English 102
Drinking Age
People 18 years and older are considered adults and should be treated as such by being allowed to legally purchase and consume alcohol. The United States is one of the few countries that maintains a relatively high minimum legal drinking age of 21. Young adults the age of 18 can join and be deployed by the army buy cannot come home from war and purchase themselves an alcoholic beverage. At the age of 18, a U.S. citizen can vote in an election, defend and possibly die for their country and make all kinds of decisions regarding their life and body. If I want to vote democrat, I can. If I want ink up my body, I can. If I want to fill my lungs with smoke, I can do that too. Going wine tasting with some friends, however, is somehow too far. There is no reason 18-year-old adults should be denied the right to partake in alcohol. At the age of 18, I believe young adults are old enough to make their own decisions regarding alcohol. Even though the minimum legal drinking age is 21, many under 21 still consume alcohol illegally. Underage drinking is unsurprisingly common among college students. If anything, the high drinking age only drives young people to drink more alcohol and break more laws. Although lowering the age to drink won't stop the reckless drinking but might actually increase the binge drinking in young adults. But it will also help 18 year olds to regulate their drinking habits and learn at a young age to slow down.