Drinking Age Research Paper

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Recommended: Effects of lowering the drinking age to 18

All fifty states in America have a minimum drinking age of twenty-one years of age. So therefore why do so many people believe that the legal drinking age should be reduced because there are many complications that can arise from drinking at an early age? Drinking alcohol before the age of twenty-one can inhibit the development of the brain in the frontal lobes. When alcohol consumption hinders this development of the brain the risk of addiction, depression, violence, suicide, and memory loss are greater.(“Drinking”) There are many dangers that go hand in hand with the consumption of alcohol and I believe that people should be at the very least twenty-one years of age to consume alcohol. The legal drinking age should not be reduced to eighteen …show more content…

The immediate effects of alcohol when rapidly absurd are that about twenty percent of it is absorbed into your body’s blood stream this is known as your blood alcohol level, the rest of it will be absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. How fast a person’s blood alcohol level raises depends on many different things such as their age, gender, weight and many others. The short term effects of alcohol are that when people first consume alcohol they may feel relaxed, more confident, happy or even more social. This progressively leads to bad behaviors most of the time though. Alcohol when consumed leads to a person having slower reflects, less coordination, impaired thinking, depression, poor judgment and many other things. Alcohol use has also been linked to violent behavior among all age groups. Long term effects of alcohol include the risk of many cancers such as liver, breast, esophagus, larynx, pharynx, pancreas, and mouth cancer. Alcohol when consumed over time can also become addicting. People often become dependent on alcohol and become unable to control the impulse to drink or how much they drink. Consumption of alcohol over time effects almost your entire body …show more content…

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant (By). Alcohol can affect the central nervous system in many ways, such as blurry vision, decreased reaction time, or slurred speech. It can appear to be a stimulant because at first it weighs down the part of the brain that controls self-consciousness. Alcohol slows down a person’s reaction time and senses (Alcohol). “Young adults who drink run a greater risk of serious and lifelong problems than adults who drink (By)”. Alcohol can permanently affect your memories and your ability to remember. A person that has been drinking for an extended period of time may experience difficulty remembering something they just learned, such as an address or a name. This is possible after only a couple of drinks. Drinking alcohol quickly and lots of it can cause a blackout which will make you unable to remember a whole event or night. If alcohol damages the brain it can be difficult for a person to learn new things and keep that knowledge(Alcohol). When alcohol is excessively consumed over time it can cause damage to cells in the central nervous system which creates a condition known as neuropathy. Neuropathy can cause a person to feel pain, numbness, burning, and many other

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