Lowering the Legal

Drinking Age in the US

Would it have a Positive or Negative Effect on Young Adults?
Alyssa Rankin

Historical Background

How long has America been struggling with alcohol and the law?

American culture, civilization, and even law has always had a significant Christian influence. Starting in the mid

1800s, alcohol was very inexpensive and abundant around the US. Most of the alcohol was consumed by male
adults. With the increased drinking rates came an increase in domestic violence, on which the laws during the time
were very weak and lenient. As the issue began to progress, women and Christians began to protest the sale of
alcohol. In attempts to lower crime rates and appease protesters, the US government passed an amendment to
make the sale of alcohol illegal in the 1920s. This movement was known as Prohibition.

Why did they allow the consumption of alcohol again?

They found that making alcohol illegal just heightened amount of crime, and discovered government regulation of
these actions made it safer and profitable for the US with the addition of the excess tax, which is a higher tax
used on things like tobacco products and alcoholic beverages. The government also enforced stricter domestic
abuse laws in order to reduce violence rates.

Was the Legal Drinking Age always 21?

No, in 1984 the United States government passed a bill that took away any individual states federal infrastructure

funding if they did not increase the legal drinking age to 21. Technically, this makes alcohol laws a state mandated
issue.

Are there any exceptions to the law?

Yes, the exceptions vary state by state. Some of these exceptions include: for religious purposes, if adults under
21 are on private property with or without parental or adult supervision, and even for educational purposes.

Pros of Lowering the Legal Drinking Age

18 has become a pivotal age marking the beginning of adulthood.
At 18 legally a citizen is considered an adult and has the privilege to vote, buy tobacco, be tried as an adult in
legal courts, and go to war, yet they dont have the ability to buy or consume alcohol.

One of the reasons the drinking age was raised is to keep young adults from the unsafe habit of binge drinking, or
consuming large amounts of alcohol in short time intervals. As an effect of raising the drinking age, they raised the
amount of young adults likelihood to binge drink; because they are unable to drink in monitored public areas, they
feel the need to intake large amounts of alcohol in short periods of time

Although the United States increased the MLDA to 21 in 1984, its rate of traffic accidents and fatalities in the
1980s decreased less than that of European countries whose legal drinking ages are lower than 21.

This proves that fewer traffic fatalities was not a result of raising the legal drinking age. Studies have found
that the lowering in traffic fatalities was likely due to an improvement in car manufacturing and safety belts.

Lowering the legal drinking age would also take the hype and thrill some young adults see in breaking the law.
Less than 1 in every 500 underage drinking cases ends in a citation, this leads to an increased disrespect and
disregard for the law.

Lowering the legal drinking age would also create a larger taxable consumer market leading to increased government
profits from the sale of alcohol, thus boosting and expanding the internal economy.

Cons of Lowering the Legal Drinking Age

Lowering the legal drinking age would allow 18-20 year olds to drink in bars, clubs, and concerts. This
can put them at risk for damger.

While this is true, lowering the legal drinking age also allows them to drink responsibly in private
homes with parental guidance or adult supervision, decreasing the prevalence of binge drinking
among young adults.

Alcohol consumption can interfere with the development of a young adult brain's frontal lobes
While this is true, the frontal lobe doesnt finish fully developing until the age of 25, making it
unsafe to consume alcohol at the legal age of as well.

One of the reasons why the legal drinking age was raised in the 80s, was to reduce the amount of

driving fatalities. Yet, statistics show that the most traffic fatalities are among people that have just
earned the right to legally drink (21-25 year olds). Meaning, if the legal drinking age was lowered, the
fatalities would stay constant, but shift to the younger age group of newly legal drinkers (18-21).

Conclusion
Through my research, I have found that the increased drinking age has had
little positive effect on the US and created many negative issues. I propose a
retraction of the pervious law, and a lowering the legal drinking age to 18.
Doing this will increase an obedience to the law, a decreased amount of
binge drinking, and it will give adults more rights and entitlements.

Sources
"Under Age Drinking." MADD. Web. 4 Mar. 2015. <http://www.madd.org/underagedrinking/why21/>.

"Legal Age 21." Choose Responsibility. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.

<http://www.chooseresponsibility.org/legal_age_21/>.

"Should the Legal Drinking Age be Lowered?." Minimum Legal Drinking Age. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.
<http://drinkingage.procon.org/>.

Carpenter, Christopher, and Carlos Dobkin. "The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Public
Health." (2011): Web. 9 Mar. 2015.

"Lowering the Legal Drinking Age: An Analysis of the Pros and Cons." Speak Up Prevention
Coalation. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.speakupcoalition.org/positionpaper_lowering_drinking_age/>.