This paper argues that the United States should lower the minimum legal drinking age from 21 to 18. The author examines four primary arguments: that legalization would reduce the allure of underage drinking by removing its taboo status, that European countries with lower drinking ages demonstrate fewer youth-related traffic fatalities due to different cultural attitudes and driving safety emphasis, that expanding the legal drinking population would generate significant economic benefits through increased business revenue and tax collection, and that 18-year-olds already possess the legal responsibility to make other consequential life decisions. The paper concludes that treating alcohol access as a matter of cultural normalization and driving safety—rather than age-based prohibition—would better serve public health and individual liberty.
The age of eighteen is a milestone—it is the age at which one enters the world of adulthood. It opens the doors to a whole new world of possibilities: getting married, getting a tattoo, playing the lottery, enlisting in the military, voting, working full time, purchasing tobacco, owning a gun, getting credit cards, and serving on jury duty. These sound like significant opportunities for an eighteen-year-old adult. However, becoming an adult at eighteen does not mean one gets to drink or purchase alcohol. The proposition being argued here is that the US Congress should lower the minimum legal drinking age to eighteen.
According to the Alcohol Policy Information System, the law states that "The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act, [23 U.S.C. § 158], requires that States prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving State highway funds." There are, however, several compelling reasons why lowering the minimum legal drinking age to eighteen would be more reasonable than maintaining it at twenty-one.
The first reason to lower the minimum legal drinking age is that legalization would make drinking less attractive to underage drinkers. Teenagers often start drinking because they are more apt to seek risks, and they drink to experience that sense of taking a dangerous risk. If it were legal for eighteen-year-olds, drinking would not carry the same illicit appeal. David J. Hanson, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology at a major research university, stated in an ABC news article: "When we raise the drinking age to 21, which incidentally is the highest in the world, it makes drinking more attractive to young people."
The cultural attitude toward drinking operates as a powerful taboo—as if taking a sip of beer before age twenty-one were a serious transgression. Teenagers find the idea of being risky and rebellious attractive, so they choose to drink while underage, which often leads to fatal car accidents. Hanson's research showed that before the minimum legal drinking age was raised to twenty-one, college students started drinking more as they got older and graduation approached. However, when the age was increased to twenty-one, younger college students were more apt to drink than older students. This evidence demonstrates that underage individuals are more attracted to drinking precisely because it remains illegal for them, whereas those of legal drinking age have already normalized the behavior.
Another reason to lower the minimum legal drinking age to eighteen is that European countries have lower legal drinking ages and simultaneously experience fewer car accidents than the United States. Car accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers in the US, whereas drunk driving accidents in Europe are more common among people in their mid-twenties, even though driver's licenses are awarded at eighteen. Why are younger drivers not the ones involved in the majority of accidents in Europe when they are legally allowed to drink?
One key reason is that alcohol is not as taboo in Europe as it is in the United States. It is fairly common for parents to allow their children to have a drink with their meal. An article in the Washington Post explains: "In many places, such as France, drinking starts much earlier, with parents giving their children small amounts of wine at holiday celebrations." The attitude is more casual, and young people do not feel compelled to view drinking as a transgressive or thrilling activity.
Furthermore, European countries place more emphasis on safe driving practices rather than on age-based prohibition of alcohol. The statistics are striking: out of every 100,000 people per year, there are 5.5 road fatalities in Europe compared to 11.4 per 100,000 in America. This disparity suggests that the problem is not the age limit itself, but rather the precautions and safety infrastructure surrounding driving.
"Expanded market would boost industry revenue and taxes"
According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, "The U.S. beverage alcohol industry is a major contributor to the economy, responsible for over $400 billion in total U.S. economic activity in 2010, generating nearly $90 billion in wages and over 3.9 million jobs for U.S. workers. In 2010, distilled spirits accounted for over $120 billion in total economic activity or 30% of total economic activity from all beverage alcohol." This already represents substantial economic contribution. Expanding the legal drinking population would further increase these figures.
Eighteen-year-olds are responsible for making their own decisions in many consequential areas. If they can choose to purchase tobacco products, play money in the lottery, get a tattoo, sacrifice their lives for the country through military service, and make the commitment of marriage, then they should be able to have the choice of purchasing alcohol. This is not to say that all young adults will choose to drink—many do not. Rather, it is a matter of being granted the freedom to make that choice.
Young adults should at least be granted the freedom to drink in a supervised location such as a bar or restaurant, rather than in unsupervised and unsafe locations such as a fraternity house, house party, or isolated outdoor spot where dangerous situations can occur with serious consequences. Having to drink in clandestine settings leads to serious consequences, particularly binge drinking. According to an article in the Huffington Post, "While a common argument is that the high drinking age has saved lives when it comes to drunk driving, more than three out of five alcohol-related deaths of underage drinkers occurred off-road." Many people overdose, resulting in alcohol poisoning, injuries, or death. The consequences of drinking in unsupervised locations are numerous, and being able to drink legally in public settings would help prevent many of these unfortunate events.
Lowering the minimum legal drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen would be beneficial to the nation and its young adults. It would make drinking alcohol less of a cultural taboo, which it arguably should not be. The attitude would become more casual, and younger adults would not feel the need to take dangerous risks with alcohol if the activity were normalized. Car accidents would decrease, as the European model demonstrates, where lower drinking ages correlate with fewer youth-related traffic fatalities. The issue is one of teaching safety on the road rather than enforcing blanket prohibition of alcohol.
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