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The Reduction Of The Drinking Age

            
             It is my personal belief that the drinking age should be reduced to eighteen years old. The current drinking laws are not working and are the cause of more damage then they actually prevent. The majority of under age drinkers do so irresponsibly and a large part of this is due to the fact that drinking is viewed as a form of rebellion against the government and authority. Because the current drinking age is not working, our nation needs to change its present approach to the situation in order to promote safer drinking rather then prohibition for young adults.
             As a nation we tried prohibition in order to solve drinking problems, in fact it was tried on two separate occasions and it only created more problems. Prohibition was unenforceable and produced new social problems. These prohibition laws failed and were soon repealed. It seems to me that the drinking laws are still failing today and encourage young adults to drink irresponsibly. .
             Often college students will overindulge; this is known as "binge" drinking, which is drinking five or more drinks in succession. This is potentially dangerous and can cause alcohol poisoning which can be fatal in some cases. The proper term for alcohol poisoning is acute alcohol intoxication and hundreds of people die from this each year. These unfortunate deaths could be prevented by educating young adults about the dangers of alcohol and teaching them safer and more mature methods of drinking. With a lower drinking age, young adults and college students could drink in safer and controlled environments rather then the common methods of drinking that take place, which are often foolish and immature. .
             Responsible drinking could easily be taught at a young age through role modeling, educational programs and even right at home by parents. Of course no such programs will start until the drinking age is reduced. Money spent on enforcing drinking age laws could easily be put to better use by creating education programs for young adults, teaching them the "Dos and Don'ts" of drinking.


Essays Related to The Reduction Of The Drinking Age

1. The Right To Serve Protect And Drink

In the United States the legal drinking age is twenty-one for everyone. While in the United States military the legal drinking age is twenty one except when stationed in countries with a lower drinking age, like Korea, where the legal age is twenty. ... The maximum punishment for this act is reduction in rank and dishonorably discharged. ... Since the stress level is so high they are more prone to drinking, no matter what age. ... I do feel that at the age of seventeen an individual in the military should not be able to drink. ...

  • Word Count: 858
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. National Drinking Age

There is much data proving and disproving the effectiveness of the new 21-year-old drinking age, but a new policy on a state regulated drinking age should be considered. ... MADD helped to pass federal statute 158, which increased the national drinking age to 21 years of age. ... There is much information that defends the current national drinking age at 21 years of age and even more so which reveals many considerations to why the age should be lowered. ... This statute required all the states to set a minimum drinking age of 21. ... In this case it was decided by the Supreme Court that ...

  • Word Count: 1792
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. The Minimum Drinking Age Should Be Lowered

In a 1995 study on alcohol-related fatalities in Canada where the minimum drinking age varies between 18 and 19, it was shown that "similar reductions in alcohol-related traffic crashes have occurred among young drivers without raising the minimum purchase age" . ... This observation is indicating that strategies, other than raising the drinking age, have been effective in Canada. ... It is indisputable that a drinking age of 21 has had harmful effects on campus life. ... The drinking age law has left many promising students with police records. ... The drinking age of 21 has driven student...

  • Word Count: 1573
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Underage Drinking

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 18,000 young lives have been saved by minimum drinking-age laws (NHTSA, 1998). ... "Since 1975, the reduction in traffic fatalities resulting from the increase in the minimum drinking age has saved society $53.6 billion" (Levy, et al, 1999, p. 3). ... "In 1984, Congress enacted the National Minimum Age Law, which required that persons under the age of 21 prohibiting from purchasing alcohol," (Wagenaar & Toomey, 2002, p. 3). ... Underage drinking is a major problem for many of today's youth. ... Alcoholism is an equal ...

  • Word Count: 861
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography

5. Underage Drinking and it's Consequences

History of Underage Drinking It is said that under age drinking has been a problem for adolescents for many years. This is defined as drinking alcohol before the legal age of limit. ... Research has shown the failures with underage drinking because of the minimum drinking age limit. ... On July 17, 1984 President Reagan took action by signing the Uniform Drinking Age Act (UDAA. ... A few that have no minimum drinking age limit are Albania, Ghana, Jamaica and Togo. ...

  • Word Count: 2758
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Binge Drinking

Objective: Reduction in students engaging in binge drinking during the past two to four weeks. Binge drinking has long been associated with the American High School senior as well as early college students. ... This in conclusion to this topic, leads the writer to believe that the only way in which student binge drinking can cease or at least decline in number is for the adult world of the United States to eliminate their blatant hypocrisy towards massive alcohol consumption. ... Only to be contradicted by inaccurate portrayals of drinking by "D.A.R.E" programs and deceiving "21 means 2...

  • Word Count: 564
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Rhetorical Analysis - Views on the Legal Drinking Age

He also uses an example of history to back up his authority on the subject matter discussing alcohol, "As you are well aware, 5 years ago the US congress reversed their restrictions on the highway funds, resulting in a reduction in the minimum drinking age in most states, including this one" (579). ... Although he makes a claim at the end that this has made progress towards changing the climate of drinking, to us as the present audience, we can only agree or disagree that this would be a likely future, ("We have a ways to go, but we have made significant progress toward changing...

  • Word Count: 1056
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Days of our Lives

I thought that the law was very unfair; you can fight and die for your country but you can't drink, all other countries have a lower drinking age but here the age is twenty-one. ... To me, the idea of underage drinking was not practical it was realistic. ... All of a sudden my ideas about underage drinking when from a reality to a distant fantasy. ... As part of my punishment I was required to take a risk reduction class, which I found stimulating. ... In a way I am glad that I was required to take the Risk Reduction class because it helped me learn things about myself that I would n...

  • Word Count: 436
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

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