Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered All fifty states set their minimum drinking age back to twenty one in the 1980’s because they felt that eighteen wasn’t the appropriate age. Some people did not agree with this change because at the age of eighteen people can vote, drive cars, fly planes, pay taxes, marry, become a legal guardian, own a gun, risk their lives a member of the U. S. armed forces. Honestly, today the drinking age doesn’t matter, whatever the age a person will always try and find a way to drink.
Even though some believe the drinking age should be lowered because that way students and young teens won’t binge drink and will know how to handle their alcohol better, lowering the drinking age is not a good idea and can cause harm to others. Teens will end up taking advantage of this and it’s a health risk. In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age was set to 21 when President Ronald Reagan signed the act. The whole point of Reagan’s act was to curb intoxicated young people from getting behind the wheel (Fulton).
Car fatalities dropped immensely after Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age. According to the National Traffic Highway Administration, the 21 minimum drinking age has saved about 900 lives per year. Additionally, from 1991 to now, annual use of alcohol among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders has dropped immensely (Shults). Reagan not only signed the act to higher the drinking age but to enforce stricter driving law. Most doctors believe that the drinking age should remain at 21. According to Dr. Nuestatter, “The brain of a 21year old and an 18-year-old, are pretty much the same.
But if alcohol is consumed irresponsibly, then yes, having an earlier start can do more harm” (Fulton). Mass consumption of alcohol is what affects the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making and results in more lapses of judgements for teenagers. More than 30,000 college students need medical treatment to cope with alcohol poisoning (Nagin). Binge drinking and alcohol abuse is very common among teens and has become a huge problem. Brain damage, binge drinking, and alcohol abuse are three major reasons people use when considering lowering the drinking age back to eighteen again.
However, raising the minimum drinking age to twenty-one did not stop teenage drinking and never will. Instead, it forces students to drink in basements and closed parties which leads to bad behaviors. People argue that teens aren’t at the age where they can handle alcohol responsibly, and are more likely to harm or even kill themselves or others. A study in 2009 found that the number of cases of alcohol poisoning deaths among 18 to 24-year-olds nearly tripled jumping from 779 to 2,290. Also tracked a rise in fatalities from hypothermia, falls and sexual assault (Glaser).
This lead people to believe that keeping the drinking age at 21 was going to cause more and more fatalities and injuries, so they thought that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen again. With all the things a teen can do when turning 18, why isn’t purchasing/drinking alcohol one of them? A lot of people believe that the younger you start drinking, the more tolerance you get to it and you won’t get too wild every time you drink. With alcohol being illegal for people under 21, people tend to be more curious and want to know what the fuss is about.
Also, when a teen goes to college, whether or not they are of age they can still get alcohol from older students. People say that by lowering the drinking age, it will stop young teens from experimenting and police will have more control. When discussing the drinking age most people use Europe as a model for lowering the age. Most proponents for a lower minimum age immediately point to Europe as an example, where the drinking age is lower that 21 almost everywhere. Most europeans had been exposed to alcohol almost their entire lives as enjoying a glass of wine at dinner is not uncommon for children as young as 12.
A study by the Prevention Research Center, contends that European teens spend more time intoxicated than Americans (Fulton). This to some people is enough to prove that Europe is a good example as to why the drinking age should be lowered and wouldn’t be too harmful. Most people don’t know that the European region has the highest overall consumption of alcohol among adults and the highest proportion of alcohol-attributable deaths in the world (Wechsler). While people think Europe is a good model that’s not the case all the time. Violent and destructive behavior is a big thing to consider when dealing with lowering the drinking age.
According to Johns Hopkins, Bloomberg School of Public Health, alcohol associated with an increased risk of hazardous sexual behavior, academic failure, drug abuse, and alterations to the structure and function of the brain. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that up to 86 percent of homicide offenders, 37 percent of assault offenders, and 60 percent of sexual offenders were using alcohol at the time of their crime (Nagin). Alcohol is one of the leading causes of deaths in the United States for youths and young adults, and accounts for 75,000 or more deaths yearly (Wechsler & Nelson).
These are all reasons to not lower the minimum drinking age so these numbers don’t rise even more. The minimum drinking age is always going to be a huge issue because not everyone is going to agree on it. Some people think it should be lowered again to stop teenagers from binge drinking. And others think it should remain the same for health purposes and violent behaviors. When dealing with the drinking age people like the use Europe as an example for lowering the age which can look either good or bad. Overall there are more reasons for keeping the minimum age at twenty-one rather than lowering it back to eighteen again.
