Lowering The Drinking Age
Alcohol. The third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. This deathly drug is estimated to kill nearly 88,000 men and women each year (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). As adolescents and young adults are dismally getting injured and killed every day, the thrust many Americans are making to lower the minimum legal drinking age is continuing on. The age citizens are allowed to fight for their country and vote for their leaders is a young 18 years old, so many believe, why can’t they drink a beer?
Throughout the past few decades, the legal drinking age has been lowered to 18 years of age, and then raised again, in many states across the country. Adolescents and young adults throughout the United States believe …show more content…
Drunk driving crashes and alcohol related fatalities soon increased significantly in the states who chose to lower the minimum legal drinking age. 16 of the 29 states had increased their minimum legal drinking age back to 21 in 1983 due to the fatal deaths occurring throughout the country. On July 17th 1984, President Reagan signed into law the Uniform Drinking Age Act, mandating all states to adopt 21 as the legal drinking age within five years. Because of this new law, by 1988, all the states set the minimum legal drinking age to 21 years old. The minimum drinking age of 21 has been estimated to save around 900 lives per year, but the drinking age is still causing problems, and adolescents and adults continue to succumb each year due to this liquid depressant …show more content…
The drinking age of 21 seems to still cause problems, and many experts and opinionated citizens believe lowering the drinking age is a viable solution. Barrett Seaman, the current president of Choose Responsibility, often discusses and debates the pros and cons of lowering the legal drinking age in the United States. Seaman believes lowering the drinking age may be a solution to the problems often found across the country, especially on college campuses. Seaman states in a Boston University article, “I look to Canada and to the rest of the world and I see that people can drink at a younger age and be civilized about it” (Daniloff). This may be true, but many adolescents are also irresponsible and senseless. Thousands of adolescents, young adults, and community members get killed each year due to alcohol related causes. In 2013 alone, 16.6 million adults had an AUD, and only 1.3 million of those ill people received proper treatment at a specialized facility. Alcohol isn’t just a liquid depressant used for entertainment at a party, or to cope with a broken relationship, it is a serious problem in the United States, and throughout the world. When the drinking age was raised to 21, the number of deaths caused by alcohol decreased. Lowering the drinking age will only cause more adolescents to drink irresponsibly resulting in an added number of
Throughout the past few decades, the legal drinking age has been lowered to 18 years of age, and then raised again, in many states across the country. Adolescents and young adults throughout the United States believe …show more content…
Drunk driving crashes and alcohol related fatalities soon increased significantly in the states who chose to lower the minimum legal drinking age. 16 of the 29 states had increased their minimum legal drinking age back to 21 in 1983 due to the fatal deaths occurring throughout the country. On July 17th 1984, President Reagan signed into law the Uniform Drinking Age Act, mandating all states to adopt 21 as the legal drinking age within five years. Because of this new law, by 1988, all the states set the minimum legal drinking age to 21 years old. The minimum drinking age of 21 has been estimated to save around 900 lives per year, but the drinking age is still causing problems, and adolescents and adults continue to succumb each year due to this liquid depressant …show more content…
The drinking age of 21 seems to still cause problems, and many experts and opinionated citizens believe lowering the drinking age is a viable solution. Barrett Seaman, the current president of Choose Responsibility, often discusses and debates the pros and cons of lowering the legal drinking age in the United States. Seaman believes lowering the drinking age may be a solution to the problems often found across the country, especially on college campuses. Seaman states in a Boston University article, “I look to Canada and to the rest of the world and I see that people can drink at a younger age and be civilized about it” (Daniloff). This may be true, but many adolescents are also irresponsible and senseless. Thousands of adolescents, young adults, and community members get killed each year due to alcohol related causes. In 2013 alone, 16.6 million adults had an AUD, and only 1.3 million of those ill people received proper treatment at a specialized facility. Alcohol isn’t just a liquid depressant used for entertainment at a party, or to cope with a broken relationship, it is a serious problem in the United States, and throughout the world. When the drinking age was raised to 21, the number of deaths caused by alcohol decreased. Lowering the drinking age will only cause more adolescents to drink irresponsibly resulting in an added number of