The USA Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered to 18 From 21

Lowering the legal drinking age would only result in more fake IDs being made for underaged people looking to buy alcohol. Since many teenagers can look quite a few years older than they actually are, it would not be hard for some to pass as eighteen. I have seen many underaged people drinking who have never proven that they were responsible enough to even be left home alone. Lowering the age would not suppress minors’ urge to drink, but rather increase their ability to obtain alcohol illegally since fewer people would be in need of someone old enough to buy the alcohol for them. Just because a young person is considered old enough to be living on their own, does not mean that they are capable of doing so responsibly.

Though many do dare to drink while under-aged, there are some that are waiting to become legal to drink and buy it for others. Lowering the legal drinking age would only allow them to buy alcohol for even more minors to drink, which will most likely still be illegal to do. All a party would need is a few people legally able to drink to talk to the police and make it look like everyone is legally able to drink at the party. It isn’t so much the thrill of knowing there are consequences if caught drinking illegally, but really just the feeling of being intoxicated appeal to them.

drinking alcohol and fighting for your country are two defferent things, because if they drinking one beer and lead to another and another they can drink all night and wake up with a hang over or not slepp all and be drunk the can kill on of there own and but at risk our country .

Allowing teenagers to drink at the age of 18 won’t ensure that they drink responsibly – just that they can’t be punished for it!

The teenage brain is not a developed as the 21 year old brain and they will more likely hae a drinking dependency or liver damages before they can even drink legally. Thousands are admitted to university hospital each year for alcohol poisoning.

becouse drinking is a responsability that teens are not ready for, because the need to know how much is enough and they dont.

A 16 year old can drive as well. Do you really a sophmore kid drinking and driving as well?

In fact do you want anyone drinking and driving.

We’re not canada.

And you don’t even support your argument.

Therefore your argument falls and should not be considered at all.

however it also said:

“Exceptions to the 21 law in some states include possession for
religious purposes when accompanied by a parent, spouse or legal
guardian; medical reasons; in private clubs or establishments; in the
course of lawful employment by a duly licensed manufac”

that means that the age for drinking is still 21.
also your argument doesn’t cover the fact that people under 21 can drink with their parents consent.

http://tinyurl.com/6ou67r4

Just because 18 year olds are allowed to drink, doesn’t mean they won’t do stupid things after being inhibited by alcohol. Many college aged students don’t see the risk of drinking and driving, they look at it as, “Will I get pulled over?” So by allowing them to drink legally, that’s only clearing one hurdle for them, they will then assume that with only one obstacle left they’re in the clear. That’s obviously not the case. They could get behind that wheel and kill not only themselves, but other passengers, and even worse, other innocent drivers. It’s no secret that alcohol impairs judgement, and an 18 year old’s judgment is not always the wisest to begin with. After a few drinks, wanting to liter, vandalize, and be disruptive or destructive can often times seem like a good idea. Doing any of the above could potentially cause the law to become involved and other charges could be pressed, thus it doesn’t really matter if someone is legal to drink or not.

The current drinking age is 21, but aren’t there still 25 year olds drinking and going to the bars? So if the age becomes 18, there will still be plenty of 21 year olds drinking. Lowering the age would only allow people to start their habit at an even younger age. This could lead to more and more adults suffering from alcoholism. By starting at 18, kids will be able to build a tolerance to alcohol and by the time they get to college they will be experienced drinkers. Instead of saving their fun for the weekend like most college students, they will feel the need to drink through out their school week, therefore falling behind on their studies and even potentially losing their social life and friends. This ultimately would lead to failing out of school, not being able to hold a steady job, and not being able to get the job that a college education could have gotten them.

Since 1984 the law has been 21 years old to consume alcohol. The age to fight? Think back to World Wars and battles before, we had boys, and when I say boys I mean children as young as six or seven on the battlefield. Our country is one of tradition and not much for change. The drinking age was set 24 years ago and has not been touched since, we accept that for what it is, and it is mainly young adults and teens in high school who argue with it. The age now to fight for our country is 18, only three years younger than the drinking age. It’s not that long to wait in reality. And most people are generally proud to go fight for their country, if they sign up it is because it’s something they want to do. Though drafts have been instated before, it has been several years, so those willing to sign up for the military know what they are getting themselves into.

i think the drinking age shoi=uld be lowered to 15 because they are already doing it anyway so why should they stand around for time when the could just walk right in

i tink the drinkingmage shouldent be lowered because is the law i hate it when the law changes stuoid things but not the secrousily ones like fighting an drugs and why people shouold go to jail even if they havent done anything wrong

Studies have proven that alcohol impairs mental development. Young people, who continue development into their late twenties, would be seriously hurt by the passage of such a law.

many people drink alcohol before the reach the age of 21.
however a large portion do it only a small period of time before they hit 21.
why? because they think that as they approach the age of 21 it’s ok for them to drink.
Ex. some of my friends.

the law keeps some people(such as myself) from drinking until 21. if the law were to change so that consuming alcohol would be legal at the age of 18, many people would try it even earlier. their brain would be damaged even more than 21. America is already in a bad state. We dont need more people wasting their brains on early alcohol.

Underage drinking is a major problem in the world that has claimed many lives. There are multiple ways to die from alcohol: alcohol poisoning, drunk driving, and many other ways. No doubt about it, alcohol just starts trouble. Have you ever wondered what the leading reason for car crashes is? It isn’t texting or any usage of the phone. It is fully driving under the influence. Millions of Americans are pulled over and given a ticket for driving under the influence. People also die from alcohol poisoning, this number having been the leading cause of death in certain countries. In America, the death rate for alcohol poisoning in our youth has sky-rocketed in the past few years. It isn’t the leading cause but it is definitely one of the many causes of death that could easily be prevented.

Many lives have been saved by the law that people under the age of twenty-one are unable to ingest alcohol. Scientists have found more than 25,000 lives have been effected (positively) by this law. Some people try to say that parents should be able to give their children small doses of the alcohol because it is in a controlled environment. Although, this isn’t always true. Some children may like the taste, and then sneak what to them appears to be a little bit but is actually a lot. Then they can eventually die from alcohol poisoning.

When you are around the teen\preteen age, your brain is maturing. Alcohol damages the maturing process by killing brain cells. You may think that it ends at the age of eighteen, but you’d be incorrect. The maturing process is believed to end around the age of twenty-five. People say that if the alcohol age is lowered than it will make alcohol seem less appealing to children because of the adage “People want what they can’t have.” Although this may seem true, which it is, it will most likely make younger people drink which then rises the death rate from alcohol poisoning by a whopping amount. This law is put out for safety and completely based upon age.

You may look and realize how low other countries drinking ages are. Depending on the country some don’t have a drinking age limit at all. You may think that those countries do well, but they have a lack of government. One of those countries is Jamaica, the only place in the world where it is legal to smoke pot. How is that right? Many of the laws in those other countries are lacking structure; many even lack government. That should make it common sense that we shouldn’t be like those types of countries, many of which are a part of the developing world. They are poor people whom spend all of their money on alcohol, when they could be buying resources like food, water, clothing, and or shelter.

Parents don’t normally worry about their kids getting into alcohol because they believe that they have shielded them well enough so that they know better. Truth is children are ignorant and unknowing. People also think that their children don’t have access to alcohol, but when it comes right down to it, putting it on the top shelf won’t stop them. They have resources from school and other places such as (if you live in a big city) they can get it from almost any street side marketer. In 1996, 308 children died from alcohol poisoning; in 1997, 342 children died from alcohol poisoning; and in 1998, 300 children died from alcohol poisoning. As you may already be noticing, this is a very real issue amongst teen and young adults. (Yoon, Stinson, Yi, Dufour)

In 1984, the law of minimum drinking age was made to be 21. Not only was in made illegal to drink alcohol under the age of 21, but you weren’t allowed to buy it or handle it either. Although, 19 states messed up when writing the law; instead of saying that drinking alcohol underage is illegal, they said that public possession and purchase were to be illegal. This law never mentions underage drinking, yet people still don’t do it in those states. This shows that people know what not to do, proving that it is only an act of common sense. (Hanson)

Prohibition is what started the whole legal drinking age thing. The law was there before Prohibition, but wasn’t really enforced. Many children would drink on a regular basis and think nothing of it, but after Prohibition, it was considered a misdemeanor. It became impossible not to enforce because after the drinking age was lowered the rate of automobile crashes rose at an alarming rate. When government official found out about this number they changed the drinking age to twenty- one, and made sure to enforce the law so that the number would go down. (Whitehead, Williams)

Some people even believe that twenty- one years of age is too young to start drinking because the human brain is not fully developed at that age. Although this is true, some people believe that it is already developed enough to drink at the age of twenty- one. If some people believe that twenty- one may even be too young, how can eighteen even be close? It is a proven fact that the human brain is fully developed by the age of twenty- five. Many people argue with that fact and have tried to prove it wrong a many of times. When it comes right down to it, they are arguing with science and when the brain is fully matured, not arguing that the legal drinking age should be lowered. People get offended when you tell them that they aren’t old enough to do something, and teens don’t really even care if they can drink or not. In the end, they just don’t want to be told that they can’t do something.

Drinking will end someone’s childhood. Sometimes it will end more than just the kid’s childhood. Some parents think that it is OK for their children to drink under their supervision, so they allow them to do so. But, in reality, it is harmful for children, or anyone for that matter, to drink. Good parents do not allow their children to drink alcohol even under their supervision which is a smart thing to do. The best thing for parents to do is to not even talk about alcohol because that will make their children want it more. The best thing to do is to create a modern day Buddha out of your child. You have to tell them some things, but keep quiet when it comes to alcohol and drugs. Studies have shown that over fifty percent of children, who die from an alcohol and or drug related death, have parents that are alcoholics or various other types of addicts.

Many people have become interested in this topic. There are people on either side of the argument, but many more people appear to be siding with the no drinking side. So many lives have been saved by this law; in fact, this law has saved more lives than most laws combined. It has become noticed that in the past month 26.4% under-aged people have use alcohol, and binge drinking among the same age group was 17.4%. this shows how unknowing and inattentive parents can be. If a child knows that they will be able to do something that they are not supposed to, they will do it.

Peer pressure is a huge factor of alcohol abuse amongst teens. Recently, a news station did a report on peer pressure. They had three kids under video surveillance and they had a man drive up in an ice cream truck. After the kids got their ice cream the man asked if they wanted to see a tour of the truck. (The news team was trying to see if only one or two would get in the truck or if all three got in because of each other). The first two kids went into the truck without hesitation. The third kid was very cautious, but even he got in the truck. It is the same way with alcohol, if 90% of a party is drinking, chances are the other 10% will start drinking as well because they feel left out or uncool.

Drinking alcohol is like putting poison in your body. It will hurt you no matter what age you are. Sometimes it will affect your mind, other times your body. People don’t realize what damage one drink can do to them because they haven’t ever read a document like this before. People who drink don’t even realize how much it will affect their social status, no one will want to hang out with them and or even be their friend. Some people will even laugh at them as a sign of disrespect. It is sad to see this happening to someone, but you must know that it is their own fault. People whom drink alcohol regularly are generally unhappy, unwanted, unloved, just plain old disliked. Don’t be the town drunk, but don’t be the person who pities him either.

Drinking has ruined the economic lives of many as well. You may be out driving around doing errands or something and see a man hold a cardboard sign asking for money. Facts about this man are probably that he has bad luck, he is unemployed, and he is an alcoholic. You may be thinking that these are just a bunch of stereo-types, but in reality studies have proven these to be true. It has also been proven that if you give them money they will loose it, have it stolen from them, spend it on beer or drugs, or just waste it. It has been proven that they only use it for something useful 18% of the time. 18% just think about that number for a while.