Government Essay – Should the drinking age remain at 21 years of age or be lowered?
How come 18 years old can die fighting for their country, but can’t legally drink until age 21?
The legal age of consumption, possession and purchase of alcohol in the U.S today is 21 years of age. It was set by law back in 1984, signed by President Reagan after over 2 years of intensive and extensive discussions. (It was also in this time period that groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) were founded.) In short, the age limit was set to 21 years of age to prevent a drunk-driving epidemic that was happening in the 1970-80’s (among of many reasons). (Fact found from Chooseresponsi-bly.org’s article about the history and debate about the age limit …show more content…
At the moment, colleges are where this way of inside exchange of alcohol is happening. The older seniors purchase the alcohol and exchange it for mon-ey or deeds. But because of the distance (often both age wise and physically), between colleges and high schools, alcohol is mostly in safe distance. As alcohol intoxicates, if consumed in large enough amounts. Intoxicated people, and especially teens who already have a bold view on life, can be dangerous to themselves and others. As Melanie Haiken, writer for Healthday.com says: “Drinking is also linked with suicide, use of other drugs, and irresponsible sexual behaviors.” These types of behavioral ways are best to be kept out of high schools and other places where teens hang out and incidents can happen. In addi-tion, according to statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), underage drinking risks include death, serious injuries, impaired judgement, increased risk for physical and sexual assault and brain development problems. (As earlier mentioned plasticity). Their statistics also say that up to 190,000 people under 21 years of age visited an emergency room for alcohol-related inju-ries only in the year of
How come 18 years old can die fighting for their country, but can’t legally drink until age 21?
The legal age of consumption, possession and purchase of alcohol in the U.S today is 21 years of age. It was set by law back in 1984, signed by President Reagan after over 2 years of intensive and extensive discussions. (It was also in this time period that groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) were founded.) In short, the age limit was set to 21 years of age to prevent a drunk-driving epidemic that was happening in the 1970-80’s (among of many reasons). (Fact found from Chooseresponsi-bly.org’s article about the history and debate about the age limit …show more content…
At the moment, colleges are where this way of inside exchange of alcohol is happening. The older seniors purchase the alcohol and exchange it for mon-ey or deeds. But because of the distance (often both age wise and physically), between colleges and high schools, alcohol is mostly in safe distance. As alcohol intoxicates, if consumed in large enough amounts. Intoxicated people, and especially teens who already have a bold view on life, can be dangerous to themselves and others. As Melanie Haiken, writer for Healthday.com says: “Drinking is also linked with suicide, use of other drugs, and irresponsible sexual behaviors.” These types of behavioral ways are best to be kept out of high schools and other places where teens hang out and incidents can happen. In addi-tion, according to statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), underage drinking risks include death, serious injuries, impaired judgement, increased risk for physical and sexual assault and brain development problems. (As earlier mentioned plasticity). Their statistics also say that up to 190,000 people under 21 years of age visited an emergency room for alcohol-related inju-ries only in the year of