Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Drinking Age

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “In 2010, there were approximately 189,000 emergency rooms visits by persons under age 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol.” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1) This is an issue that clearly needs to be solved. In the United States, the current legal drinking age is 21. Many states lowered the drinking age to 18 after the voting age was lowered to 18 but Mothers Against Drunk Driving helped to raise the drinking age back to 21 by the 1990’s. Lowering the legal drinking age to 18 once again is a controversial issue that has many pros and cons. Many argue that lowering the drinking age encourages dangerous behaviors and negatively affects one’s health but

An example of a con is, lowering the drinking age encourages dangerous behaviors at a young age. This could put others lives at risk as well as one’s own life. On campuses, underage drinking and binge-drinking have become increasingly hazardous problems. Every year, many students and others are negatively affected by reckless drinking. In the article, “Lower the Drinking Age, Lower the Risk” by Megan Abba, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism states that “More than 1,800 U.S. college students die each year from alcohol-related causes and an additional 600,000 are injured while drunk.” (Megan Abba, 2) This means that the already 21 drinking age causes many deaths and injuries so lowering the drinking age to 18 could cause more careless drinking to occur since it would be legal to drink at age 18 and therefore easier to obtain alcohol. A drinking age of 18 may cause more unnecessary injuries and deaths that could be prevented by making it illegal to drink until 21 and not encouraging drinking. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has encouraged safe drinking habits and a fixed drinking age of 21 since 1980. As stated in the article, “Drinking Age Is 21 for a Reason”, The Rambler says, “According to a MADD article, keeping the drinking age at 21 has saved more than 25,000 lives.” (The Rambler, 1) This reveals that a drinking age of 18 may be more dangerous than expected. It could cause an increase in alcohol related deaths and injuries showing that adults under the age of 21 are more reckless and immature when drinking. A higher drinking age could prevent the deaths of thousands of innocent lives. Lowering the drinking age would only cause more tragedy and risky