The legal drinking age should not be lowered in the United States for the safety of all people. There are many negative effects associated with drinking alcohol. The debate of lowering the minimum drinking level is based off of presumptions that younger people can withstand the burdens and responsibilities associated with drinking. Alcohol is dangerous to the consumer, as well as to those around. Whether it be through poor choices such as driving; or making idiotic decisions that could cost jail time, perhaps even the life of an individual. No matter the case, the minimum legal drinking age in the United States needs to stay at 21 for the time being. Lowering the minimum drinking age in the United States would mean that a very …show more content…
Mixing alcohol with immaturity or responsibility will never result in good outcomes. In lowering the minimum drinking age below 21, it also allows younger people to enter bars which is not a safe environment. Bars can be extremely dangerous for those who are immature and could cause drama. Crime rates just after the age of 21 due to alcohol are the highest compared to any other age (Carpenter and Dobkin 521). Although it does not mean that lowering the legal drinking age would cause crime rates because of alcohol to also be at a younger age, there is a very high possibility for this correlation to show. A young adult who is just beginning to see what the real world is like would have a rough start if one of the first events to happen at the age of 18 would be a crime due to alcohol consumption. Therefore, leaving the legal drinking age can not only save the ones drinking, but possibly even save others from the immature recklessness associated with drinking …show more content…
According to "Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age", in 1970 when the legal drinking age was lowered the amount of car accidents by teens increased. Whether they were the ones who caused the crash or not, there were more drunk drivers on the road causing more accidents. Alcohol is responsible for many deaths in the United States so it makes no sense to allow people to begin engaging in this dangerous act at a younger age. Alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of death in the United States, while being the leading cause of death for youths and young adults tallying up around 75,000 deaths annually. (Henry and Nelson 986). When something is the leading cause of death, the response should be how to fix this problem, not providing easier access to young adults. With research, the major findings since raising the minimum legal drinking age to 21 are decreased motor vehicle crashes and lower rates of alcohol consumption (Wechsler and Nelson 987). These two findings show that by changing the age permitting alcohol consumption, it has helped reduce the damage that alcohol can cause towards society. Many would agree that leaving the minimum legal drinking age at 21 is the best choice, although there are still groups that argue that lowering it is the right of all