Drinking Age: 21 or 18?
Daniel Katz
Drugs and Society
Discussion Paper 2
Drinking Age: 21 or 18? Some of the most overlooked types of drugs are those that are legal. Specifically, alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs in the world, and yet, many people don’t think of this substance upon hearing the word “drug.” This drug contributes to significantly more deaths than some illegal drugs such as marijuana (which has not been reported to cause any deaths), and yet alcohol is still legal. On the flipside, alcohol is outlawed for minors under the age of 21, while Americans can vote, consume tobacco, serve jury duty, get married, and even be prosecuted as adults at the age of 18. Through an analysis of the effects of the drinking age in America being 21 versus 18, this essay will show why the drinking age should be lowered. I will assess the key arguments on both sides of the issue. Those arguments will revolve around safety. The two sides of the safety issue largely have to do with the maturity of 18-year olds and how they relate to driving in addition to the hazards of binge drinking. The biggest argument that most proponents of the current drinking age use is that lowering the drinking age would be unsafe. Not only would it be unsafe for the 18-20 year olds who would be able to legally drink, but it would also be unsafe for people who are on the road. This argument rallies around the idea that lowering the drinking age would lead to more drunk drivers than there currently are. In fact, studies have shown that starting two years after the drinking age was lowered in 1986, the percentage of weekend nighttime drivers with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher has decreased from 5.4% to 2.2% (Drinking Age ProCon). Additionally, there have been studies that have shown the raising of the drinking age from 18 to 21 to have saved 27,052 lives over the span from 1975-2008 (Drinking Age ProCon). It seems clear that lowering of the drinking age would be extremely dangerous to everyone on
Drugs and Society
Discussion Paper 2
Drinking Age: 21 or 18? Some of the most overlooked types of drugs are those that are legal. Specifically, alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs in the world, and yet, many people don’t think of this substance upon hearing the word “drug.” This drug contributes to significantly more deaths than some illegal drugs such as marijuana (which has not been reported to cause any deaths), and yet alcohol is still legal. On the flipside, alcohol is outlawed for minors under the age of 21, while Americans can vote, consume tobacco, serve jury duty, get married, and even be prosecuted as adults at the age of 18. Through an analysis of the effects of the drinking age in America being 21 versus 18, this essay will show why the drinking age should be lowered. I will assess the key arguments on both sides of the issue. Those arguments will revolve around safety. The two sides of the safety issue largely have to do with the maturity of 18-year olds and how they relate to driving in addition to the hazards of binge drinking. The biggest argument that most proponents of the current drinking age use is that lowering the drinking age would be unsafe. Not only would it be unsafe for the 18-20 year olds who would be able to legally drink, but it would also be unsafe for people who are on the road. This argument rallies around the idea that lowering the drinking age would lead to more drunk drivers than there currently are. In fact, studies have shown that starting two years after the drinking age was lowered in 1986, the percentage of weekend nighttime drivers with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher has decreased from 5.4% to 2.2% (Drinking Age ProCon). Additionally, there have been studies that have shown the raising of the drinking age from 18 to 21 to have saved 27,052 lives over the span from 1975-2008 (Drinking Age ProCon). It seems clear that lowering of the drinking age would be extremely dangerous to everyone on