Cody Smith
Ryan Scariano
English 101
November 1, 2014
Minimum Legal Drinking Age There are many things that factor into what the people of today’s society think the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) should be. This research paper is going to, first, give a little background on alcohol and what has happened in the past. It will then continue to provide evidence from either side of the argument as to whether or not the MLDA should be lowered or kept the same. I believe the minimum legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. In 1920, the United State Congress ratified the 18th Amendment prohibiting the production, distribution, and sale of alcohol. The American people widely supported this amendment when it first went into action. The belief back then was that alcohol contributed to most of the personal and social problems such as the nation’s poverty, violence, …show more content…
With this Act in place, any state that allowed person under the age of 21 year old to purchase and publicly possess alcohol was punished by having its annual federal highway allotment cut by ten percent. Many organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving state that since the installation of a MLDA-21, fatally injured drivers ages 16-20, with positive Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) as lowered from 61 percent in 1982 to 31 percent in 1995. They also argue that a raise in the MLDA reduces drinking, problematic drinking, drinking and driving, and alcohol-related crashes among young people. The article titled “Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention & Policy” written by Adam Barry, Michael Stellefson, and Conrad Woolsey goes on to talk about the fact that compared to legal drinkers, underage drinkers are significantly less confident to perform responsible drinking behaviors during their next drinking episode and significantly lower intention to perform responsible drinking behaviors the next time they consume alcohol. That is where the Amethyst Initiative come
Ryan Scariano
English 101
November 1, 2014
Minimum Legal Drinking Age There are many things that factor into what the people of today’s society think the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) should be. This research paper is going to, first, give a little background on alcohol and what has happened in the past. It will then continue to provide evidence from either side of the argument as to whether or not the MLDA should be lowered or kept the same. I believe the minimum legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. In 1920, the United State Congress ratified the 18th Amendment prohibiting the production, distribution, and sale of alcohol. The American people widely supported this amendment when it first went into action. The belief back then was that alcohol contributed to most of the personal and social problems such as the nation’s poverty, violence, …show more content…
With this Act in place, any state that allowed person under the age of 21 year old to purchase and publicly possess alcohol was punished by having its annual federal highway allotment cut by ten percent. Many organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving state that since the installation of a MLDA-21, fatally injured drivers ages 16-20, with positive Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) as lowered from 61 percent in 1982 to 31 percent in 1995. They also argue that a raise in the MLDA reduces drinking, problematic drinking, drinking and driving, and alcohol-related crashes among young people. The article titled “Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention & Policy” written by Adam Barry, Michael Stellefson, and Conrad Woolsey goes on to talk about the fact that compared to legal drinkers, underage drinkers are significantly less confident to perform responsible drinking behaviors during their next drinking episode and significantly lower intention to perform responsible drinking behaviors the next time they consume alcohol. That is where the Amethyst Initiative come