The United States is a country that prides itself on the freedoms that it has bestowed on its citizens. It is a country that was, in part, created to escape persecution and infringement on personal freedoms. Today, however, the "land of the free" seems to be creating more and more laws that have a great impact on our daily, personal lives. One of these laws is the nation-wide minimum drinking age. Our country is not a part of the top ten list of countries that drink the most, yet the U.S. has the greatest problem, "handling its alcohol," specifically with underage drinking. America needs to promote healthy attitudes on drinking and teach responsibility.
Ideally, the solution to this problem would be to allow individuals who are eighteen, which is declared the age of adulthood, to purchase and consume alcohol. The problem, however, extends beyond underage drinking and to irresponsible drinking. It is true that with age comes responsibility, but it makes no sense to trust a sixteen year old with a car and not trust an eighteen year old with a beer, when a car is far more dangerous.
Drinking a beer after a hard day at work is for the most part refreshing, as well as relaxing. Americans have consumed alcohol as a means of recreation since our country's birth. Today, watching the big game with your friend Budweiser is a pleasurable experience. For those that aren't of legal age to drink, they are deprived of this enjoyment. .
The minimum age limit to drink in the U.S. is twenty-one years, but the age limit of adulthood is eighteen. When an individual becomes an adult, he/she has the right to vote, fight in war, be married, and even serve in state legislature, still they are simply thought to be too irresponsible to drink a beer. If that is the case, I don't want someone protecting our country with a rifle in his/her hand if they can't handle a beer.
In 1984 Ronald Regan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act.
