Lowering The Drinking Age To 18 Essay

In 1983, a large percentage of alcohol related car crashes were due to underage drinking. That was a year before the drinking age was changed to 21 and statistics like these drastically changed. The minimum legal drinking age or MLDA was changed to 21 in 1984. It was adopted by all the states to create a safer environment for everyone. This new law cracked down on every problem. Underage drinking on college campuses was one that took a big hit. College students can no longer legally drink which is making colleges more secure places for learning. Health was another aspect being negatively affected by the MLDA 18. The drinking age of 21 is beneficial for both the minds and bodies of those drinking, along with the health of those around them. …show more content…
Before MLDA 21 a very unhealthy amount of drinking was happening underage. As a result, came the drinking age of 21 which cut down underage drinking not completely, but to a healthy amount. Superintendent of Killington and Cheshire schools, David A. Cressy has seen the effects of lowering the drinking age. Since being a public school administrator since the 1970s Cressy found that lowering the age just transfers the effects of drinking to more vulnerable children ("Don 't Lower Drinking Age"). It is crucial to keep the problem in older people. Furthermore, when it is illegal to drink until you 're 21 it makes it very difficult for younger students in high school or their first years of college to have access to alcohol. Lowering the age would only reinstate the ability of peer pressure to affect younger, more defenseless kids. As a result of lowering the drinking age, David A. Cressy also said, "We found that it was far more difficult to control drinking among high school students at school events and elsewhere." (“Don’t Lower the Drinking Age”). When the drinking age was at 18 alcohol was more available to all high school students. This was given from the