should the drinking age be lowered to eighteen

Do teens usually wait till the age of eighteen to begin consuming alcohol? If eighteen years of age is the legal age for adulthood, why can’t it be the legal age to begin drinking? Is the government contradicting themselves? Over the years studies have shown that most teens do not wait until the age of twenty-one to begin drinking. Lowering the drinking age to eighteen would allow eighteen to twenty year-olds to drink alcohol in safe places with supervision. Keeping teens from drinking in unsafe environments would lower the amount of drinking related car accidents. Also, individuals are viewed as adults at the age of eighteen. There are many privileges and responsibilities all within the realm of that adulthood. Eighteen year olds are allowed to smoke, be married, vote and more so why isn’t drinking on that list? I believe the legal age for drinking should be lowered to eighteen in order to provide a safe environment for teens, decrease the amount of drinking related accidents, and give eighteen year-olds the full amount of adulthood. If the drinking age was lowered from twenty-one to eighteen teens would have the opportunity to drink in safe environments with supervision. Instead of drinking in fraternity houses and house parties teens would be able to drink in bars and restaurants. If teens are allowed to drink in restaurants or bars they will have supervision who can monitor the amount of alcohol that person consumes. This supervision could also determine whether a person is fit to drive or not. In places like Applebee’s when a person is too drunk to drive this establishment will automatically call a cab. Unlike in the party scene where one person is appointed to be the designated driver, with no guarantee that person has or has not consumed any alcohol themselves. In most cases, eighteen to twenty year olds get a thrill while drinking. Knowing they are breaking the law and getting away with it is exciting to them. They often get so exciting that they are encouraged to drink and drive. Lowering the age for drinking to eighteen would diminish the thrill of breaking the law making the amount of alcohol consumed by underage to moderation. Therefore, teens would not want to drink as much because that certain law breaking thrill would no longer exist. Teens would not be able to drink as much in a restaurant as they normally would at a party. As a result, allowing eighteen to twenty year olds to drink alcohol in regulated environments with supervision would decrease unsafe drinking activity. In addition to providing a safe drinking environment, lowering the drinking age will decrease the amount of drinking related accidents. In 2011, 9,878 people were killed in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes. These alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for thirty-one percent of the total motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the United States. These numbers have not decreased since. This shows the number of alcohol related accidents and deaths are out of control in the United States. In many countries with drinking ages of eighteen, like Italy and Romania, have better driving statistics than the United States. In a large number of states, where drinking ages are lower have extremely lower death rates related to alcohol. Lowering the drinking age allows young adults to drink in controlled environments. Drinking in these types of environments will decrease the urge to drink and drive. Drinking alcohol is a leisure that should be done in moderation. If the drinking age is lowered, people with learn their tolerance to alcohol. More importantly, eighteen is legal age of adulthood. When a citizen is eighteen, he/she has the right to vote, be married, join the military, smoke cigarettes, serve on juries and be prosecuted as an adult. Research says the law wants to prevent early disease from alcohol consumption. Yet, some aspects within the realm of adulthood endanger a person’s life and health, such as joining the military and smoking. The law says once a person is eighteen they are legally grown. The definition of an adult is a person who is fully grown and developed. When this state of life occurs he/she should have the right to do whatever they please with their body. It is not the government’s responsibility to monitor what a person puts inside their body. Stating that eighteen is adulthood makes the law of non-drinking until twenty-one is largely ineffective. The reason I say this is because the drinking law is contradicting to the fact that eighteen is adulthood. Normalizing alcohol consumption as something done responsibly in moderation will make drinking alcohol less of a taboo for young adults entering college and the workforce. They will begin to walk in the full realm of adulthood. They will also learn responsibility and tolerance of alcohol consumption.