Lowing drinking age to 18

980 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Negative effects of adolescent ages

Alcohol consumptions has been around for ages. But now were at the time where alcohol beverages are legalized. No one under the age of 21 can consume alcohol beverage legally. But that does not stop individuals under the age of 21 from drinking illegally. In the United States eighteen year olds become adult they are allowed to vote, get married, and join the military. If an eighteen year old is responsible enough to get married, vote, and take a bullet for their country they have enough sense to drink responsible. Overtime underage drinking has been swept under the rug, society doesn’t want to believe it’s happening. But it is and what makes underage drinking so bad is because illegal if it wasn’t the youth could curve their alcohol consumption. What are the resulting realities on college campuses? Dartmouth College, with 4,400 undergraduates, admits on average about 200 alcohol emergencies a year to their campus health center. Middlebury, with 2,300 students, averages about 100. McGill University - located in Montreal where the drinking age is 18 - with 20,000 undergrads reported only 12 emergencies in the 2002-03 academic year. (Guenther 8) The drinking age in Montreal is 18, so the students do not have to hide their drinking at McGrill University. In addition the students do not have the mentally to drink as much as they can before they get caught. Without the stress of getting caught the students do not feel pressured to consume so much alcohol at once. So that’s why McGrill University with 20,000 undergraduates has less alcohol emergencies than Dartmouth College with 4,400 undergraduates. Most students enter college at the age of 18 or 19. But it all depends if the individual goes away to college because when the s... ... middle of paper ... ...g age to 18 we just have to adjust the law, so underage people can purchase alcohol in bars and resterute but not liquor store (Pesall, N. Bob 8). So, eighteen to twenty years have access to alcohol brevgeses, but not a lot of access, so their drinking habit will be curved and they won’t drink so much alcohol at once. Alcohol consumption with individual under the age of twenty-one has been a problem for decades. Obviously there’s something wrong with the existing plan that this government has in place. It’s not working because underage is getting worse, it’s time to change the current law. Other country’s drinking ages are 16 and 18 and they don’t have problems with underage drinking like the United States does. Change is going to bring end to alcohol emergences with underage drinkers, once this law catches up with the time, this nations will be back on track.

Show More
Related

  • The Consequences of Lowering the Legal Age for Consumption of Alcohol

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Center for Disease Control and Protection, about 4,700 people under age twenty one die from injuries involving underage drinking every year. Illegal alcohol consumption has been a major problem with high school students around the nation. Lowering the drinking age from twenty one would result in major consequences for America’s adolescents. By lowering the drinking age, alcohol would be more accessible to those who choose to participate in underage drinking. The desire to drink for teens and young adults between the ages of fourteen and twenty can be caused by peer pressure or an act of rebellion. One beer might not seem like a big deal at the time, but it could lead to a life of addiction and alcoholism.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Lowering The Drinking Age

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    Balko, Radley. "Let My Students Drink." Reason. (Feb. 2009). Web. 19 Feb. 2016. John McCardell was a former college president who took his experience dealing with underage drinking and decided to develop an organization called Choose Responsibly. The organization supports lower the legal drinking age. He later developed the Amethyst Initiative to help campuses across the U.S. to join together. In the article, Mr. McCardell gives his reasons for starting the growing movement. The purpose of this article is to inform other college delegates and leaders about the organizations they can join they share the same beliefs. It was published in a magazine that discusses rising issues to help promote the initiative. The article is unique due to its interview arrangement which gives it a more personal feel. My thesis is supported by this article because it provides me with

    Read More

  • Underage Drinking: Enforcing The Drinking Age

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many adults these days could tell stories from college about all the frat parties they've been to, all their high school house party experiences, and how many times they've been absolutely ¨hammered¨. And during these uncontrolled occasions, there is no adult supervision whatsoever. Furthermore, it is nearly impossible for police authorities to be able to monitor and know what is going on in an individual’s house. Besides, enforcing the drinking age isn’t really a priority for the police anyway. Many of them know it will continue, plus, when they do manage to catch and arrest someone for illegal drinking, it takes a great amount of time and effort for paperwork and processing. (ProCon.org)* And also because most youths view the age limit as arbitrary, which causes them to have a certain disrespect for the law. (Chafetz)* One main reas...

    Read More

  • College Students and Their Lives of Drinking

    3787 Words  | 8 Pages

    The customs that college students go through are mostly a result of the environment they live in. The walls of college sports arenas everywhere have advertisements from alcohol industry sponsors somewhere, even if it is in the smallest area, it is still visible. Magness Arena does not have advertisements on the walls but they do sell beer to students. I have seen many students that go to University of Denver get alcohol when at a game. Local establishments near campus that serve or sell alcohol, depend on the college clientele for their financial success. These students that help with the local establishments normally get their beer for parties. Many people think that it will be easier to meet people at party if there is alcohol. When the majority of students look at a college they look at the sports teams, academics, and they actually...

    Read More

  • Minimum Legal Drinking Age Should Remain at the Age of 21

    1314 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • College Students and Alcohol

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    College student drunkenness is far from new and neither are college and university efforts to control it. What is new, however, is the potential to make real progress on this age-old problem based on scientific research results. New research-based information about the consequences of high-risk college drinking and how to reduce it can empower colleges and universities, communities, and other interested organizations to take effective action. Hazardous drinking among college students is a widespread problem that occurs on campuses of all sizes and geographic locations. A recent survey of college students conducted by the Harvard University School of Public Health reported that 44 percent of respondents had drunk more than five drinks (four for women) consecutively in the previous two weeks. About 23 percent had had three or more such episodes during that time. The causes of this problem are the fact that students are living by themselves no longer with parents or guardians; they earn their own money; students need to be a part of a group, be accepted; and they have the wrong idea that to feel drunk is “cool.”

    Read More

  • Lowering the Drinking Age

    1529 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not mature enough to handle it, lowering the drinking age actually teaches responsibility and safety in young adults, maintains consistency in age laws, and diminishes temptation.

    Read More

  • Lowering the Drinking Age

    1790 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen is a good idea because it will most likely promote responsibility, alcohol consumption will be more controlled, and, if not done so, it is posing as discrimination against the eighteen to twenty age group; however, lowering the legal drinking age back to eighteen can be fatal because the brains of the eighteen to twenty year old age groups are not fully developed, binge drinking and alcohol addiction rates will go up, and the drinking and driving rates will increase.

    Read More

  • Lowering Drinking Age to 18

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Lowering the Drinking Age to 18

    2613 Words  | 6 Pages

    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 that too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one.

    Read More

  • The Minimum Legal Drinking Age

    1713 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bob Marley once said, “Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.” This is the case when it comes to teens and alcohol. In America, the National Minimum Legal Drinking Age is a topic of great debate and controversy. Many people argue that the age restriction provides a safe environment for all citizens; whereas others disagree that the law creates an untrustworthy aura among teens. If the minimum legal drinking age were to be lowered, most people would be affected by it, whether it be by an increase in drunk-driving or a rise in crimes. Although teens are legally considered adults by the age of eighteen and the minimum legal drinking age prompts underage teens to exhibit risky behavior, the age restriction should not be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen because young teens would have easier access to alcohol, the minimum legal drinking age has decreased alcohol-related problems, and alcohol can cause damage to underage drinkers.

    Read More

  • The Drinking Age Should Be Lowered

    2242 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are numerous problems involving alcohol in the world today, including alcoholism, drunk driving, and alcohol poisoning leading to death. Many of these problems involve minors and are linked to drinking underage. The legal drinking age in many states is twenty-one years old. The purpose of this law is to keep minors out of danger: away from drunk driving, alcohol poisoning, and injuring the brain before it is fully developed. The government supports the belief that people are not ready or responsible enough for alcohol until this age. However, various professors and researchers are discovering ways to disprove this belief. These people think that reducing the drinking age to eighteen would influence our country in a positive way. Not only do minors support this idea, but there are numerous people and organizations that support the idea of lowering the drinking age as well. The current drinking law is counterproductive in our society because it’s not effective in eliminating underage drinking, and leads to unsafe situations such as drunk driving and alcohol poison instigated deaths. This problem could be solved by lowering the minimum drinking age to eighteen, with a drinking license.

    Read More

  • Consequences of Underage Drinking

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    Drinking under the age of 21 should not be allowed because of the medical reasons behind it. “Brains can be severely damaged by alcohol, especially if the brain is not fully developed” (BigJohny). When you drink under the age of 21, you will get these long-term consequences from doing so. The long-term consequences that could come from drinking under the age of 21 are having brain malfunctions and becoming brain dead. Every time you drink you cause yourself to lose brain cells, without the brain being fully developed you will stop the growth of your brain cells while killing others. The brain is actually never fully developed until the age of 21. “Research indicated that the brain continues to develop until age 21, and young brains can be irreversibly damaged by alcohol” (BigJohny). When you are under the age of 21 and you decide to drink, the growing process of your brain could...

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Underage Drinking

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    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."

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Drinking Age At 21

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    This issue is present because young adults are not being educated enough and they have not been properly informed that in some states like Michigan, New York, California, Washington and 13 other have an“ exceptions to allow underage consumption of alcohol under certain circumstances” that when reporting medical need due to underage drinking for another underage drinker (45 States That Allow Underage Alcohol Consumption). Thus that means that underage drinkers will have no penalty if they reported a binge drinking accident of another underage drinker. This law should be transmitted to the knowledge of the young adults, by their parents, their schools and by the public; in bars in restaurants in every single place where liquor is being served or sold this law should be clear enough to the public. More education could help save more young

    Read More

More about Lowing drinking age to 18

Open Document