Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 increases the risk of underage and binge drinking which results in deadly car accidents. Ages 18 and under are physically immature to handle alcohol. Enforcing the age 21 law reduces the risk of traffic crashes and it saves lives. By lowering the drinking age to 18 will trigger the urge of wanting to drink for younger teenagers. Therefore, the drinking age is ought to stay at 21.
The 21 legal drinking age law forces young people to drink in unsafe and unsupervised environment, such as fraternity and house parties. People under the age of 21 tends to drink more when they get hold of alcohol because of the uncertainty as to when they might be able to drink again. When drinking will be lower from 21 to 18, individuals will drink in public places where they can be supervised by an older friend, relative, security guard, or police. In doing so, the drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18.
Descriptive:
Since the enforcing of the 21 law, the number of people killed annually in underage drunk driving has been cut in half from more than 5,000 individuals in the early 1980's to around 2,000 in 2005 which by the end had saved nearly 25,000 lives (Dean-Mooney, 2008). In John Hopkins (The Toll of Underage Drinking, 2013) Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 20. The M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) states that the age limit for alcohol is based on research which shows that young people react differently to alcohol for teens get drunk twice as fast as adults. According to the National Institute of Health, the earlier a person begins alcohol use, the greater the chances are of that person becoming an alcoholic later in life, suffering negative physical withdrawal symptoms, and harming his/her brain during its development (2009). There is no benefit from lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18. Therefore the legalized age of drinking should still remain 21 to ensure the safety and healthy living of future generations.
Dean-Mooney, L.,(2008).A Lower Age Would Be Unsafe.The 21 drinking age has saved lives and should remain.Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2008/09/08/a-lower-age-would-be- unsafe
Hopkins, J.,(2013).The Toll of Underage Drinking.Retrieved from http://www.camy.org/factsheets/sheets/The_Toll_of_Underage_Drinking.html
"Lowering Drinking Age Linked to Later-Life Problems: MedlinePlus."National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health.Web.03 Nov.2009.Retrieved from http://nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory 89559.html&qt;
Why do we make young people wait until 21 to drink alcohol?.(n.d.).Retrieved from http://www.madd.org/underage-drinking/why21/
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