Should The Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18?
Tone= ardent and informative
Out of the 115 countries in the world with an official Minimum Drinking Age, the U.S.A. is one of 12 with an MDA set at 21 years old, while the other countries are mostly set at 18 or 19. So in this uneven ratio, why is the U.S. one of the 12? Why are we being deprived of this simple commodity? A common argument for why the Drinking Age should be lowered to 18 in the U.S. is that 18 signifies coming into adulthood. Becoming 18 leads to one obtaining many rights such as the rights to vote, join military, and get married. However, the law was originally put into effect in order to decrease the number of drinking while driving accidents. This topic is widely discussed due to …show more content…
People who support the act argue that it prevents binge drinking and that alcohol can have negative effects on the brain 's development. On the other hand, others who advocate for a MDA of 18 reason that 18 is the age of adulthood in which they have the right to dictate what they do and do not consume into their bodies. In an article published in Time, Camille Paglia claims “What this cruel 1984 law did is deprive young people of safe spaces where they could happily drink cheap beer, socialize, chat and flirt in a free but controlled public environment”, which is one of the reasons binge drinking has become such a serious …show more content…
It can also be noted that regular binge drinking can damage the frontal cortex and other areas of the brain involved in decision-making. As a result of this, the government assumes that young adults won 't be able to make responsible decisions for themselves. However, if the government really cared for the health and well-being of young adults, they would focus more on regulating other harmful substances that could affect the development of young brains. They need to be consistent. Cigarettes, for example, another right earned when a minor comes of age, can legally be smoked at age 18, but can increase the risk of stroke by 2 to 4 times (CDC). This brings up the question of whether the law has stayed this way to benefit the corporations that manufacture these products. For instance, the possible contender for representing Republicans in the 2016 election, Ted Cruz, had to walk out of Harvard’s production of a play, in which he had one of the leads in, because he drank too much the night before. Let me remind you that this politician accentuates the harms of underage drinking and encourages people to strive to be traditionalists. This clearly demonstrates that the government is just looking for another way to fine us. The number of sales in alcohol would definitely decrease if minors weren’t consuming it in large
Tone= ardent and informative
Out of the 115 countries in the world with an official Minimum Drinking Age, the U.S.A. is one of 12 with an MDA set at 21 years old, while the other countries are mostly set at 18 or 19. So in this uneven ratio, why is the U.S. one of the 12? Why are we being deprived of this simple commodity? A common argument for why the Drinking Age should be lowered to 18 in the U.S. is that 18 signifies coming into adulthood. Becoming 18 leads to one obtaining many rights such as the rights to vote, join military, and get married. However, the law was originally put into effect in order to decrease the number of drinking while driving accidents. This topic is widely discussed due to …show more content…
People who support the act argue that it prevents binge drinking and that alcohol can have negative effects on the brain 's development. On the other hand, others who advocate for a MDA of 18 reason that 18 is the age of adulthood in which they have the right to dictate what they do and do not consume into their bodies. In an article published in Time, Camille Paglia claims “What this cruel 1984 law did is deprive young people of safe spaces where they could happily drink cheap beer, socialize, chat and flirt in a free but controlled public environment”, which is one of the reasons binge drinking has become such a serious …show more content…
It can also be noted that regular binge drinking can damage the frontal cortex and other areas of the brain involved in decision-making. As a result of this, the government assumes that young adults won 't be able to make responsible decisions for themselves. However, if the government really cared for the health and well-being of young adults, they would focus more on regulating other harmful substances that could affect the development of young brains. They need to be consistent. Cigarettes, for example, another right earned when a minor comes of age, can legally be smoked at age 18, but can increase the risk of stroke by 2 to 4 times (CDC). This brings up the question of whether the law has stayed this way to benefit the corporations that manufacture these products. For instance, the possible contender for representing Republicans in the 2016 election, Ted Cruz, had to walk out of Harvard’s production of a play, in which he had one of the leads in, because he drank too much the night before. Let me remind you that this politician accentuates the harms of underage drinking and encourages people to strive to be traditionalists. This clearly demonstrates that the government is just looking for another way to fine us. The number of sales in alcohol would definitely decrease if minors weren’t consuming it in large