...Should the Drinking Age be Lowered to 18? In the United States of America, one is lawfully considered an adult on their 18th birthday. With adulthood comes choices, responsibility, and privileges that they did not possess as a minor. At the age of 18, a person can enlist in the army and die for this country, vote for the future president or other government officials, and be charged as an adult, potentially leading to them going to prison, jail, or facing the death penalty. However, an 18 year old can not purchase or legally consume alcohol in America. Although, some think 18 year olds do not have the physical or mental capacity for alcohol, the national drinking age should be lowered to 18 because teens 18 and older are able to make critical decisions. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed over 30 years ago. This act raised the drinking age from 18 to 21. This act has been poorly enforced in America. 10.8 million underage Americans drink(“Minimum Legal Drinking Age”). The higher drinking age causes teens to drink in unsafe settings. These unsafe, unsupervised drinking situations can lead to spiked drinks, injury, and sexual assault. The drinking age does little to stop...
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...Science 101 | July 18, 2015 Drinking Age Should Be Reduced to 18 in the United States by laurie rose Drinking Age Should Be Reduced to 18 in the United States by laurie rose The law states that you can start drinking legally at 21 in the United States. Some people think that a federal law should be passed that reduces the drinking age to 18 in all states. I agree with this side of the argument. It is not just young people who are for lowering the drinking age but some legislators as well. Representative Bob Lynn who is in the state legislature of Alaska also argues that the drinking age should be lowered for 18 year olds in the military. “Why do we consider 18-year-olds old enough to join the military, to fight and die for our country, but not to have a drink with their friends before they ship out or while they are home or on leave?” (Minton) Phyllis Kahn who is a state representative of Minnesota has fought for years to lower the drinking age in her home state. She proposed two bills this year on this topic in her state. One bill would lower the drinking age in bars and restaurants to 18. The other bill would allow underage teenagers who are accompanied by a parent or a spouse who is of legal age. She feels that if teenagers want to drink, they need to do it socially instead of getting alcohol from an older friend or relative and then binge drink. It would also eliminate the need for fake IDs. (Belden) In the 1970s the drinking age in many states used to be 18...
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...Blackjack is 21, Drinking should not Happy Birthday! You're finally 18, legally an adult! What are you going to do first? Maybe buy a pack of cigarettes, or a lotto ticket, or porn; because you're an adult you can do anything you want... except buy alcohol. By current law, to buy and drink alcohol legally one must be at least 21 years of age. But why is this magical number 21? As a legal adult, I do not understand the reason behind not allowing me to drink. President Ronald Reagan passed the national minimum drink age law in 1984. The act stipulates a minimum legal age of 21 for the purchase or public possession of any alcoholic beverage, and incorporates sanctions against states whose laws are not in compliance (Daniloff). Many argue that the age was changed to 21 because that is the approximate age that brain development levels off. This seems fairly logical, but is it really? And is it fair? Many feel that 21 years of age is when someone truly becomes an “adult” and that is a fitting age to legalize the use of alcohol, I disagree. When one turns 18, in this country, they are legally an adult no ifs, ands, or buts and should have all the rights as any other citizen of this great country. As an adult, one can legally vote, serve in the military, get married, get a credit card, buy cigarettes, gamble, etc. the list goes on. So, in all aspects of life, when someone turns 18 they are an adult and responsible for themselves, except alcohol; so the government should not limit...
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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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...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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...the Legal Drinking Age to 18 Danielle Gonzales The government can trust those between the age of 18 and 20 to do many things, but they cannot treat them like full adults and allow them to drink alcohol. You will find that many Colleges and Universities disagree with the legal drinking age. In fact, they believe that rising the drinking age has increased the amount of ‘binge’ drinkers and only made our countries drinking problems worse. Eighty-five percent of twenty year old Americans reported that they had used alcohol. (Johnson) Two out of five said they had binged within the previous month. To ‘binge,’ is to consume five or more drinks at one time. (Engs) “The period since the twenty-one minimum drinking age took affect has been marked by a shift from beer to hard liquor,” Seaman wrote in Time “consumed not in large social settings, since that is now illegal, but furtively and dangerously in students residences. In my reporting at colleges around the country, I did not meet any presidents or deans who felt the twenty-one year age minimum helps their efforts to curb the abuse of alcohol on their campuses.” (Balk) A kid is going to drink if he or she wants to regardless whether the law says eighteen or twenty-one. In an alcohol related situation you are more likely going to hear “I don’t drink, thank you,” than “I better not, I’m not 21 yet.” When colleges and University presidents disagree with the drinking age, something has got to be done. If the drinking age were changed...
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...Should The Drinking Age Be Lowered To 18? Every teenager anticipates the day that they will finally be eighteen years old. This is the day they are finally seen as being an adult in the eyes of our government. Eighteen year olds are now free to make their own life choices and be held accountable for them. At the age of eighteen, you are free to put your life on the line and fight for your country, if you commit a crime you can be tried as an adult in court, and you are also give the right to vote in your country. So, why should the drinking age be twenty-one years old when you are considered an adult at the age of eighteen? At the age of eighteen you are not mature and responsible enough to purchase and consume alcohol. Alcohol has been around for centuries, showcased at parties, bars, sports events and just about everywhere. For these very reasons every day in our country the drinking age is being ignored and violated by young adults, teenagers, and even children all under the age of twenty-one. “On average ninety-five percent of those who will be alcohol consumers in their lifetime take their first drink before the age twenty one. Fifty percent of eighteen to twenty year olds consume alcohol on a regular basis” (McCardell 1). Based on these statistics we can conclude that the enforcement of the legal drinking age has fallen short. The most commonly known place where alcohol is consumed very heavily is on our college campuses. Many college students participate in binge...
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...Should the Legal Drinking Age be lowered to 18? Ryan A. Conklin is a soldier who enlisted into the Army at the age of 17. He was deployed to Iraq when he was just 20 years old. In his book, he wrote about his daily duties of a soldier in Iraq and all of the sights and sounds that he witnessed. He makes a comment in his book about the drinking age in the United States. He states “I was twenty years old, and on April Fools’ Day, I would turn twenty-one finally legal to drink in a bar. Unfortunately, I was two-and-a-half years into serving my country and was living in a combat zone, and I found it odd that until then I was still not allowed to drink alcohol in the States. A law I hope will be changed in my lifetime.” Different cultures and societies respond different to alcohol in terms of how much they can drink and what their bodies can handle. The legal age to consume alcohol in the U.S. should be lowered to eighteen for the sake of the people, the economy, and safety. When a male or female turns the age of 18, they now reserve the right to serve in the military. When war broke out with Iraq, people were chosen to go over that just turned the age of 18. In the book “An Angel in Hell” by Ryan A. Conklin, he stated “he would always wake up hoping that that day was not the last day he would be on this Earth. He was always on high alert while on patrols, dodging bullets and shooting his own gun just to stay alive.” He also said, in his book, “that he found it odd and annoying...
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...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 number...
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...Underage Drinking at Home: Big Problem Rabia Badar University of Phoenix COMM/215 December 10, 2012 Carol J. Amato, M.A. Should minors be allowed to drink alcoholic beverages in their homes with their parents’ consent? Underage drinking is a big problem throughout United States. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 required all states to raise their minimum purchase and public possession of alcohol age to 21. This Act helped decreased the cause of deaths of minors because minors didn’t purchase it. This law only prohibited the minors from purchasing it but not from drinking it. The president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, for example, accused the university heads of "not doing their homework" on the relationship between the drinking age and traffic fatalities (Tetelbaum 2009). The university was accused they said the deaths only occur between the ages of 18 – 20 but actually the deaths were occurring 16years or younger due to underage drinking. They believe underage drinking shouldn’t be allowed even if it’s at home. What are we really teaching our kids? This is something I talk about all the time at school with my kids and encourage parents to discuss with their kids. The more we discuss this topic with our generation they more they will understand the importance of underage drinking. Underage drinking costs Americans taxpayers approximately 61.9 billion dollars annually and in 2000, only 71 million was spent on prevention. Whereas 1.8 billion dollars...
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...Lemmon 1 Zach Lemmon Mrs. Bittle English 112 20 April 2014 Carry a Gun, Drink a Beer Drinking a beer while under the age of eighteen is a crime and is frowned upon by many but no one would say anything to a man drinking a beer in a military uniform or having a beer with their father. Many of our underage society have consumed alcohol one time or another before the legal drinking age of 21. Tosmarttostart.com states that “By age 18, more than 70 percent of teens have had at least one drink”. The government should lower the legal drinking age to eighteen to coincide with other similar laws pertaining to younger adults. The legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. If male or female join the military in our country and are legally able to hold a gun and defend our nation they should be able to legally consume alcohol before the age of twenty-one. Just as being allowed by the law to join the military and defend our nation and what we know, as freedom is a huge responsibility. Saying that, many of those young men or women that defend our freedom should be able to legally enjoy a beer or any consumption of alcohol when they feel the need. According to the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act “States prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly Lemmon 2 possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages”. Not being able to legally consume alcohol under the age of twenty-one, but can be employed to defend our freedom by the same government who makes...
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...is whether or not the national drinking age should be lowered to 18 years old. Evidence will be presented for both sides to determine if lowering the drinking age would lower dangerous underage drinking also. This research paper will be presented to our Iowan Representatives in Congress to decide whether of not having a minnimum drinking age of 18 would benefit the U.S. Background There are some states that have considered petitioning the drinking age. The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act requires that States prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving State highway funds (“The 1984 National”). South Dakota, a state that permitted persons 19 years of age to purchase alcohol, challenged the law (“South Dakota v.”) In a 7-to-2 decision, the Court held that Congress, acting indirectly to encourage uniformity in states' drinking ages, was within constitutional bounds (“South Dakota v.”) Twenty-three years after raising the legal drinking age to 21, Vermont lawmakers are revisiting the issue, despite the threat of losing highway funding if they lower the age minimum (“Vermont Considers Lowering”). Typically, when states flirt...
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...Minimum Drinking Age Do you think the current drinking age should stay the same? Nearly every country, all over the world has a certain drinking age. The minimum drinking age shouldn’t remain at 21. Other countries throughout the world, have a drinking age of at least 18 years or under. The U.S. has one of the highest drinking ages (Minimum Drinking Age). As a result of having the 21 and over drinking law, it has actually made it become a more dangerous environment. The national minimum drinking age act, needs to be reconsidered. First of all, while having a minimum drinking age may sound like a good idea, it only prompts private drinking. In today’s society, drinking is promoted as a noviolet activity. For example, the minimum drinking age actually makes the youth drinking culture less safe by encouraging irresponsible drinking habits among those under age. For instance, since it’s illegal to purchase or drink alcohol, teenagers often drink in unsafe environments. “Instead of drinking in a controlled situation, going to a bar with a drink limit or something, they’re doing it at keg...
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...Age Restrictions on Alcohol Relative to Military Eligibility I expect you to protect our country. I am going to give you a gun and when ordered to I expect you to take another human life without question. I expect you to be willing to die and watch others around you die. However you will not be allowed to drink alcohol and if you do you may face military and criminal charges. This is what we tell our soliders that are under the age of twenty-one. While most of us agree that the legal drinking age should be twenty-one plus there should be exceptions for our military personal who we expect to protect our country and die if needed. The minimum age to join the military in the United States in seventeen years old with parental consent or eighteen years old without parental consent. If we consider this in greater detail we can surmise that at age eighteen you are old enough to make the choice to join the military and put your life at risk. You are also given a great responsibility of protecting our country. For those that do not enlist in the military their responsibilities are typically much less. While there are certain to be exceptions, most young adults between the age of eighteen and twenty-one are concerned with school, work, friends and dating. Their level of maturity and understanding on life is not fully developed and they are just starting to explore the world on their own. Prior to 1984 some states did allow people to buy and consume alcohol at the age of eighteen...
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...old adult so you cannot legally consume alcohol yet. But don’t worry, you can still fight and die for your country. How can we possibly send 18 year olds to war, but not allow them to drink alcohol? To adults under the age of 21, alcohol is seen as a forbidden fruit. Since they cannot legally have it, they want it that much more. So when they are granted an opportunity to drink, they do so in a dangerous way. This binge drinking is where many alcohol related injuries come from, and what must be decreased. According to our laws, an 18 year old has enough maturity and judgment to drive a car, sign a legally binding contract, perform jury duty, and vote. Why shouldn’t they be able to decide if they want a drink or not? The drinking age should be lowered to the age of majority, which at this time, is 18. This decrease in the drinking age will allow young adults to safely consume alcohol in regulated environments. In turn, this will decrease the risk of alcohol-related injuries that result from unsupervised drinking. When a person turns 18 they are treated like adults, but with this new policy, they will truly be adults. First we must examine how the drinking age got set at its current minimum. After the repeal of prohibition in 1933 many states set the legal age...
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