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Prohibition era criminalization of drunks
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Although the United States conflicts with other countries in many ways, one of the most controversial is the legal drinking age. Over the years, there have been many arguments on whether the age should be raised or lowered. Some citizens feel that twenty-one is not mature enough to handle the effects of alcohol, while others feel that twenty-one is too long to wait. Should the legal drinking age of the United States be raised to try and ensure more responsibility and maturity? One could think that the drinking age of twenty-one should be old enough for everyone to be responsible enough to handle the effects of drinking. However some people are also not against lowering the drinking age because if eighteen is old enough to vote on decisions in your community and country, why is it not old enough to decide if you want to consume alcohol or not? In the early 1980s, many accidents occurred as a result of drunk driving. The Presidential Commission Against Drunk Driving was established in April 1982 to reduce the number of fatalities or accidents with alcohol involved. The purpose of the commission was for adults to be more cautious about drunk driving and to confirm that adults were …show more content…
Since most people think that with age comes wisdom, one could understand why raising the drinking age would seem logical. However, all those who are within the drinking age range are not as irresponsible as those who may be older than them. There are many different events that may happen in a person’s life that may shape their responsibility and maturity level. For example, a 22 year old who has had to struggle or work hard to get what they want in life may be significantly more responsible than a 30 year old who was born into a well-off family and is accustomed to someone always taking care of things for them. Age is not always necessarily important; maturity differs from person to
Lowering the legal drinking age would create problems such as infringing on the mental and physical development of the young drinker. As a respected author, Matt Nagin puts it, “The late teens and early twenties are formative years where character building, leadership in the community, and scholastic excellence should be emphasized. Alcohol detracts from all of these.” In other words, Nagin believes that the teen years are an imperative time of growth in a person’s life. Scientists have proven that the brain is not fully developed until the age of twenty five. If Nagin’s argument is correct, and I believe it is, then people should understand that scientists have proven the negative affects that alcohol has on the development of the brain. Alcohol has the power to kill brain cells and damage growth hormones. By making alcohol legally accessible to an eighteen year old, we are literally poisoning his or her brain.
In the late 1960’s to mid-70’s the legal drinking age was 18 because the voting age of 21 was lowered to 18. However, in 1984 a bill was passed that every state in the United States was to change the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. Although this is a highly controversial topic, many young adults believe lowering the drinking age back to 18 is best because if they vote at the age of 18 then, they should be allowed to purchase alcoholic beverages. In an article “Should the U.S. lower its drinking age?” written by Brandon Griggs, he introduces the pros and cons of lowering the drinking age. Griggs explains two generations ago, young adults didn’t have to worry much about getting caught drinking or buying their way out to purchase alcohol.
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.
Lowering the drinking age to 18 would make a lot of sense in the world. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would make more sense. It would be better for the teens that drink on college campus. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 because you can vote at eighteen, buy tobacco, it’ll reduce the thrill of breaking the law, evidence supports that early introduction of drinking is the safest way to reduce juvenile alcohol abuse, and college people that are not 21 drink also.
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.
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.
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.
We knocked on the door of the off-campus apartment, as it opened we were confronted with the heavy stench of alcohol. A young girl was passed out on the living room floor, a pile of empty beer cans filled the kitchen sink, and the deafening music rattled the window panes. A group of girls managed to stumble past us. They waved goodbye to the host, who was handing drinks to me and my sister. It was not my first time drinking. In fact, everyone there was quite experienced – after all, it’s college. Half of the guests were completely drunk, and I had no problem with it. That is, until later that night when my sister locked herself in a room with a guy she had met only a week before. This prompted me to seriously consider the effects of alcohol. Would my sister have been able to see the danger of the situation had she been sober? Would the absence of alcohol have prevented the events of that night from occurring? These questions, along with the vivid memory of that night, fueled my examination of the complex social problem of underage drinking.
Lawmakers should not consider lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. Despite the deep value this country places on freedom, personal liberties, and personal responsibilities, the data shows that public safety is greatly at risk if the drinking age were to be lowered to twenty-one. A variety of groups believe that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen deeming that the twenty-one law is unconstitutional. On the opposing side, people agree that the law helps to protect our young people and the communities where they live.
Since this country was born it has been raised on alcohol, even the prohibition couldn 't stop the Americans from doing what they love to do. But back then they were lenient on the age to consume alcohol. But in 1980’s Ronald Reagan passed the Drinking Age Act which permanently raised the drinking age to twenty-one through out the nation. Which people asked themselves is this right? When at eighteen you 're legally allowed to be on a official jury, vote for the next president and fight for your country. So lowering the drinking age to 18 would make sense.
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...
The first reason why eighteen should be the legal age to drink is because one can vote and serve in the military at the same age. Dr. Ruth Engs stated in an interview, the banning of alcohol by young adults (who can vote, serve in the military, etc.) is not working, we need to get rid of this failure and replace it with proven, realistic, and successful approach to fix the situation (Hanson, 1997-2013). The legal age to vote is eighteen in America, the age where young adults make the decision on the country’s future leader, possibly take a bullet for it, but can’t allow them to buy alcohol. If young adults have to trained and kill for the country, as tiring as that is, they should have all the rights to obtain alcohol, because they deserve it. It does not make sense at all to some people. If at the age eighteen, one is legally an adult, can vote and serve in the military, then drinking alcohol should also be the same (Harold, n.d.).
There is a need for the introduction and implementation of new drunk driving laws by the legislature, because presently the united States drunk driving laws are too lenient. The continuous rate of drunken driving fatalities makes a case that the united States drunk driving laws are too lenient and makes a call for stricter laws. According to Valenti “countries with strict drunk driving penalties have a far lower incidence of accidents than the United States (1). The United States being a first world country is weak in enforcing strict punishment for drunk drivers. Valenti is emphasizing on the fact that the united States need to improve their present laws and be firm in enforcing these new laws. There is a need for the United States to improve on their severity of its drunk driving penalties just the way the other part of the world have done and this is giving them a reduced rate of drunk driving fatalities. The claim of the leniency of the United States drunk driving laws is further stated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this is a prominent body when it comes to the issue of drunken driving fatalities. It claims that the drunken driving laws are severe enough. “Despite great strides in awareness, education and enforcement in the last two decades the United States still has one of the most lenient drunken driving standards in the world”. (NHTSA of existing laws. There is a need for stricter laws to be introduced as the United States ranks behind the world when it comes to effort to combat drunk driving and more efforts need to be put in place by the implementation of harsher laws so as to reduce the high rate of repeat offenders and first time offenders.
The biggest problem with drunk driving by young adults is the high rate of traffic accidents. Although young drivers ages 16 through 25 makeup only 15% of U.S. licensed drivers, they constitute 30 percent of all alcohol-related driving fatalities. This is double the amount of licensed drivers in that age group. Inexperience with both drinking and driving may contribute to this disproportionate rate. Nationwide in 1996, people ages 15 to 24 died in fatal motor vehicle crashes and 45 percent of those deaths were a result of alcohol (NHTSA 4). So it comes to no surprise that traffic crashes are the leading cause of death in the United States for people younger than 25 (NCHS 98).
Living in a state where it is acceptable for minors under the age of twenty-one to drink in the comfort of their home – with the parents’ consent of course, I have no issue. There are several debates on whether or not the U.S. legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen, while others question if it is appropriate for parents to allow their minor to consume alcohol. According to the law, the age of eighteen means you are a “legal adult.” Although that is true, it takes a lot of commitment to be responsible rather than to wake up and say, “Whoa, I’m eighteen, time to face reality by myself.” Please acknowledge this argument to give you a certain perspective on the laws of alcohol.