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Arguments against lowering the drinking age
Arguments against lowering the drinking age
Arguments for lowering the minimum legal drinking age
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Annotated Bibliography — Drinking Age The paper I’ve chosen to write will discuss the reasons that the drinking age in America should be lowered. Aguirre, Alexis. "National Drinking Age Should Be Lowered to 18." The University Star. 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 29 Sept. 2014. This opinion piece by Alexis Aguirre opens with the point that at the age of 18 years and older are considered to be adults and that they should be treated like they are an adult by being given the right to purchase and consume alcohol. Aguirre then goes on to talk about how even though the drinking age is 21, a high percentage of teenagers underage are still purchasing alcohol. She also states that 90 percent of underage drinking is done so by binge drinking. Later in her argument she goes on and states her …show more content…
He then tells the reader about how that when he was in college he was a Resident Assistant and that it showed him on a first hand basis that the current drinking age is not working. Instead of students not drinking at al because of the drinking age, they are just drinking behind closed doors and pre-games before they were to go out because they knew that they could not drink alcohol underage publicly. Also in the article he discusses the reason why many believe that the drinking age should not be lowered, which is that they believe that the amount of drunk driving fatalities will go up. He refutes those by stating that 3 out of 5 of underage fatalities happen off the road. Sam Tracy is a chairman of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which makes his statements credible and reliable. Tracy has been on talk shows before and has discussed the topic of drinking age. Tracy is for lowering the age and is very experienced on the topic through his own personal involvements as a resident assistant in college, and brought up many good points that will assist the
In the New York times article “Lower the Drinking age to 19” Mr.Steinberg points out the importance of why it might be more beneficial to the United States to lower the current drinking age. He debunked the common belief of underage drinking being linked to highway accidents, he explains instead of raising the drink age maybe we just raise the driving age to 18. He states that “Moreover countries that use 18 for both the drinking and driving age generally have safer highways that the United States.” Laurence Steinberg lower the drinking age New York times. Laurence then talk about the only reason why a higher drinking age would make sense is in the case
Eastman III, Donald R. “Lowering the Drinking Age: Let’s Keep the Dialogue Open.” St. Petersburg Times. 25 Aug. 2008. Print.
Each year, about 5,000 teens are killed or injured in traffic crashes as a result of underage drinking and about 1,900 are due to car accidents. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation) In the newsletter, safety in numbers by National highway traffic administration and U.S department of transportation “Of all the people who died in motor vehicle crashes during 2012, 31 percent died in crashes involving a drunk driver, and this percentage remains unchanged for the past 10 years” (Vol 1, 2013). Crashes involving alcohol include fatal crashes in which a driver had a BAC of .01 g/ ld. or higher (Underage Drinking Statistics)). Deadly crashes involving alcohol are twice as common in teens compared to people 21 and older. This is because teens’ judgment skills are harmed more by alcohol. Teens who drink not only risk hurting themselves, they risk hurting their friends, family, and even strangers when driving intoxicated. Teens and parents both need a strong reminder that underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences. According to Health Day News, “one study found that in 2011, 36 percent of U.S. college students said they'd gone binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) within the past two weeks, as compared to 43 percent of college students in 1988. Since 2006, the current law has reduced the rate of drunk driving crashes among young Americans” (Preidt, 2014 and DeJong, 2014). This proves that lives have been saved after the legal drinking age increased. According to an article in Time Magazine called “Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?”, “lowering the drinking age to 18 would stop infantilizing college students, but it would probably kill mor...
Primarily, the drinking age should be lowered to teach responsibility and safety in young adults. The idea seems paradoxical; however, the high drinking age that is present in the U.S. today has only pushed underage drinking underground (Balko 458). In fact, America has the highest minimum drinking age in the world (Balko 459). Even though the American drinking age remains high, America still remains with an astonishingly large number of alcohol-related accidents and deaths. Is this statement a coincidence? Throughout the years alcohol has become more and more of an issue in young adults, but the correct actions are not taking place. If alcohol were to legally be put in the hands of Americans eighteen and above, these individuals would likely be forced to learn a sense of safety and responsibility. As stated by Caryn Sul...
The legal drinking age in the United States will always be a point of contention. No one can settle upon a drinking age that everyone is in agreement with; should it be 18 or 21? Ages 18 and 21 are the most popular options, yet neither one has 100% of the vote. With the current legal drinking age in America standing at 21, meaning that people under the age of 21 cannot purchase or consume alcoholic food or beverages, there is the question of whether or not to lower it to 18 or 19 years old. This paper will argue that the drinking age should be lowered, and examine its impact on State University.
There has been an ongoing controversy in the United States on whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen like most of the world or if it should stay at twenty-one. Underage drinking has been a major controversial issue for years, yet why is it not under control? Teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol with fake identification cards, drink, get into bars, and drink illegally. As a teen I have proof that these things are going on not only in college but in high school as well. There are a lot of factors that come together to why the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen; the most obvious reason is too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one. Liquor stores, bars, and clubs all want to make money and if they can get away with selling to underage teens then they will. A study done by the Academic Search Premier agrees that, ?By now it is obvious that the law has not succeeded in preventing the under-21 group from drinking? (Michael Smith 1).
The National Minimum Age Drinking Act was signed into law on July 17, 1984. This law was carried out at the federal level and forced all states to raise the minimum drinking to 21 or face cuts in federal-aid cuts in their highway funding. I believe this law must be repelled and that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. We must decriminalize the notion of underage drinking because why must 18 through 20 year olds be treated like children but charged as adults?
To make its point the article uses facts and statistics to prove that teenage drinking is a huge problem in the United States. We learn, "Beer is the alcoholic beverage of choice for kids, preferred by 27% of all children," and, "1.1 billion cans of beer and 300 million bottles of wine coolers were consumed by junior and senior high school students." The article also uses statistics to prove the unfortunate consequences of drinking and states, "In 1997, 3,336 drivers 15 to 20years old died, an additional 365,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes.
The controversy on the proper drinking age is one that has been repeatedly discussed and researched over the years. Its common to hear the argument “If someone is old enough to take a bullet for their country, they should be allowed to drink alcohol.” But is that enough justification? Some would say no. “According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) it is estimated that in 2004 there were more than 1,700 student deaths, 599,000 injuries, and 696,000 assaults annually associated with excessive drinking” (Fennell 247). Given these numbers, would lowering the drinking age really be the best thing for America’s youth?
Brown, Kyle. ?Pros and Cons of Lowering the Drinking Age to 18? The Odyssey. Olympia
Without a doubt, the United States has been facing serious national problems with underage drinking. Depending on personal ideologies, some people might not agree that the current minimum drinking age of twenty-one is based on scientific facts rather then ideology of prohibitionism. For example, since 1975 over seventeen thousand lives have been saved since the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) was changed to age twenty-one (Balkin 167). This shows that even over a short amount of time, a higher MLDA helps decrease the risk of teen suicides, accidents and overdose deaths. However, this widely debated topic has inevitably brought attention to the plethora of supporting and opposing viewpoints. The minimum legal drinking age of twenty-one has shown significant results in the prevention of accidents and death studies across the board. Accordingly, the MLDA should remain at the current age of twenty-one.
There has always been controversy as to whether the drinking age should be lower from 21 to a younger age, like 18. Though there are drawbacks to lowering the drinking age such as, one It may cost for use of illicit drugs. two Its easier to access other drugs, and alcohol. tree it may decrease unsafe drinking activity’s. The benefits would be that it would one get rid of feelings increasing , two people should have freedom of choice and tree, it is wrong to drink at such a young age.
Unsupervised, underage drinking has become an epidemic throughout the world, but in the Americas more than anywhere else. Even the president’s 19-year-old daughter has been arrested for underage drinking. America has the highest legal drinking age in the world. In fact, only four countries in the world have a legalized drinking age of 18. When we turn 18 in America we are supposed to be adults, but then what is the 21 age mark it is like we get an adult trial version for three years without some freedom but with all the consequences.
It really is no secret that if the minimum legal drinking age were lowered, a large number of teens would then drink for perhaps the first time. “The age group with the most drivers involved in fatal crashes with Blood Alcohol Content levels of .08 or higher during 2011 was the twenty-one to twenty-four-year-olds” (“National Highway Traffic Facts”). Young adults are just as irresponsible at eighteen as they are at twenty-one, maybe even more irresponsible. The teenagers will indulge themselves on what they feel is a luxury the first chance they get. The young adults abuse the alcohol, and then go driving because even at twenty-one through twenty-four they are still not as responsible. If the age is lowered to eighteen, many eighteen-year-olds will go out and drink alcohol for the first time. The age group may rise to number one in fatal crashes. The National Highway Traff...
Young people grow up seeing their parents and other adults make toast of wine and champagne at special occasions, as well as casually enjoying a few beers at a picnic. Today alcoholic beverages are frequently as common at business lunches as they are at college frat parties. Underage drinking is a huge problem which everyone must face. Underage drinking not only has devastating effects on those who drink but also on our society. "Young people illegally consume almost 3.6 billion drinks annually which is 10 million drinks each day."