Drinking Age Drinking - 847 Words

There has been an ongoing discussion 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 questionable issue for years, yet why is it not under control? Teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol with fake identification cards, getting into bars and drinking illegally. As a recent 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 too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one. Liquor stores, bars, and clubs all want to make money and if they†¦show more content†¦However, these states were later essentially bribed by Congress which used fiscal blackmail and threatened to retract funding for highway construction – to pass the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which forced all states to change their legal drinking age to 21. In the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, it is stated that no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property. If the Constitution clearly declares that the States cannot discriminate in any way that will deny a person his civil rights, why is the government allowing states to create another second-class citizen in the millions of people aged 18 to 21 unable to drink like the rest of the adults in the country? After all, the government is ready and willing to allow its citizens to die fighting for their country, but suddenly, a beer puts these citizens too much at risk. Lowering the legal drinking age to 18 would make alcohol less of a forbidden fruit, taking away the thrill that many young people get from breaking the law, make alcohol less of a taboo for adult’s newly entering college and the workforce, and make alcohol consumption a more normalized activity done in moderation . A drinking age of 21 only forces alcohol consumption behind closed doors. Always unsupervised, done in secret and too often excessive, this style of drinking among minors has no doubt been responsible for the alarming rise in rates of dangerous binge drinking at colleges. In 2006,Show MoreRelatedDrinking Age1395 Words   |  6 Pagesis good or bad, helpful or hurtful. Some debates are simple with no major side effects such as would drinking gatorade or water better maximize the performance of athletes. Other debates involving drinking are not as simple, these debates involve alcohol drinking age. Both arguments can have different viewpoints, the difference is the significance in the argument. What should the legal drinking age in the United States be? Consuming alcohol has been done for many years. Unlike a typical beverageRead MoreDrinking Age1012 Words   |  5 PagesDrinking Age The drinking age was moved from 18 to 21 for a reason. The higher drinking age of 21 has saved many lives, helped reduce the amount of underage drinking, and therefore should not be lowered. Many studies from a large variety of sources have proven higher drinking ages have a positive effect on society. Alcohol is harmful to the development of younger people. Research has shown that an adult is less likely to bingeRead MoreLowering the Drinking Age1523 Words   |  7 Pages According to Andrew Herman, â€Å"Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders† (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice asRead MoreNot Lowering The Drinking Age989 Words   |  4 PagesLowering the Drinking Age There are many different views on drinking alcohol, especially underage drinking. Everyone has different views on the drinking age. Some think it should be lowered and others believe that it should be raised. Then some believe that it should remain the same at the age of twenty-one years old. Keeping the alcohol consumption age at twenty-one limits the dangers of not only those under twenty-one, but other people in the community. Lowering the drinking age will cause moreRead MoreBinge Drinking And The Minimum Legal Drinking Age3264 Words   |  14 PagesKarzhova Marina Erin Beaver English Composition II 5 November 2014 Binge Drinking and the Minimum Legal Drinking Age In the year 1984, President Ronald Reagan enacted a law that increased the minimum drinking Age all U.S states to 21 years. As a result, it is believed that the mortality rates due to road accidents reduced from 5,000 in the 80’s to 2, 000 in 2005 (Dean-Mooney). However, the issue of binge drinking remains unsolved with learning institutions having to deal with it every semester. InRead MoreMilitary Drinking Age1983 Words   |  8 PagesDrinking Age of the Military: Should it be Lowered Jason M. Stoudt DeVry University The drinking age in the military is currently set at 21 years old as it is set for the rest of the country. There has been an age old statement widely used by those in the military, â€Å"If I am old enough to fight and die for my country, I should be old enough to drink†. The debate is out there that the drinking age should be lowered for all young adults from 18 years old to 21 years old. The idea behind the factRead MoreLowering the Drinking Age1223 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"What we’re doing now to prevent underage drinking isn’t working; it’s time to try something else.† Although many people argue that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1964, which lowed the drinking age from eighteen to twenty one, was a good idea. David J Hanson a professor in the State University of New York believed that something needs to be done to make the United States a safer place to live. Is it fair that people in the United States can serve in the military, vote in elections, serveRead MoreDrinking Age Essay677 Words   |  3 PagesDrinking Age When teen-agers turn 18, they are told that they are adults and are sent into the world. They go to college, get a job, marry or join the military. They do grown-up things like vote, pay taxes and become parents. But they cant go to the pub for a beer because when it comes to liquor, they are still just kids. Wheres the fairness in the 21-and-older drinking law? First, it is necessary to question this law. Why is 21 the magical age that makes one intelligent and matureRead MoreThe Debate Of The Drinking Age959 Words   |  4 PagesThe drinking age has always been twenty-one in the United States, whenever it has been questioned on why twenty-one and not eighteen. The scientific answer has always been because the eighteen-year-old brain is not fully developed yet. See what I have a hard time understanding is why eighteen-year-olds are considered adults at the age of eighteen, but we can’t have a drink. At eighteen you are allowed to buy cigarettes, join the army, change your name. I just don’t understand why at eighteen youRead MoreBinge Drinking vs the Drinking Age Essays829 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish 101 March 13, 2013 Binge Drinking VS the Drinking Age Presidents of college campuses around the nation face issues of underage drinking and binge drinking on a regular basis and realizes that it is a danger and a problem. â€Å"Alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., a major contributing factor to unintentional injuries, the leading cause of death for youths and young adults, and accounts for an estimated 75,000 or more deaths in the United States annually† (Wechsler