18 is considered a very important birthday and comes with many responsibilities including the ability to enlist in the army, vote, live on your own and most importantly you are officially considered an adult citizen. One of the rights or responsibilities not included though is the right to drink alcoholic beverages. 18 year-olds can vote, smoke, marry, drive, fly, pay taxes, take out loans, hold public office, serve on a jury and fight for their country, so what’s the big deal (Amethyst Initiative, "Statement”)? Let’s stop spending all this tax money and law enforcement officer time fighting a loosing battle (M. Wolfson, A. Wagenaar, and G. Hornseth, "Law Officers' Views on Enforcement of the Minimum Drinking Age: A Four-State Study).
The legal drinking age should be lowered to about 18 or young adults allowed to drink in controlled environments such as restaurants, taverns, pubs and official school and university functions. Currently, too much time, effort, and money is being put into making sure that kids below 21 aren’t drinking and at the same time, a majority of adults are assuming that …show more content…
In fact, there is scientific evidence showing that raising the minimum drinking age in 1984 to 21 overall resulted in reduced alcohol-related crashes and fatalities among young people, though, there is no proof that there would be the same out come today. Along with decline of car crashes, the amount of deaths from suicide, homicide, and non-vehicle unintentional injuries also changed dramatically with the age change. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, increasing the minimum drinking age to 21 was credited with having saved 18,220 lives on the nation’s highways between 1975 and 1998. Also, other studies have found that the law was responsible for a 19% net decrease in fatal crashes involving young drivers, and is still responsible for saving around 1,000 young lives each
The legal drinking age should be lowered to about 18 or young adults allowed to drink in controlled environments such as restaurants, taverns, pubs and official school and university functions. Currently, too much time, effort, and money is being put into making sure that kids below 21 aren’t drinking and at the same time, a majority of adults are assuming that …show more content…
In fact, there is scientific evidence showing that raising the minimum drinking age in 1984 to 21 overall resulted in reduced alcohol-related crashes and fatalities among young people, though, there is no proof that there would be the same out come today. Along with decline of car crashes, the amount of deaths from suicide, homicide, and non-vehicle unintentional injuries also changed dramatically with the age change. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, increasing the minimum drinking age to 21 was credited with having saved 18,220 lives on the nation’s highways between 1975 and 1998. Also, other studies have found that the law was responsible for a 19% net decrease in fatal crashes involving young drivers, and is still responsible for saving around 1,000 young lives each