The Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered

Politicians have been working to pass a law to lower the Minnesota drinking age from 21 to 18 years of age. People are trying to push this law because the country-wide description of being an adult is 18 years of age. At 18 people can serve in the military, buy tobacco, and yet cannot buy alcohol. Reasons for this is that high schoolers and middle schoolers have easier access to drinks.

The minimum drinking age became a hot topic ever since it was set to twenty one years old. It is a law not everyone welcomes with open arms, one that has the most impact in the lives of adolescents and if violated, one that can put a state at risk of forfeiting ten percent of its annual federal highway appropriation. John M. McCardell Jr., president of Middlebury College; founder and president of Choose Responsibility, a non-profit organization, clearly states his desire for the National Minimum Drinking Age Act to be lowered to avoid binge drinking. On the other hand, Melanie Fonder and Misty Moise, among others, clearly express the benefits of this law and the

Should the minimum legal drinking age be lowered? Many people believe 18 yr olds are immature, and cannot handle the responsibility of alcohol. However that is just a biased idea placed on the minds of people by meaningless reality TV, a few irresponsible teens, other media sources.By lowering the MLDA (minimum legall drinking age) the thrill of breaking the law will be lessened, and if 18 year olds are allowed to decide who runs our country, serve in the armed forces, and overall be concidered a legal adult,they should be allowed to drink in moderation, by allowing teens to drink at age 18 the dangers of drinking will considerably be lowered.

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

    The earlier a person begins alcohol use, the greater the chances are of that person becoming an alcoholic later in life, suffering negative physical withdrawal symptoms, and harming their brain during its development. Excessive drinking contributes to more than 4,300 deaths among people below the age of twenty-one in the U.S. each year. According to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act keeping the drinking age at twenty-one has saved 17,000 lives on the highways since 1988. Since states began setting the legal drinking age at twenty-one, the law

Lowering the drinking age has been a huge controversy in the United States. Should we lower it to eighteen like other countries or just keep it at twenty-one? Many people believe that the drinking age was lowered because of health reasons, but it had nothing to do with health-related problems. President Ronald Reagan gave highway funds to whoever would sign the National Minimum Drinking Age Act (Miron). Alcohol is used for many reasons. It is used for peer pressure, celebration, anxiety, rebellion and many other things. Although the minimum drinking age is twenty-one, this does not stop people below that age from drinking. Teenagers still buy alcohol with fake identifications card, and drink illegally.

The United States drinking age has a long history. It all started when our founding fathers created the amendments and made the eighteenth outlawing drinking entirely (The MLDA should be lowered). This caused several problems because people kept stealing alcohol and hurting people to get a hold of it. Then, the states started making their own laws. From 1969 to 1976 there were 30 states lowering

In the United States, the legal drinking age is twenty-one. In all fifty states, however, there are exceptions for underaged drinking at home, under adult supervision, or for medical purposes (“Drinking Age”). Overall, the legal opportunities for any person under twenty-one to legally drink alcohol are very scarce. There are many different points, made by people from both sides of the issue about whether or not to lower the drinking age to eighteen, or leave it where it currently stands at twenty-one. Although each side has its own arguments, the legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen years of age throughout all fifty United States.

We do not hand teenagers car keys without teaching them how to drive first, so why do we expect 21-year-olds to know how to drink responsibly for the first time. Law passed by congress in 1984 leaves America to being one of four countries left in the world with its drinking age at 21, while the rest of the country 's drinking ages are 16 or 17 or has no age limit at all. As a part of turning 18 you are now considered a legal adult and are allowed to make the decision to vote, marry, buy tobacco products, buy guns and join the military. With all the freedom you gain all at 18 year olds, you are cut short of being able to make the decision to drink an alcoholic beverage. So are you really a legal adult? With many American citizens’ starting to change their views on the drinking age there has become more positive views than negative. With these opportunities given to us it is believed that the drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18.

Laws surrounding alcohol use and consumption in the United States all stem from one major root: the Prohibition Era of the 1920s. The Prohibition Era lasted almost thirteen years and banned the production, the distribution, and the sale of alcohol. In 1933, the Prohibition Act was repealed and states designated their own legal drinking age. In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age act was passed and raised the drinking age in the United States to twenty-one. This law caused uproar in states that had declared the minimum drinking age to be eighteen. Alcohol consumption is a major factor in cultural and social matters and the National Minimum Drinking Age has affected everybody. This law is unjust

The legal drinking age in the United States is twenty-one, but has not always been twenty-one. The United States used to have a legal drinking age of eighteen years old before MADD came along. MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is a nonprofit organization that is fighting to protect drunk drivers, as well as prevent underage consumption of alcohol. When this organization was created, it raised the nations legal drinking age to twenty-one. Most countries still have legal drinking age of eighteen years old. Some countries believe that keep the age of drinking at eighteen will possibly reduce the young adults wanting to do it since by the time they are twenty-one they have sort of gotten over the excitement of being able to drink. One major

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that the current minimum drinking age laws saved an estimated 28,765 lives from 1975 to 2011. (Curt) Keeping the drinking age the same also could save a lot of lives and reduce drinking and driving accidents. A 2009 study published in The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that between 1998 and 2005, the number of cases of alcohol poisoning deaths among 18- to 24-year-olds nearly tripled, jumping from 779 cases to 2,290. The study also tracks a rise in fatalities from hypothermia and falls. Some reports link excess drinking to sexual assault.

“In America, eighteen-year-olds can vote, operate a motor vehicle, pay taxes, marry, become a legal guardian, own a gun, fight and die in a foreign country….”(Fulton). An argument can be made that those responsibilities outweigh the responsibility of consuming alcohol .After prohibition ended in America, states were allowed to choose their own drinking age. In the 1970’s, 30 states lowered their drinking age to tie into the 26th amendment lowering of the voting age to 18. In 1984 US congress decided they would put a ten percent cut to infrastructure funding to states who did not adopt a 21 year old drinking age. Many countries around the world have a legal drinking age or 18 years old and sometimes even younger. There are only three other countries that have a drinking age of 21 years old and those countries are Mongolia, Indonesia, and Palau. After prohibition ended in America states were allowed to choose their own drinking age. Many states decided to match the drinking age with the national voting age, which is 18. The United States Of America is pledged with underage drinking problems and DUIs. Lowering the legal drinking age can help limit those problems and even save lives. Having a drinking age of 18 years old will lower DUI and drinking related charges, reduce binge drinking, and save lives .

Alcohol in the United States is a noted feature. It is well savored when used appropriately. The legal age drinking age is when a person can legally purchase or consume alcohol beverages, at 21 years old. Unfortunately, about 5,000 deaths occur each year from underage drinking (Fact Sheets - Underage Drinking). It can also cause many health and public problems. Many young adults would want the legal age to change. Drinking under the legal age causes the United States economy a lot of money. There are many ways to prevent underage drinking and ways to help with those who are alcoholics.

Twenty one, twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen; these are the ages most teenagers consume alcohol for the first time. This is a sad epidemic that our country deals with every day. The drinking age is the age at which it is legal for a person to consume or buy alcoholic beverages. The laws of the drinking age cover a wide range of issues and behaviors, addressing when and where alcohol can be consumed. These laws vary among different countries, and many laws have exemptions or special circumstances. Most laws for the legal drinking age apply only to drinking alcohol in a public places, with alcohol consumption in the home being mostly unregulated. Some countries also have different age limits for different types of alcoholic drinks. In the United States of America, the legal drinking age is 21 years old. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was passed on July 17, 1984 by the United States Congress as a mechanism where all states would become required to legislate the age of 21 years of age as a minimum age for purchasing and consuming alcoholic beverages (Anonymous). For a vast number of reasons, the drinking age should stay at 21.