Why The Drinking Age Should Remain At 21

It has been an ongoing controversy in the United States whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen or if it should remain at twenty-one. Underage drinking has been and will continue to be a major controversial issue for many years. The attached article states, the legal drinking age of twenty-one has been in effect in the United States since 1984, however any state is free to lower it, but a ten percent penalty would be applied in its federal funding for transportation. There are advocates that argues the drinking age should be lowered because at eighteen the individual is old enough to vote, and go to war then, such individual should be allowed to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages. However, the drinking age should not be lowered because risks such as drunk driving, violent or destructive behavior, and medical complications. Drunk driving continues to be a major public safety issue. Drinking and driving is a large problem linked to teenage drinking. Teenagers have one of the highest …show more content…
Impaired cognitive abilities often leads to risky behaviors such as, rapes, unplanned pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases. Because of clouded judgment many teenagers usually regret their actions. Lowering the drinking age also causes violent behavior, which could be disruptive to society. At this age, teenagers are vulnerable to addiction. As such could start stealing from their parents, or even participating in robberies to support their habits. Hence, these types of behaviors usually affect the society causing leading to dysfunction within the community. Also the “trickled-down effect,” known to sociologist, is another reason why the age should not be lowered. This effect would only allow the eighteen year olds to purchased alcohol to their even younger counterparts. Therefore allowing even younger teens to have access to