OP-ED Lowering The Drinking Age To 18
When we grow up and we feel adults with big responsibilities and we start to feel more independent we find out we can do stuff only adults can do. Generally between the ages of 18 and 21 we start going out and being exposed to the world where we can find alcohol. That leads to a question like why 18 year olds can’t drink if they can do most of the stuff adults can do. President Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984 making the United States one of the most restrictive countries on alcohol consumption worldwide. Drinking illegally in America has become one of the most violated laws in the world. This means Americans are still waiting for their first alcoholic drink legally while the can go to war, drive a car and cast their vote.
Keeping the lower drinking age at 21 makes little rational sense. It does not prevent most teens from drinking as a poll of thousand of 12th graders in 2006 found that 72% had tried alcohol.The merits of lowering the drinking age are clear. We know that college students who are the teen between 18-21 drink. The current law drives students to consume alcohol like when students have to drink in incognito. Let’s face the truth, they will drink no matter what. Even if the drinking age is at 22 the college students that want to drink will do it and they will look for places where they can do it without getting caught. Lowering the drinking age to 18 can reduce problems and eliminate unsafe drinking activities. When this happens you are giving the teens responsibilities and it leads them to achieve the mature mind they want. Another thing why the drinking age should be lowered to 18 is that there are fewer accidents dealing with cars for example Germany. In these types of European countries they have demonstrated that reducing the drinking age to 18 has lead to lower car accidents than the United States which keeps the drinking age at 21.
Lowering the drinking age to 18 would also be beneficial because there is many people that see it as a dare or as a way of being a rebel and breaking the law. This would eliminate the temptation of drinking. This will lead to encourage teens between 18-20 years of age to drink moderately since they have nothing to worry about. Many teens go out seeking for a place to drink and since they can’t drink sometimes it leads to binge drinking. Binge drinking can lead to liver disease, more specifically cirrhosis. This is a complication of the liver which involves loss of liver cells and a irreversible scarring of the liver. This is one of the most common disease cause by alcohol. When teens go out they are just trying to consume as much alcohol as they can since they do not know when they will see it again. If they can buy the alcohol then the temptation will go away and they will be able to decide what way they want to go. Like I said binge drinking is more likely to happen when teens try to consume as much alcohol as they can since they are not able to drink it legally. This leads them to get fake id’s and problems.
In other words lowering the drinking age would be beneficial for everybody. The teens will have the right to choose and make their own adult decisions. In this country a 19 year old can risk his or her life in a battle field but cannot take a sip of beer. Personally the congress could pass a law where it states the drinking age would be lowered to 18 years of age and this can resolve a lot of problems.
When we grow up and we feel adults with big responsibilities and we start to feel more independent we find out we can do stuff only adults can do. Generally between the ages of 18 and 21 we start going out and being exposed to the world where we can find alcohol. That leads to a question like why 18 year olds can’t drink if they can do most of the stuff adults can do. President Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984 making the United States one of the most restrictive countries on alcohol consumption worldwide. Drinking illegally in America has become one of the most violated laws in the world. This means Americans are still waiting for their first alcoholic drink legally while the can go to war, drive a car and cast their vote.
Keeping the lower drinking age at 21 makes little rational sense. It does not prevent most teens from drinking as a poll of thousand of 12th graders in 2006 found that 72% had tried alcohol.The merits of lowering the drinking age are clear. We know that college students who are the teen between 18-21 drink. The current law drives students to consume alcohol like when students have to drink in incognito. Let’s face the truth, they will drink no matter what. Even if the drinking age is at 22 the college students that want to drink will do it and they will look for places where they can do it without getting caught. Lowering the drinking age to 18 can reduce problems and eliminate unsafe drinking activities. When this happens you are giving the teens responsibilities and it leads them to achieve the mature mind they want. Another thing why the drinking age should be lowered to 18 is that there are fewer accidents dealing with cars for example Germany. In these types of European countries they have demonstrated that reducing the drinking age to 18 has lead to lower car accidents than the United States which keeps the drinking age at 21.
Lowering the drinking age to 18 would also be beneficial because there is many people that see it as a dare or as a way of being a rebel and breaking the law. This would eliminate the temptation of drinking. This will lead to encourage teens between 18-20 years of age to drink moderately since they have nothing to worry about. Many teens go out seeking for a place to drink and since they can’t drink sometimes it leads to binge drinking. Binge drinking can lead to liver disease, more specifically cirrhosis. This is a complication of the liver which involves loss of liver cells and a irreversible scarring of the liver. This is one of the most common disease cause by alcohol. When teens go out they are just trying to consume as much alcohol as they can since they do not know when they will see it again. If they can buy the alcohol then the temptation will go away and they will be able to decide what way they want to go. Like I said binge drinking is more likely to happen when teens try to consume as much alcohol as they can since they are not able to drink it legally. This leads them to get fake id’s and problems.
In other words lowering the drinking age would be beneficial for everybody. The teens will have the right to choose and make their own adult decisions. In this country a 19 year old can risk his or her life in a battle field but cannot take a sip of beer. Personally the congress could pass a law where it states the drinking age would be lowered to 18 years of age and this can resolve a lot of problems.