Drinking age in America
Underage drinkers make up 10% of licensed drivers who have caused 17% of drinking and driving deaths. It has been reported that 15.1% of 18-20 year olds have been driving under the influence of alcohol (MADD35). Annually, 1,900 people have died from underage drinking while being behind the wheel. The legal drinking age in the United States has been increasing and decreasing over the years continuously. There are new claims that President Obama has signed a new law lowering the drinking age to 18. Although this may be false, underage drinking is already an issue and making it legal to citizens under 21 can make it an even bigger problem. The three major reasons why the law for drinking in the United States shouldn’t …show more content…
In 2010, there were approximately 189,000 emergency rooms visits by persons under age 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol (CDC, fact sheets). Drinking fogs thinking and erodes judgment. When you combine alcohol with teenagers’ natural risk-taking and desire to impress their friends, dangerous things happen. Each year, underage drinking contributes to the death of approximately 4,700 young people (MADD35). On December 2013, a teen in Texas received 10 years of probation for underage drunk driving. Being defined as a “killer on the road”, he killed four people during this accident and was entered into a long-term treatment facility. If people were legally allowed to drink if they are 18 and over, this situation would only get worse and worse. This makes teens irresponsible since it will probably be legal, hence making it okay to drink however much they want. Many car accidents and death are caused by reckless teens who decide to drive highly intoxicated or even a little drunk. Alcohol impairs your mental thinking and visual perceptions, causing you to see and react to things that aren’t really there. This is very dangerous for teens that are constantly on the road and also drinking casually. People who are 18 don’t have much responsibility and still don’t know right from wrong. Making it legal to drink at a young age will cause teens to revolt and use the law as an excuse to cause
Underage drinkers make up 10% of licensed drivers who have caused 17% of drinking and driving deaths. It has been reported that 15.1% of 18-20 year olds have been driving under the influence of alcohol (MADD35). Annually, 1,900 people have died from underage drinking while being behind the wheel. The legal drinking age in the United States has been increasing and decreasing over the years continuously. There are new claims that President Obama has signed a new law lowering the drinking age to 18. Although this may be false, underage drinking is already an issue and making it legal to citizens under 21 can make it an even bigger problem. The three major reasons why the law for drinking in the United States shouldn’t …show more content…
In 2010, there were approximately 189,000 emergency rooms visits by persons under age 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol (CDC, fact sheets). Drinking fogs thinking and erodes judgment. When you combine alcohol with teenagers’ natural risk-taking and desire to impress their friends, dangerous things happen. Each year, underage drinking contributes to the death of approximately 4,700 young people (MADD35). On December 2013, a teen in Texas received 10 years of probation for underage drunk driving. Being defined as a “killer on the road”, he killed four people during this accident and was entered into a long-term treatment facility. If people were legally allowed to drink if they are 18 and over, this situation would only get worse and worse. This makes teens irresponsible since it will probably be legal, hence making it okay to drink however much they want. Many car accidents and death are caused by reckless teens who decide to drive highly intoxicated or even a little drunk. Alcohol impairs your mental thinking and visual perceptions, causing you to see and react to things that aren’t really there. This is very dangerous for teens that are constantly on the road and also drinking casually. People who are 18 don’t have much responsibility and still don’t know right from wrong. Making it legal to drink at a young age will cause teens to revolt and use the law as an excuse to cause