...Opponent: Lowering the Minimum Legal Drinking Age Lozi Ms. Rhodes Comp 2 November 11, 2011 Opponent: Lowering the Minimum Legal Drinking Age Introduction At the present time, the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) Law is set at the age of 21 years old. Proponents would have the law revoked and the Minimum Legal Drinking Age reduced. This paper intends to prove that the MLDA should remain as it stands. The Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 21 protects our youth and society as a whole. Evaluation of the Present MLDA: Success Drinking and Driving The present MLDA laws set at 21 are effective. “Almost every state has seen a decrease in teenage driving fatalities since the law went into effect” (Hamilton, 2008, para 3). Before the law took effect, many American youths died in car accidents that could have been avoided if this law had been in effect at the time. “Over the past 20 years, the number of 15 to 20 year olds killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes has been cut in half. The number of 15 to 20 year old drinking drivers involved in fatal crashes also has been cut in half” (Hamilton, 2008, para 15). One cannot argue with statistics. Maturity Factor Most teens would argue that we, as adults, really don’t know anything that they don’t already know. The youth of America have a sense of entitlement, and for the most part, we have created a spoiled generation. “Many youth experiment with unlawful drinking-often to disastrous effects” (National Household Survey On...
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...Since drinking is a big problem with teens, we should lower the legal drinking age to the age of 18 years because you are considered to be an adult at this age. It should be lowered because you are old enough to make life changing decisions like going to war for your country and getting married. You should have the right to show that you are responsible enough to drink a beer in a safe surrounding. Fact is you get alcohol if you want to underaged or not but the question is about the place where you consume it. If something goes wrong – you or your friends need help, but nobody knows about your doing, it can be very unsafe. People would be more worried about the trouble after that, then about any health problems in form of binge drinking or violence like fights. So it is important to have a safe location, where you consume alcohol with knowing of other people. In my opinion you should have that right! If you turn 18 years old you are considered to be an adult. You can decide about marriage, you can decide to carry arms and going to war for your country. You are allowed to die for your country, but you are not allowed to decide about a drink with your friends – the government think you are responsible to do all these things, they should let you be responsible about drinking. And thats my next concern: People like to do things especially if they are illegal. They have that interest in the risk of getting caught. The consumption of Alcohol is one of these things. But if it gets...
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...The Effects of Raising or Lowering the Legal Drinking Age The debate about whether the legal drinking age should be raised or lowered is a common debate in the public domain. The decision on what age one begins drinking is determined by various factors which involve the gene combination of the person and the immediate environment around the person (Vingilis and Smart 415). For instance, the changes that adolescents go through in their biology and physiology can influence the age at which they start drinking alcohol. The behavior of a child influences his environment as the child gets to make friends and these influence the age at which the child can start to experiment with alcohol. Raising or lowering the legal drinking age is bound to raise major concerns. This will be a major concern for parents whose children are directly affected by the issue. Likewise, adolescents and youth are bound to get affected thus they are likely to engage in this debate too (Vingilis and Smart 415). Raising the legal drinking age lowers death rate. According to Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Congress members who met to mark the 20th anniversary of passing of a federal law that rose the minimum legal drinking age to 21, about 20,000 lives were saved through the passing of the law (MADD). The law signed in July 17, 1984 by the then President Reagan set the minimum drinking age as 21. An estimate by MADD approximates that underage drinking kills 6,000 people every year through traffic...
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...Lowering the Drinking Age It’s a fact that most kids try alcohol before they are around 16. In Europe the drinking age is around 16-18 years old. The legal drinking age really hasn’t stopped young teens before. It’s talked a lot about in schools and other states of why it should be lowered. Lowering the drinking age will give these teens the responsibility that some of them are looking for. The drinking age within the United States should be lowered to allow people to begin legally consuming alcohol at the age of 18 as a measure to combat binge drinking, to boost the economy, and to be more reflective of an 18 year old person's status as an adult. Lowering the drinking age to 18 years old can diminish the thrill of breaking the law by underage drinking. There is a lot of excitement that some kids feel knowing they are breaking the law and most likely not going to get caught. Not wanting to admit to drinking “…Which can make rebellious teenagers sneak off to basements and backwoods to binge drink far from adult supervision” (CNN). A lot of teens feel the thrill of breaking the law and having their parents not know. Knowing that they shouldn’t be drinking is that “rebellious” side of the teens. If...
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...The United States of America is one of only four nations worldwide that have set the drinking age as high as 21. The Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed in 1984 which set the legal drinking age to 21 but it turns out this didn’t solve many of the problems they were hoping it would. At the age of 18 when you become a legal adult you can vote and be shipped off to war to fight for your country and purchase a fire arm but still not be able to have a nice cold refreshing beer or a hard shot of alcohol. There is a total of 195 nations in the world and the United states is only one of four who have set the legal drinking age as high as 21 and there lies the problem. Back in 1969-1975 when the legal drinking age was only 18 the teen fatality rate...
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...to complete school or acquire a GED to reach a certain level of employment. While in other cases, the fight for earning one’s driving license at the age of sixteen appealed to the favor of teens. Currently, the dispute that is now being presented touches a subject that if ever addressed by the government, would change the way America operates forever: the age of consent for drinking. The debate is simple- the teens want it lowered against the adults who would like it to stay the same. The issue stirs major controversy mainly to focus on the safety of young adults, and how the consumption of alcohol can affect the mortality rate in their age bracket. However, there are firm rebuttals that show that lowering the legal drinking age to eighteen can not only benefit society, is the only fair addition to the list of rights and privileges one assumes when they reach America’s definition of adulthood. The pros and cons of the issue both have their strong and weak points aimed towards convincing their respective counter retorts. Yet when push comes to shove, it’s hard to deny that the law surrounding the drinking age in its standing, is not only unfair to young adults, but hypocritical. The arguments against lowering the age, while true, do not run parallel with the issue of a drinker’s age. All in all, the argument over changing the legal restrictions for those who want to drink, in many opinions, ends with those in favor changing it,...
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...Today, the consumption of alcohol by anyone under the age of 21 is generally illegal across the United States; however, there are some states that have exceptions allowing underage consumption of alcohol in certain circumstances. Underage drinking is allowed if done on private premises with parental consent or for religious purposes. In Ruth Engs’ opinion, based upon her research, “as a nation we have tried prohibition legislation twice in the past for controlling irresponsible drinking problems. This was during National Prohibition in the 1920’s and State Prohibition during the 1850’s. These laws were finally repealed because they were unenforceable and because the backlash towards them caused other social problems. Today we are repeating history and making the same mistakes that occurred in the past. Prohibition did not work then and prohibition for young people under the age of 21 is not working now” (Engs). On many campuses around the country, led by the so-called Amethyst Initiative, the legal drinking age continues to be a controversial issue since it is believed that “twenty-one is not working” (Sanghavi). The old familiar argument is that turning 18 bestows the rights and responsibilities of adulthood such as voting, serving on juries, getting married, signing contracts, joining the military, buying cigarettes, watching porn and upon prosecution, trial as an adult. If adults from the age of 18 are trusted to do all of these things, they should also be trusted...
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...consumption at home, under adult supervision, for medical necessity, and other reasons. So this brings about a very controversial question that I have. Why can’t we lower the drinking age? Yes, there are risks, but there are also many facts that bring the pros of this recreation to light. (First, let me say, that I am definitely not delusional in saying this would be a perfect plan, but even though there are risks they do not outweigh the good) Before we go into the pros and cons of this situation I think you should all know the reason as to why the drinking age is 21 anyway. Well, according to a blog from a reputable source called the mental floss, we ended up with a national minimum age of 21 because of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. This law doesn't prohibit drinking per se; it merely requires states to outlaw purchase and public possession by people under 21. So, that being said, the first risk everyone seems to touch upon is that drinking under the age of 21 can interfere with brain development. I have learned from previous classes that the frontal lobes don’t develop completely until later in a human being’s twenties. The frontal lobe cortex controls judgment and is greatly impaired when alcohol is added to the equation. The second concern procon.org touches upon is that “Lowering drinking ages from 21 to 18 will irresponsibly allow a greater segment of the population to drink alcohol in bars and nightclubs, which are not...
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...Intro Bus Critical thinking exercise 4-2 Ethical Dilemmas 5. You are the vice president of a beer company in a state that sets the legal drinking age at 21. Your boss asks you to organize a lobbying effort to have the drinking age reduced to 18. What would you do? A. I would do research and report my findings to my boss. Although it might seem like a good idea to do so -higher sales, and therefore higher revenue and profit- lowering the drinking age would be a losing battle. States can lower the drinking age back down to 18 or 19 but the amount of federal highway funds they'd lose (about 10%) makes it too expensive for them to do it. Many politicians don't want to risk getting involved. Why change something that appears to be working. Young people might like a beer at 18 but young people don't vote. 77% of Americans are opposed to lowering the drinking age to 18 according to a 2007 Gallop poll. Research shows that the law saves lives. It is one of the most researched public health laws on the books. When the law was raised to 21, alcohol-related deaths for young people decreased; when it was lowered, deaths increased. Scientific research about brain development and function, traffic accident records and population death rates show clearly that 18-21 year-olds handle alcohol poorly. The idea is strongly opposed by social and religious conservatives, parts of hospitality and retail industry concerned about liability, groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving...
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...Essay 2 Rough Draft Writing 123 Enthymeme: The minimum legal drinking age in the United States should not be lowered from 21 to 18 because the legal drinking age is in place to protect young people at a time when irresponsible behavior is prevalent. The Minimum Legal Drinking Age Debate Since 2008, 136 college chancellors and presidents have signed the Amethyst Initiative, asking that the United States reconsider the minimum legal drinking age-21 (MLDA-21) laws that have been in place in all 50 states since 1984. The Amethyst Initiative argues that the MLDA-21 laws simply do not work, create a culture of binge-drinking, and that a policy of legalization and education would be more effective in protecting the safety of American adolescents. Elisabeth Muhlenfeld, the president of Sweet Briar College in Virginia and Amethyst Initiative signatory writes that 70 percent of the student population is underage. Teaching abstinence to students that blatantly ignore the MLDA-21 laws, or urging responsible behavior while drinking underage and breaking the law, are both hypocritical positions for the college administration to be in (Muhlenfeld 2). The Amethyst Initiative position is that current MLDA-21 laws have created a culture of heavy alcohol use by making drinking clandestine and extreme (Saylor 1). The statistics seem to back up this claim. Recent survey's of the 18-20 year old population by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show that a full 72 percent report...
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...unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection, violence, vandalism, crime, overdose, other substance abuse, and high risk behavior, resulting on a heavy burden of social and health costs. Drinking alcohol most commonly begins during adolescences and early initiation of alcohol use is associated with alcohol problems in adulthood. Underage drinkers drink on few occasions, but when they drink they are more likely to binge drink. In recognition of the harms caused by underage drinking the US surgeon General issued a Call to Action in 2007 to prevent and reduce drinking among youths. The minimum legal drinking age has been perhaps the most single most studied alcohol-control policy. Differences in laws among states and within states over time have allowed researchers to study the effect of this policy and come to some reliable conclusions. A review of 241 studies published between 1960 and 2000 that examined the effects of lowering and raising minimum drinking age laws identified 135 high-quality studies in terms of sampling, research design, and having an appropriate comparison group.[12 ] Of the 79 quality studies that examined the relationship between the minimum legal drinking age and traffic crashes, 58% found fewer crashes associated with a higher minimum legal drinking age, whereas no study found fewer crashes associated...
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...the legal drinking age of 21 have saved nearly 900 lives in traffic accidents alone. Personally, I believe that the law should continue throughout the United States. Since 1988 all 50 states have a minimum age of 21. In “Keeping Legal Drinking Age at 21 Saves 900 Lives Yearly: Study,” Bahar Gholipour argues that the legal drinking age should remain at 21. As a contrasting opinion, in “The Drinking Age Is Past Its Prime,” Camille Pagila states that the drinking age of 21 has pushed young adults down the path of using pills and other drugs. She also claims that setting the drinking age at 21 makes the United States different from other Western Nations. Pagila also debates the decrease in drunk-driving deaths and argues that there are other reasons for the decrease in fatal accidents, such as the use of seatbelts and higher DWI penalties. Pagila declares, “Today, furthermore, there are many other causes of traffic accidents, such as the careless use of cell phones or...
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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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...Drinking Age Here in America alcohol is used for many different reasons. Some drink alcohol leisurely at a barbeque or party. Some drink it to get drunk and alleviate stress, some people even become so addicted they are physically dependent on consuming alcohol. Regardless of the reasons you drink it, legally you must be 21 years of age. This leaves a lot of room for heated debate. 21 is the magic age for youth, it allows you to now go out to night clubs, gamble, and of course buy and legally consume alcohol to name a few things. In regards to alcohol, many feel as if the age should be 18. As the man in the video was arguing, if you’re able to serve your country why can you have a beer? That is the argument many people will have. I do not agree that the legal age should be 18 in general, but I do feel that military men and women who lay their lives on the line should be given the option to do so. That would be the only case I feel as if it should be allowed, otherwise it would be chaos in my opinion. As stated in the video, states have tried to lower the drinking age before. The result was failure, there were much more drunk driving cases and accidents from people under 21. Now days alcohol is readily available no matter where you are at or what age you are. When I was in High School getting alcohol never seemed to be an issue for a lot of the kids I went to school with. Whether it was parents...
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...| Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 | Sociology 100 | | John Max | | STRAYER UNIVERSITY 12/8/2012 Professor Taylor, Grace Individuals born prior to 1966 had the right to drink alcohol legally in the United States at the age of 18. In 1984 the United States changed its legal drinking age from 18 to 21. The legal drinking age in the United States of America should be lowered from the age of 21 to the age 18. Americans today are mature enough at the age of 18 to drink responsibly. Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 will have a positive outcome for American society. Lowering the legal drinking age affects the country as a whole, as well as many countries around the world. When considering the issue in a global perspective view, the United States is only one of four countries that have a drinking age as high as 21. In just about every other country around the world there is little or no social pressure to drink. In the countries where the legal drinking age set to 18 irresponsible behavior is never tolerated. Young people learn at home from their parents and from other adults how to handle alcohol in a responsible manner. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development states that development occurs in stages. The second stage which is known as the conventional level appears in the teenage years. Kohlberg believes that in this stage young people lose some of their selfishness as they learn to define right and wrong in terms...
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