that will support the idea of keeping the minimum legal drinking age where it is now. The government should maintain the minimum legal drinking age in the United States at the age of 21.

The United States’ minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of twenty one is almost a perfect example of a policy with unrealistic expectations and serious unintended consequences. The current policy that the United States has in effect criminalizes youth who consume alcohol at less than twenty one years of age. Young adults are going to drink under twenty one, so why shouldn’t the United States lower the MLDA to eighteen? Following Prohibition in 1933, many states made their MLDA twenty one. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, many states lowered it to eighteen to match the drafting age (Alcohol Policy MD). President Reagan passed The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 which required all states to raise their minimum purchase and public

Ever since the end of prohibition in 1933 the United States government has placed the issue of minimum legal drinking age sensitively in the hands of the states, letting each decide for itself what the minimum age should be. At that time all agreed that the minimum legal drinking age should be 21, where it remained for all states until 1970.Between 1970, and 1975 a number of states played around with the idea of lowering that age to 20, 19, and

I. Introduction: Starting in 1970 21 states reduced the minimum drinking age to 18. Another 8 reduced it to 19 or 20. However, these states noticed increases in alcohol-related fatalities among teenagers and young adults. As a result, of the 29 states that had lowered their drinking age, 24 raised the age again between 1976 and 1984. By 1984, only three states allowed 18-year-olds to drink all types of alcoholic liquor. The enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 prompted states to raise their legal age for purchase or public possession of alcohol to 21 or risk losing millions in federal highway funds. The states who raised it were given highway funding by the

Many Americans do not feel like adults until their 21st birthday. At age 18 an American has the ability to vote, be drafted or enlist into the military, own a weapon, request a loan, get married, buy cigarettes and many more liberties and consequences that come when a teenager becomes an adult. Nonetheless, in the United States and adult does not have the ability to legally drink until the age of 21. I find the regulation of alcohol necessary and as a protection for the citizens because, as the article “Effects of Alcohol Use” states, the abuse of alcohol contributes to liver damage, leads into driving under the influence, domestic violence and in the long term it can cause cancer and death of brain cells. However, I believe that the alcohol regulation is bias and should be at the same level of liberty as voting, joining the military, owning a weapon, buying cigarettes, requesting a loan and getting married.

When you become an adult you can vote, join the military, jury duty, sign contracts, marry, apply for loans, make decisions regarding medical treatments, and be prosecuted as an adult (“Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered From 21 to a Younger Age?”). Adults have the right to make their own decisions, and there are many arguments on why 18-year-olds should be able to consume alcohol legally. In other countries like Europe with an MLDA of 18, there are fewer drunk driving traffic accidents and fatalities than an MLDA of 21 in America (“Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered From 21 to a Younger Age?”). Many argue that the government and the police should worry more about every legal person’s alcohol consumption instead of just underaged

According to Miller, there is little doubt that many high school and college students are drinking in excess and irresponsibly (Miller, 2016). The current message is that one should wait until they are 21 to drink and/or purchase alcohol. If the drinking age were raised adults would have to take many things into consideration such as their driving record, criminal record and overall responsibility. Many adults do not want to risk losing any of this at the age of 25. Many 21 year olds live at home with their parents or attend college where binge drinking and

The concerns about safety involving alcohol, including alcohol-related fatalities, “binge drinking”, and long-term health effects, will not be compromised by lowering the legal drinking age to nineteen in the United States. Activists who wish to raise the legal minimum age frequently discuss the ways that driving while intoxicated endangers countless lives every day in the United States, and is an increasing problem in "model" Europe as well. However, drunk driving increases will secrecy, not with accessibility. This concept only increases with teenagers, because avoiding parental guardians and the police are two of the main goals for the average underage party member. Following the inevitable secrecy is where problems generate as teenagers drive while drunk out of ignorance, lack of care, or fear of retribution as a result of calling for assistance. At this point where this occurs, the legal drinking age does not change a thing one way or another. Yet, if it was a twenty-one year-old drinking one-too-many beers at the local sports bar, a cab would have been called with very little ease, and no lives would be endangered. The aspect of secrecy is why the legal drinking age in the United States must be lowered to nineteen.

Dr. Henry Wechsler, a researcher at Harvard School of Public Health, and a leading expert on college binge drinking states, “President Ronald Reagan made the legal drinking age 21, it was the right decision. The Legal drinking age should remain at 21 for the entire nation” (Giamo 1). Although the legal age to purchase alcohol is twenty-one, a majority of students in

Although the legal drinking age in the U.S. should stay at twenty-one years old due to small reasons such as, drinking under the influence or alcohol poisoning, the MLDA has helped teens with larger reasons such as the avoidance of tobacco, cannabinoids, opioids or club drugs. Another extensive reason why the legal drinking age should not be lowered is because of the unsafe surroundings teens would be allowed into such as bars and nightclubs. Last, exposing the brain to alcohol in the teen years will hinder the process of brain development.

It all started in 1970 when the 26th amendment of the US Constitution was passed by Congress. This amendment allowed those from ages 18 to 21 to participate in federal votes. Within 3 years all 50 states extended the chance to vote in state elections to 18-21 year olds. Alex stated that “more than half of the states also reduced their minimum legal drinking ages for alcoholic beverages extending the rights and privileges previously reserved for adults twenty one and over to youths aged eighteen to twenty”. Some states thought that lowering the voting age requirement meant that it was also acceptable to lower the legal drinking age. In 1975 the idea of a lower drinking age came to a halt, Alex states that “evidence began to accumulate that lowered drinking ages resulting increased alcohol-related problems, particularly traffic accidents, among the eighteen-to-twenty year-old population”. The age requirement was raised back to 21 and since then no state has attempted to lower their legal drinking age back to

In spite of the fact that in order to drink an alcoholic beverage, legally, one must be above the age of twenty-one, those under age still consume just as frequently as those above the age. Even those younger than eighteen manage to get their hands on alcohol. There should be a strengthened system for those selling and providing alcohol to anyone making the purchase. Along with that those who are no longer considered a minor in the United States Government’s eyes should have the right to obtain, purchase, and enjoy an alcoholic beverage. In all reality, until thirty-two years ago, those above eighteen could consume just as freely as desired. This was changed when the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was passed changing the legal age from eighteen to twenty-one.