Nissa Holguin

04-14-14
Community Problem

Lowering the Drinking Age

You are eighteen. In the eyes of the general public, you are considered responsible
enough to drive, informed enough to vote, and mature enough to risk your life for your country.
Yet you still cant buy a beer. If this is you, then you are most likely living in America; one of the
only four countries with a legal drinking age of 21 the highest in the world. Lowering the
drinking age will not possess the kind of health concerns advocated by the hubris of experts. In
fact it will not only change the clandestine binge drinking, but lower teenage alcohol-related
problems.
Morris, E. Chafetz, a doctor of psychiatry and founder of the National Institute for
Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse has reported no evidence of massive brain impairment or alcohol
dependency which the experts tell is the inevitable result of lowering the minimum legal drinking
age (MLDA) in the United States. Its the way people drink, not the fact of drinking. In many
countries with lower minimum drinking ages, 15- and 16-year-olds are less likely to become
intoxicated compared with teenagers in the U.S. Studies show that the younger someone starts
drinking, the greater the likelihood of developing alcohol dependance. Brenda Chabon, professor
of clinical psychiatry and behavioral science says, Between 13 and 18, the effect is dramatic,
But between 18 and 21 its visible but insignicant. (Should the Legal Drinking Age be
Lowered?, 2013) Action should be taken to keeping 13-year-olds from drinking, not keeping the
18-year-olds from drinking. What would harm a developing brain is the repeated hangovers,
blackouts and head trauma from falling. If someone were drinking moderately from the age of
18, data shows that there wouldnt be harmful effects in the long run.
51 percent of all young people between 18 and 20 are considered binge drinkers,
consuming more than four or ve drinking during a single occasion. (Should the Legal Drinking
Age Be Lowered, 2013) The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) 21 has done more harm than
good. The principal problem today is not drunken driving. The principal problem today is
clandestine binge drinking. French or Italian children learn to think of alcohol a part of a meal
where as the American counterparts learn to drink in the unmonitored environment of a basement
or the backwoods with their friends. All this current age limit has created is a culture of hidden
drinking and disrespect for the law. The law does not say drink responsibly or drink in
moderation. It says dont drink. Young adults should be prepared to make responsible decisions
about alcohol in the same way society prepares them to operate a motor vehicle: by rst
educating and then licensing, and allowing them to have the full privileges of adulthood so long
as they abide by the law. 30 years later we are in a much different and better place. A place where
designated driver is now a part of our vocabulary. Michelle Minton, a consumer policy studies
and conservative think tank in Washington DC, who handles the issue of beverage industry
regulation states that the problem today is reckless, goal-oriented alcohol consumption that all
too often takes place in clandestine locations, where enforcement has proven frustratingly
difcult. (Teens at Risk, 2013) All the current age limit does is make drinking for those younger
than 21 an illegal and furtive experience, with little to no chance for adult oversight and care.
In 1984, a law was passed that stied any serious debates in our countrys state legislative
chambers: Any state that sets its drinking age lower than 21 forfeits 10 percent of its annual
federal highway appropriation. But its not 1984 anymore. When Congress raised the drinking
age they were addressing the problem of drunken-driving fatalities, but at the time no young
adults were prepared to make responsible decisions about alcohol. McCardell, the founder and
president of Choose Responsibility, a nonprot organization fostering public debate of the
repercussions of having the drinking age at twenty-one, says,It was as though the driving age
were lowered but no drivers education were provided. (Teen Drug Abuse, 2011). The decrease
in trafc fatalities since the nationwide introduction of minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) 21
can be attributed to higher safety standards, law enforcement, airbags and safety belts rather than
to the increase in the legal drinking age. As well as, American teenagers learn to drive many
years before they can legally drink, they often overestimate their driving abilities and have less
of an understanding of how alcohol consumption affects their ability to drive. Teenagers need
good parenting, proactive schools and the development of responsible drinking behaviors. A law
enforcement system treating underage drinking as criminals and a federal system that directs
funds to highways based on a states drinking age does very little to teach young adults how to
respond properly towards alcohol.
What makes 21 the magical number to drink? You are an adult at 18 and if you are old
and responsible enough to go to war, get married, vote, or sign a contract, then you are old and
responsible enough to buy a beer. You are old and responsible enough to toast to living in a
country that respects and protests individual rights. This out of control drinking may be fueled
but the age 21 laws, which only drive underage youth to drink in dark corners and apart from the
adults who only want to help. Lowering the drinking age will not only give the youth the
responsibility that much of society could teach, but it could potentially save some lives from
someone chugging back four, ve, six beers for their one night of fun.