The Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Drinking Age

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“You have got to realize that when I was 20 years old, I had a house, a Mercedes, a Corvette and a million dollars in the bank before I could buy alcohol legally.”(“Drinking Age ProCon") This quote is from Dr. Dre a well-known producer in the hip hop genre. Alcohol has become a much debated topic in recent years, whether or not it should be consumed by the age of 18 or waiting until people reach the more mature age of 21. Alcohol has influenced enormous amounts of controversy among young people and adults. This debate has a lot of history, pros and cons, and policy making behind it. Legal Drinking age is defined as the age in which a person can consume or purchase alcoholic beverages. The first real regulation on alcohol began in the early …show more content…
They also argue that the age of adulthood in the United States is 18 and at this age an individual is considered responsible enough to enlist in the military, get married, even enter into legal contracts and vote; thus should be considered responsible enough to consume or purchase alcohol. However, underage drinking is also growing problem in the military ("Drinking Age ProCon"). The legal drinking age for a U.S. soldier is 21 no matter what country they are stationed. Alcohol is very easily obtained and although soldiers are in a very controlled environment with strict rules and consequences alcohol is still a major problem. Problems among underage drinkers in the military include: serious consequences 15.8%, alcohol-related productivity loss 19.5%, hazardous drinking 25.7%, harmful drinking 4.6% and possible dependence 5.5%. Alcohol has also increased the current divorce rate of young adults age 18-20 is 50%. Eighteen year olds are able to enter into contracts, purchase cars, get a credit card; however, even the lending establishments require someone over 21 who has shown responsibility to co-sign. Although 18 year olds are legally able to vote, less than 19% of those eligible vote ("Drinking Age ProCon")? How is this showing they …show more content…
In my opinion, lowering the drinking age to 18 is just going to add fuel to the fire, and will cause more problems to the community. At 18 most teens are just graduating high school and are entering a whole new era in their lives. They are just learning responsibility and feeling the struggles and pressures of adulthood. Most will be leaving the security of their parent’s homes going on to college, the military, getting full time jobs, and or starting families of their own ("Lowering the Legal Drinking Age”). This is why if people decide to start introducing alcohol into their lives they have a possibility of not succeeding, in the case of starting to drink alcohol and getting addicted to it. They will no longer have the support systems they once had to help them deal with the influences of alcohol. While statistics show teens are going to drink given permission or not, why give them the extra push? Legally lowering the age to 18 will only make it easier to obtain alcohol and frequent uncontrolled establishments"(Lowering the Legal Drinking Age”). Give them a few more years to learn responsibility and get used to true adulthood. Underage drinking can have a huge effect on your
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