Drinking Age Debate

Did you know that in the middle ages people drank more alcohol than water because it was commonly believed to be safer (Alcohol Facts: 32 Facts). In today's society we know that alcohol is dangerous and that is why there is many arguments over drinking laws. The drinking age is a controversial topic and there are many side fighting for it to change, or for it to stay the same.
Before we look at some of the perspectives of this issue, let us look at a little bit of history. The drinking age has fluctuated a lot over history and is still debated today. In 1933 after prohibition was repealed all most states set their drinking age at 21, however, this soon changed in the early 1970’s. Following the 26th amendment, which dropped the voting age to

18, the drinking age dropped to 18 or 19 in 30 states (Tietjen). That was soon changed in 1984 when the National Minimum Drinking Act was passed, this required that all states raise their drinking age to 21 or they would take a 10% cut in federal highway funding (McAloon). By mid 1988 all the states had raised the drinking age to 21 and it stayed there. Today all states have a drinking age of 21, which puts the United States with only a handful of other nations with an MLDA of 21. Now that we know some of the history we can look at the perspectives of this topic.
One of the perspectives to look at is colleges, this include students and administrators.

As a part of the Amethyst Initiative, over 130 college presidents have voted to end the drinking age of 21 (Reynolds). The presidents say that having the drinking age at 21 doesn't stop drinking, but drives it into less supervised areas such as dorm rooms (Reynolds). Megan Abba, a former college student, notes that since there is a limited amount of alcohol at a party, 75% students will “pre game” before the party. This increases their average drink intake from 4.2 to 7.1. This increase can lead to bad habits such as drug use and unprotected sex (Abba). As Megan Abba states “Lowering the drinking age to 18 is not going to increase the amount of alcohol college students that drink. It may, however, save a life by promoting safer drinking habits." Here she explains her opinion on why it should be lowered and explains why she thinks one of the arguments for not lowering is invalid. Colleges are a big chunk of this argument but their are other sides to look

at.
The second perspective to look at is the High Schoolers and Youth.

In 1983, one year before the National Minimum Drinking Act was passed, 88% of high school seniors confessed to drinking alcohol and 41% confessed to binge drinking. In 2000, 16 years after the act was passed, those numbers had dropped to 73% and 30% ("Arguments for Lowering the Legal”). Raising the drinking age to 21 resulted in an estimated 20,045 lives saved since 1975. It has also lowered youth alcohol-related fatalities by 63% since 1982 ("Arguments for Lowering the Legal”). When asked if they would change the drinking age 68% of teens and adults would keep it at 21, while only 15% of teens would change it ("Arguments for Lowering the Legal”). Now that we looked at a couple perspectives, let us look at a possible

solution.
Another thing to look at is why people think it should be changed and a possible solution. One point brought up by Alaska State Representative is “If you get shot at, you can have a shot.” He is referring to military members and other people agree with him on this matter. As William McAloon, a former U.S Marine Corp Captain, says “America tells its 18-year-olds that they are adults. They can vote. And they can join the military. We send thousands of these men and women into combat and tell them that they are mature enough to die for their country but not mature enough to drink.” In this quote McAloon expresses his disgust for the drinking age and how america treats their “adults”. One solution that David Hanson proposed is a permit for 18 year olds to drink. The permit would have restrictions such as no buying alcohol at liquor stores or buying alcohol at bars. It would also cut of service at 11:00 p.m. (Hanson).
When it comes to relevant, controversial topics in today’s society, the drinking age is a big one. When considering where an individual might stand on the topic there are a lot of side to look at such as colleges and the youth of america. Another you could look at is a possible solution to the problem. America keeps running away from this topic and it keeps catching up to us, we need to settle this and put it to rest once and for all.