Prohibition will always be a part of American political stupidity. Dating back to 1919, the government put a ban on alcohol sales and production in the U.S. Regulating the social mores of a nation is almost impossible. If people want something bad enough, they will find a way to get it. Fourteen years after the prohibition had been written as an Amendment in the Constitution, the ban was repealed. .
The U.S. government has already forgot their lesson by raising the drinking age from 18 to 21 in the mid-1980s. President Reagan & Congress had brought the prohibition back again, except on a smaller group of people. Nonetheless it was still a ban. I've heard many of times that if an 18-year old can vote & die for his country, then their throats should be able to feel the burn of whiskey. If they can throw a grenade, you should be able to throw back a shot of tequila. These arguments are honest in their meanings but it goes deeper than that. .
Isn't it true that by putting a ban on alcohol between this age group will make drinking more attractive and give some edge to it? Placing laws on things such as this makes a person want to do it even more; it is seen as a forbidden area or rebellion against authority. A study had been done that showed that raising the minimum drinking age didn't reduce the amount of underage drinkers. In 1986, the average American consumed 2.58 gallons of alcohol per year. That was down to 2.18 gallons in 1997. Also, in 1986, 91.3% of the students had said that they have had a few drinks in their lifetime; that, also, dropped 80% by 1997, according to a study done by the University of Michigan. .
One of the main arguments used in favor of raising the drinking age during the 1980s was drunk driving. Groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) began to bring more and more public attention to drunk driving fatalities in the early part of the 1980s. On July 17, 1984, Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act.
