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Legal Drinking Age
The drinking age at 21 in the United States is draconian, placing our country on par with the most socially repressed in the world. "Most drinking ages worldwide are at maximum 18, if not less, which makes sense for legal drinking ages. And provided you act like a grown up, you can probably be served a cerveza with that fish taco anywhere, regardless of age," (Crislip). I have traveled to Europe, where young people drink responsibly because they have been enjoying wine and beer at family gatherings since they were 12 years old. The United States has ineffective and even hypocritical laws related to the minimum drinking age (MLDA). At age 18, a young person is eligible to serve in the army but not order a beer. At age 18, a young person is eligible to vote but not to choose what glass of wine to order with dinner. The low drinking age in the United States is ostensibly in place to protect our young people and prevent problems like drunk driving and binge drinking. Drunk driving and binge drinking are problems that must be addressed by developing more responsible behavior in general, not by keeping the drinking age as high as 21. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 or removed altogether, in...
For example, the rate of traffic fatalities in the United States during the1980s "decreased less than that of European countries whose legal drinking ages are lower than 21, proving that establishing an MLDA at 21 is not necessarily an effective way to reduce traffic fatalities," ("Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to a younger age?"). There is a real need to lower or eliminate the drinking age. In fact, "more than 130 college chancellors and presidents have signed a petition initiated in 2008 in support of the idea," (Ogilvie). If young people are the ones we are most trying to protect, then it is important to understand that "responsible drinking could be taught through role modeling and educational programs," (Engs).
The solution is simple: lower the drinking age to a maximum of 18 years of age. At first, the change can take place on a state-by-state basis. Then, the federal government might notice that the lower drinking age is creating a more responsible generation of young people. As Engs…
Works Cited
Crislip, Kathleen. "Alcohol Drinking Ages Around the World." About.com. Retrieved online: http://studenttravel.about.com/od/studentpartyguide/a/drinking_age.htm
Engs, Ruth C. "Why the drinking age should be lowered: An opinion based upon research." Adapted from and in "Drinking on Campus," CQ Researcher 8 (March 20,1998):257. Retrieved online: http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/articles/cqoped.html
Johnson, Alex A. "Debate on lower drinking age bubbling up." MSNBC. 14 Aug 2007. Retrieved online: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20249460/ns/health-addictions/t/debate-lower-drinking-age-bubbling/#.Ts7xRkrwM7A
McCardell, John M. "Commentary: Drinking age of 21 doesn't work." CNN.com. 16 Sept. 2009. Retrieved online: http://articles.cnn.com/2009-09-16/politics/mccardell.lower.drinking.age_1_drinking-age-binge-drinking-federal-highway-appropriation?_s=PM:POLITICS
"Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to a younger age?" ProCon.org. Retrieved online: http://drinkingage.procon.org/
MLDA Legal Drinking Age in the U.S. Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) legislation aims to reduce alcohol use among those under 21, to prevent traffic deaths, and to avoid other negative outcomes. The minimum drinking age is a controversial issue in the United States today, and many recent efforts have aimed to reduce or qualify the minimum legal age at which drinking may occur. If these attempts are successful, the minimum drinking
Legal Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18 RESOLVED: At present the minimum legal drinking age of 21 years of age is controlled by the federal government by means of federal highway funds. This strips states of their right to self-govern and the higher MLDA is inconsistent with other rights allowed 18-year-olds. PRO: In favor of lowering the minimum legal drinking age to 18 years of age Premise 1: studies showing a decline
America, when a person reaches the age of 18 he can die for his country, obtain credit, get married, get divorced and be charged in criminal court. By all appearances the age of 18 sets the stage for adulthood and all that it entails. In a curious contradiction to that, however, America insists on maintaining a drinking age of 21 years old. While 18-year-olds can do all of the
Lowering Drinking Age in the United States The drinking age in the United States has been 21 years old since 1984 because it was enacted in law. However, in the past few years, there have been numerous calls to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 years. These calls have generated significant controversy and concern throughout the country since the issue can be approached from two general paradigms that shape
This means that alcohol is made accessible to underage persons and in this way, they start consuming alcohol at a young age. It is for this reason that the legal drinking age should not be lowered, but actually increased to reduce the chances of it being made available to those who are underage. Increasing the minimum legal drinking age to at least 25 years, like India, will go a
The question isn't whether there should be controls, but which controls work best. What has proven around the world to work best is a combination of reasonable laws backed by strong social sanctions. But in the U.S. we treat our emerging adults as infants and get infantile behavior as a result…if adults would learn to temper their patronizing attitudes toward young men and women, more maturity, self-restraint, and social