Minimum Drinking Age

In the 1980s, the United States raised the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) to 21, from 18, in an attempt to protect the nation 's youth. This placed the USA among the few countries whose drinking age is above 18. These countries include most of Canada, the Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Egypt, Indonesia, Micronesia, and Palau (Jernigan). Around the world, drinking ages vary; for example, in Slovenia, Italy, Portugal, Malta and Greece, you can drink before you turn 18, and in parts of India, you cannot legally obtain alcohol until age 25 (Jernigan; Mukherjee). This leads to an important question on whether our democracy should lower the MLDA. The facts on underage drinking, international data on lower drinking ages, current enforcement of underage drinking laws, as well as proposed implications of programs coupled with a lower drinking age provides provoking data pointing towards the ethical lowering of the drinking age. The democracy of the United States of America should lower the MLDA, but also adopt a mandatory alcohol education class, and a graduated licensing system.

In the United States, 18-year-olds are considered adults. They can vote, get married and get a license for a gun yet they are not allowed to drink. Many people think that the drinking age should be 18, but others strongly believe it should be 21 for doing all kinds of things. Drinking in the United States has become a controversy for the drinking age; 18 or 21. There are many reasons why the drinking age should stay the same and many of why it should be 18. Even though many Americans think that people under 21 do not have the capacity to handle drinking, in my opinion, drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 because teenagers at the age of 18 can make important decisions, so drinking should be a decision they can too decide whether to

The minimum drinking age has been debated ever since the early 1970’s when there was no national drinking age. Depending on the state, the minimum drinking age was between the range of 18 to 21-year-olds. However, Exhibit B illustrates how the debate was quieted in 1984 during the Regan Presidency with the passing of a law that required states to prohibit people under the age of 21 to consume alcohol as a condition of receiving a portion of federal state highway funding.

In this article “Minimum Drinking Age: Should the minimum drinking age in the United States remain 21?” the author describes both sides of the argument with lots of evidence and facts to back up both sides. Just before that the article states some background information about the topic and what it was like in the 1970 - 2000. He says that before 1970 the Legal Drinking Age was lower than 21 but got changed because of an outcry of people complaining of a lot of drunk driving accidents. The first stars starting changing their laws in 1975. Ever since that date it has been a debate whether it should’ve changed back or not. The author then goes into the first argument. The first argument was what the supporters argue: what supporters say. The author

Drinking is something done universally. It can be done socially or obsessively. Even though the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA ) in the U.S. is 21 and it has been that way since 1984 young adults still continue to drink. They know it is illegal and they know that they could get arrested, the thing is they also know that in other countries the MLDA is lower, it could be anywhere from 19 to 16. This can be hard for young people to wrap their heads around. The fact that they can vote and go fight in wars yet it is illegal for them to get a beer with friends. All of these things aside it is still unhealthy and potentially unsafe.

Because underage drinking is a major problem for young adults, the drinking age has become a very controversial issue. In the 1990's, the drinking age was 18, but it was changed to 21 in 1984. The Federal Government informed states to choose between raising the drinking age to 21 or foregoing highway funding. This decision obviously affected 18 to 20 year olds who could no longer buy alcoholic beverages. As in every controversy, there are supporters on both sides. Some argue that at the age of 18, when young adults are able to fight in war and get married, they should be able to make the decision to have a drink. Others say that at the age

The healthiest drinking age is 18 because that is the age one turns into an adult, and according to the Free Dictionary’s West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, an adult is “a person who by virtue of attaining a certain age, generally eighteen, is regarded in the eyes of the law as being able to manage his or her own affairs” (West’s Encyclopedia). Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that eighteen-year-olds must be treated as responsible human beings. Furthermore, adults are expected to drive responsibly, join the military, get married, pay their rent, purchase cigarettes, but are not allowed to consume alcoholic beverages.

There has been ongoing public concern for adolescents and early adults’ drinking culture in worldwide. Australia has also great concerns about early initiating alcohol misuse and risky level of drinking pattern among young population. Consequently, the Minimum legal drinking age law is one of major alcohol control enforcement legislation to prevent alcohol related harms among adolescents ( Wechsler and Nelson, 2010, p.985).

Eighteen should be the legal age of adults in United States for using alcohol. There are three reasons to support this contention. First of all, the development of people’s brain will not be completed until people become 25 years old. Therefore, although drinking alcohol may cause some affects the brain, there is no evidence of huge brain destruction, alcohol dependency, or alcohol misuse, which the experts tell us will be the undeniable result of the lowering the age in the United States. Moreover, the prohibition should not be imposed on young people because using alcohol is belong to a person’s consciousness, nor it is belong to an behavior. Second, there are fewer traffic accidents by drunk drivers in many nations with Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 18 (MLDA) than in The United States. In fact, many traffic accidents from driving do not come from drinking, they come from other reasons, which are speeding, distracted driving, and traffic occurrences. In addition, some States denied the lowering minimum drinking age because they will not have ten percents traffic funding from the government, so this purpose is not unfair for people who turn in to eighteen. As shown above, lowering minimum drinking age should be considered explicitly. Last, law of government allows people to go to the army at eighteen because they can sacrifice for their country. In fact, that young people are risking their life with other agents more dangerous than alcohol agents. People who are attending

Unsupervised, underage drinking has become an epidemic throughout the world, but in the in America more than anywhere else. America has the highest legalized drinking age in the world. In fact, only four countries in the world have a legalized drinking age over 18. In the United States, the legal drinking age for all 50 States and the District of Columbia is 21 years of age. The drinking age is 21 because the powers that control our government decided that when one becomes 21, one is magically transformed into a responsible person capable of handling the burden that comes with the right to consume alcohol. When we turn 18 in America we are supposed to be adults, but then what is the 21 age mark it is like we get an adult trial version for three

What is the right age to drink alcohol? Alcohol’s reputation varies from one culture to another. For some cultures, like the United States, they perceive it as a “forbidden fruit” while many European countries view it more leniently as another essential complement to their daily diet. In reality, alcohol is essentially a drug, that manipulates people’s minds to make them anxious, dizzy and aggravated. The law understands that drinking alcohol has some side effects and therefore trusts its citizens to be mature about it. According to some people the pros outweigh the cons of alcohol; this is precisely the reason why modern countries attempt to alleviate its circulation because of its effects or even setting restrictive laws upon it. However, with the creation of these laws also arose imminent opposition and doubt over the age of which the laws would restrict. While today’s minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) in the United States is 21, some people argue that the ideal minimum drinking age is 18, because it is safer for the health and it demotes crime while those people face a large opposition stating that the drinking age shall not be 18. On the other hand there is the other side which states that alcohol should be restricted to the age of 25 or above. They claim that it should be 25 because the human body stops developing at that age so it will not get harmed. The compromise is right in the middle of the ages, so that

In the United States once you turn 18 you are considered an adult, so why is it that we cannot drink until we are 21. Once you turn 18 you can vote, die for your country and do almost whatever you want to your body without your parents’ consent and drinking should be a part of that category as well. As we all know keeping the drinking age at 21 does not stop the consuming of alcohol with teens. It only makes teens drink behind closed doors or hind it from their parents or the police making for unsafe environments. It also encourages teen binge drinking because when they get an alcohol they consume it right away making them drink more to get rid of the alcohol so parents or cops don’t catch them with illegal beverage.

In my point of view, I agree that united states drinking age remain at 21, because 21 years old is a ago that people are supposed to be physically and mentally mature. Therefore, it is better to have people drink at this age. I understand if people want to drink, there is no law can restrict them, but the government should have the law to tell people it is not okay to drink after 21. It’s responsibility of the government. There are many accidents every year for teenagers drinking at a party at a young age. Some people died because of drinking too much. Thus, it is necessary for the country to have the law to prohibit these dangerous behaviors, and to do this can save a lot of people’s life. Because of the law, the government educates people

It is a hot summer day and an eighteen-year-old is eyeing a cold beer but he cannot have it. There are many people that think the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) should be raised because of the ability to enforce it and its effects on public health and society. However, other people argue that the drinking age should be lowered because of the rights eighteen-year-old citizens have and the tendency of teenagers to break the law. Before one takes a side, he or she should know as much as possible about both sides of the argument and the history of the drinking age in the United States.

For many adults, alcohol is considered a luxury, but it might be better for young adults and teens to hold off on this forbidden fruit until they of proper age. The minimum drinking age has been a topic of controversy in Ontario for a while, changing from 21, to 18, and now 19. While the consumption of alcohol in regulated small amounts is okay, many younger adults and teens lack the necessary self control, and indulge in binge drinking. This type of behaviour can often have a negative effect on their bodies. There are also major concerns regarding road safety, as car accidents involving an alcohol-impaired driver are more frequent in those of younger age in comparison to their older counterparts. The current minimum legal drinking age is too low, as there have been more cases of underage drinking, and abuse of other substances. All of these issues could be avoided if the legal age for consumption of alcohol in Ontario was raised back to the age of 21.