Pros And Cons Of Drinking Age

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Does an Age Really Matter?
The legal age to drink and possess alcohol today is twenty-one but it has not always been that way. On July 17, 1984 The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was passed. It mandated that every state be required to change their legal drinking age to twenty-one. Before the act under their own discretion every state could choose which age they allowed their citizens to drink. The twenty-sixth amendment, which lowered the legal voting age from twenty-one to eighteen caused a lot of states to change their minimum drinking age to eighteen, nineteen or twenty (“State History of MLDA” procon.org). Although one may not see an issue with the minimum drinking age being lower than twenty-one, one can also, argue that it …show more content…
If the drinking age was to be lowered to eighteen many situations could go wrong. For instance, if the drinking age was eighteen bars and venues that allow drinking would be overcrowded and things could go wrong. A bar or nightclub is not what one would consider a safe environment, especially not for someone as young as eighteen. Since the drinking age is set to twenty-one it seems to be for mature adults that can handle the effects of alcohol. Unlike an eighteen year old a twenty-one year old should be mature and responsible when drinking. When consuming alcohol one should know not to operate heavy machinery, they should know when they have had too much and they should be able to help others prevent alcohol poisoning occurs. A minor could handle that but one can never be too sure. With the freedom of drinking alcohol, a minor may unconsciously forget about the effects of drinking and may consume more than they can handle. Lowell Horton, a professor of education says “the change in the law [raising the drinking age to twenty-one] was responsible for saving lives…” (Horton 28). By that, he means that since the drinking age was raised there has been less irresponsible situations to happen involving minors. Before the drinking age was raised, there was a high rate of eighteen to twenty year olds involved in alcohol related accidents (Horton 28), but now because it has been raised …show more content…
Excessive consumption of alcohol can be a really bad thing. Early consumption of alcohol can cause many health problems for young adults (“Prevailing Pros and Cons of Lowering the Drinking Age”). It can cause issues with brain development, which leads to other more serious issues. Issues such as, “vulnerability to addiction, dangerous risk-taking behavior, reduced decision-making abilities, memory loss, depression, violence, and the chances of suicide is greater” (“Top Pro & Con Arguments” drinkingage.procon.org). Things as such can cause a young adult to lose his or her life and never get to experience life. Drinking at an early age is both morally and physically irresponsible. Allowing a teenager to drink can mess up their future so the drinking age being twenty-one is allowing them to at least experience adulthood. For example, Collegedrinking.org says, “alcohol depresses nerves that control involuntary actions such as breathing and the gag reflex… alcohol will eventually stop these functions” (“Facts about Alcohol Overdose”). A dysfunction with an individual’s gag reflex can cause problems with choking and someone could possibly choke on their saliva and or vomit. To avoid all of those issues the drinking age should stay as is and give young teenagers a chance to mature and gain
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