...Seminar 9 November 2010 Lowering the Legal Drinking Age Is Not the Solution “In 2005, about 10.8 million persons aged 12 to 20 (28.2 percent of this age group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Nearly 7.2 million (18.8 percent) were binge drinkers, and 2.3 million (6.0 percent) were heavy drinkers,” according to the agency, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in the Department of Health and Human Services. To solve this problem, would be to try to avoid it from happening, and that is, keeping the legal drinking age at twenty-one years old. The minimum drinking age has been an argument as to lowering the drinking age to 18. Candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich, from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, argues, “Of course, they should be able to drink at age 18, and they should be able to vote at age 16.” Then there are groups that have been formed such as, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who are strongly against lowering the drinking age to 18 and fully support 21 to be the legal drinking age. Lowering the drinking age to 18 resulted in more car accidents, deaths, and harmful effects to the body at such a younger age. Having the legal drinking age at 21 is for everyone’s own safety and health, also less under age kids will and have the ability to drink. In the 1970’s the drinking age was 18 years old because it was thought if you could fight in the Vietnam War you should be able to drink. However, having the legal drinking age at 18 lead to an outrageous...
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...mean it has to change. For example, the legal minimum drinking age was set at 21 since 1984. Since 1984, “drinking and daily alcohol use have declined among young adults aged 18-20 years” (Wechsler and Nelson 987). This change was needed because alcohol consumption was a major threat to human health. Lowering the drinking age to 18 means that we are just ignoring what our history has presented us. It is common sense that alcohol is a major threat to general well-being. Allowing 18 year olds to legally buy and consume alcohol would simply allow them to harm themselves and others...
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...The argument of lowering the drinking age has been in the process for quite some time now. Many people argue that it should be lowered to the age of eighteen, and some people have argued that it shouldn’t be lowered and stay at twenty-one. Though there are many reasons that prove both arguments correct, the law still remains where it was set at. Most say the drinking age should not be lowered because it would increase the danger and deaths to underage drinkers, but that all has to do with the main argument for lowering the age, maturity. In the United States, at the age of 18, people are not able to buy alcohol but are able to join the military, vote, be considered adults, and buy cigarettes which can be as harmful if not more so than alcohol. I propose that we also add being able to legally buy alcohol at the age of 18. Prior to 1984, states were allowed to choose their own legal drinking ages. The legal age limit varied from state to state anywhere between 18 and 21 years of age. “One of the more compelling arguments for setting the age to 21was that the prohibition had only exacerbated drinking, particularly among the young”(Seaman 242). In 1984, the United States congress passed the national minimum drinking age act. Ronal Reagan instigated this act when he set up a study to look at the drunken driving problem in the United States. Scientists recommended that there should be a national uniform drinking age of 21. Since then, there have been many that oppose and want to reform...
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...For years people have argued over whether or not the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) in America should be lowered or stay the same. One of the main controversial issues regarding alcohol consumption in our society today is whether or not the legal drinking age is appropriate. Both sides to the argument have very considerable points that support their side of the argument. Do to these disagreements, the issue of whether or not to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 has become controversial. The best solution is to allow citizens that are 18 and older to drink but also follow strict rules and regulations to make sure it is not taken advantage of. This solution will help keep people safe while also allowing those 18 or older to have a good...
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...51 studies involving 260K children age 6 - 23 found no evidence that the flu vaccine even works. According to the FDA "Category C drugs are drugs that are more likely to cause problems for the mother or fetus" The category also indicates that the safety studies for the drug isnt finished. The Sydney morning Herald recently reported that young children were more likely to end up in the hospital from side effects from the vaccing than the vaccine itself. Protects against only one strain.. 6.) There is mounting evidence that flu shots can cause Alzheimer’s disease. One report shows that people who received the flu vaccine each year for 3 to 5 years had a 10-fold greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease than people who did not have any flu shots. Also with age the immune system weakens, thus lowering your ability to fight off infections. Introducing the flu virus in the bodies of elderly could have dangerous consequences. 9.) There is enough evidence that shows that the ingredients present in the flu vaccinations can actually cause serious neurological disorders. In the 1976 swine flu outbreak, many who got the flu shots developed permanent nerve damage. Flu vaccines can contain many harmful materials including detergent, mercury, formaldehyde, and strains of live flu virus. Is this what you want to put in YOUR body? In December of 2010, however, the flu vaccine formulated specifically for children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old was found...
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...Quinisha Williams Mrs. Garcia EG 103 B 25 October 2017 Higher Drinking Age Almost anyone can agree that alcohol should not be allowed to children or young adults under a certain age. Alcohol is a substance that is very dangerous and if used incorrectly or immaturely the consequences can be great danger to the users or the ones around them. The topic of lowering the drinking age has been in discussion for many decades. Although the age has been lowered and raised again, this topic has not been resolved through the decades. Underage drinking, specifically under the age of 21, should not be allowed in any country because it can be very dangerous, when it comes to substance abuse, traffic accidents and the health risks involving alcohol. The...
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...Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered? The drinking age in the United States is as low as it could possibly be, it should not be lowered it is as dangerous as it is already that there are more fatal car crashes due to the alcohol levels of drivers behind the wheel. I believe the drinking age needs to be higher. Alcohol has always played different roles in different situations but the drinking age is a protection against ourselves. The drinking age should not be lowered because it is causing harm to the society and kids, not only does alcohol cause harm but it can also be a trigger to sources of abuse to someone or something. The 1970’s was the first time the drinking age was considered to be moved up from 18 to 21 that today is currently saving lives day by day. Lowering the age can increase the death rate at ages from 18 to 20 years of age either be killed or injured. In this day and age there are not only adults drinking there are adolescents that are taking in the toxicants not knowing at an early age there is even more damage to progress and grow over time to harm the body. Based on a recent study there are 10.1 million underage drinkers in the United States 39 percent of them are 8th graders, 58 percent of them are 10th graders, 72 percent of...
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...Twenty-one is too long The issue of alcohol consumption dates as far back as 4,000 BC. Currently the only limitation on consuming and purchasing alcohol is the twenty-one drinking age. It is an irrational law that should be changed to eighteen. Once an individual is eighteen they are legally an adult with the freedom to vote, enlist in the military, gable, rent a honey bucket, and many more responsibilities. If a person is allowed to vote, then they should be allowed to drink, voting is a higher responsibility than drinking. According to Szalavitz, at age eighteen the brain is still not fully developed and drinking only harms the developing brain. The issue isn’t about it being bad health wise, but rather it being illegal. It is widely known that people under the legal age drink regardless of the law. The legal age of consuming alcohol should be lowed to eighteen due to it being less of a responsibility than some responsibilities that are granted at eighteen, there would be less teenage criminals and less alcohol related problems. A shocking 80% of all high school students admitted to drinking alcohol (alcholnews.org). This high number shows that the legal age is simply being overlooked by teenagers; the efforts in place have repeatedly failed. Once a underage teenager does get caught with alcohol in their possession, they receive a M.I.P meaning “Minor in Possession” which is a misnomer offence. A MIP charge carries a fine and additional punishments which vary by state....
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...may have a negative and long-lasting effect on their cognitive development, putting them at a competitive disadvantage and possibly interfering with their well-being in other ways. Also, contrary to popular belief, marijuana can be addictive, and its use during adolescence may make other forms of drug abuse or addiction more likely. Exposure to cannabinoids during adolescent development can cause long-lasting changes in the brain’s reward system as well as the hippocampus, a brain area critical for learning and memory. Regular marijuana use in adolescence is part of a cluster of behaviors that can produce enduring detrimental effects and alter the trajectory of a young person’s life—throwing off his or her potential. Beyond potentially lowering IQ, teen marijuana use is linked to school dropout, other drug use, mental health problems, etc. Given the current number of regular marijuana users (about 1 in 15 high school seniors) and the possibility of this number increasing...
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...Legal Drinking Age? Maria Anna Dante Arellano University (Jose Abad Campus) ABSTRACT The debate of a legal drinking age has been long discussed. The legal age in the Philippines is 18 and people in the country wonder whether or not is the right call. At the age of 18, Filipinos has the right to vote. If an 18 year old can make up their mind as to who the potential leader of the country should be then, they should have every right to purchase and drink alcohol. The majority of the world has their legal age set at 18 and if you are old enough to be regarded an adult by society, you are old enough to have the same rights afforded to you. Introduction Teen drinking is on the rise. By the age of eighteen the law recognizes these young people as adults, they can be tried as an adult in the law, parents signatures are no longer necessary, and it is assumed you are mature enough to make sound decisions regarding things such as alcohol. Alcohol is abused heavily by teenagers across the nation. As they grow older their alcoholism grows worse and worse. The effects of teenage drinking affects many aspects of your body and mental state that it can lead to risky behaviours. DISCUSSION In the Philippines, although there is an age limit for purchasing alcoholic beverages it is estimated that 60% of young people will have at least tried alcohol before then. Hard liquors and beers can be easily buy in convenience stores by teenagers under the minimum legal drinking age or got them from...
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...Drinking age is a common thing in the United States. Based on what I found out in the articles is that the minimum age for a person to drink is at 21. People argued that they should lowered the drinking age to 18. In some parts of the U.S, they are allow to drink, with exception of the Muslims religion. Underage drinking can result an increase on teen pregnancy or a disease. Drinking age can result a brain disorder or even dead. In some college schools 10 out of 20 students have try alcohol and the does not stop them from doing it repeatedly until they can’t handle no more. The idea of drinking age legal is that the government want to lower the legal drinking age to 18, but we know that students are not full develop to drink or do drugs. Perhaps...
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...The Vietnam Conflict Introduction It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons why the U.S. became involved in the Vietnam Conflict. Perhaps one of the more convincing reasons can be attributed to the strong disdain most Americans had for Communism. The U.S. government feared that Communism, if not prevented, would spread throughout the nations. The federal government used President Eisenhower’s “domino theory,” which stated, “if one country in Southeast Asia collapsed to Communism then surrounding countries would soon fall” to rally support for their intentions to save Vietnam from Communism (Davidson, 2011, p. 839). The true reasons for U.S. involvement in the Vietnam Conflict is debatable, however one thing is clear, the war caused further division in a country already suffering from its own social issues. There had been conflict in the Vietnam long before the U.S. became involved in the conflict. Vietnam had been occupied by foreign countries for many years, and by 1940, Vietnam was under both French and Japanese rule. Ho Chi Minh, a Communist Vietnamese revolutionary leader, vowed to create a Vietnam that was independent of foreign rule (Davidson, 2011, p. 839). Ho Chi Minh established the Viet Minh whose main purpose was to liberate Vietnam from French and Japanese control. Northern Vietnam supported the Viet Minh efforts to create an independent Vietnam and joined forces with southern communist Vietcong to overthrow South Vietnam and unite Vietnam under one...
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...Native American adolescents develop a sense of pride and belonging by taking part in their culture (Brockie, Dana-Sacco, Wallen, Wilcox, & Campbell, 2015). Taking part in cultural activities was confirmed to greatly benefit adolescents, lowering “substance use, stronger antidrug norms and increased resiliency” by researchers (Soto et al., 2015). The constructive aspects of such group activities were supported by a study on the healthy development of adolescents, where researchers Meschke et al., (2012) stated that “structured activities with peers are most beneficial in promoting prosocial behavior”, which can help them succeed in society. Native American adolescents can use their tribal identity to shield them from other harmful occurrences on the reservation, strengthening their goals for the future. This form of cultural identification helped to “lower levels of hopelessness” among reservation dwelling Native Americans when compared to natives living off the reservation in one study (Stumblingbear-Riddle & Romans, 2012). A sense of identity is important for the development of adolescence as Erik Erickson’s fifth stage of development, identity vs. role confusion emphasizes (Meschke et al., 2012). Tribal identity enhances...
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...behavior in the 1930s, people addicted to drugs were thought to be morally flawed and lacking willpower”. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction” 2014, para.1). This formed society’s reaction to drug abuse, treating it as a choice not a disease. In today’s world scientist have changed our views on addiction. The findings about the brain have given scientists an understanding on addiction. The initial choice to try drugs is intentional for most people, but overtime the brain changes and a person’s self-control hinder their ability to resist impulses to use drugs. “Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences” (National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Drugs Abuse, and Addiction” 2014, para.1). Drugs change the brains structure and how it works. Drugs contain different chemicals that interfere with communication in the brain; such as sending, receiving and processing information. Drugs such as marijuana have similar chemicals as messengers in the brain which can fool the brain’s think pattern. Drugs like cocaine, release large amounts of natural neurotransmitters which prevent normal reprocessing of brain chemicals. Drugs can target the brain by flooding it with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that regulates movement, emotions, and feelings of pleasure. At normal levels our brain rewards our behaviors. When we overstimulate the brain...
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...behaviors, and understand some of your emotions. Parents, authority, and others may be asking you to; just think logically, control your impulses, or think recognize the long term consequences of your current actions. The previous understanding our teenage brains was that it was fully developed and young people were just rebels without a cause; however through more recent advances in neuroscience and technology to help understand our brains, we can now see that the brain development is much different than our previous beliefs. Not that we are any less intelligent, on the contrary we are more intelligent than ever before; however our teenage and young adult brain is still developing...
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