Topic > Underage Drinking Laws in the United States

For many years, there has been debate about whether the United States should lower the drinking age to 18 or keep it at 21. In the 1980s the drinking age was raised to 21 to decrease the number of deaths that occur and decrease the number of minors drinking. But that hasn't stopped underage drinking. Another important factor in this was President Reagan. He issued a requirement for all states to raise the drinking age, and if they didn't raise it, they risked losing highway funding from the government. In the United States, when you turn 18 you are considered an adult. You can get married, vote, adopt children, drive, and even risk your life by serving in the U.S. military. However, they are not even allowed a glass of champagne for the New Year's Eve party. They are “adults” to the point of drinking alcohol. This has been one of the most ongoing topics because it has many controversial opinions. There is evidence that lowering the drinking age to 19 would reduce cases of alcohol abuse among those under 21. The United States has one of the strictest underage drinking laws in the world. Yet it has the highest number of alcohol-related problems among its young people. Furthermore, there seems to be a relationship between these two aspects. One of the most popular arguments is that it could reduce or even eliminate unsafe drinking activities. One of the most dangerous times to drink in the United States is between the ages of 18 and 20. At age 18, people gain all their legal rights as adults, except the right to drink. By also allowing controlled drinking for those in this age group, risky alcohol-related behaviors that can lead to poor decisions could be reduced or eliminated. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay There are fewer drunk driving accidents in countries with lower drinking ages. A great example of why we should lower the drinking age is found in other countries. In many countries around the world, the legal age for drinking alcohol is already 18 years old. These countries have seen a greater reduction in drunk driving incidents than in the United States, where the legal age is 21. Lowering the drinking age would eliminate thrill drinking. In the critical age range of 18 to 20, binge eating episodes often occur simply because it's exciting to break the law. We can eliminate the thrill by lowering the drinking age and the adrenaline will also disappear, encouraging normal alcohol consumption in the critical age group. The United States has the highest legal drinking age in the entire world. No country has a higher one. Raising the drinking age to 21 was a radical social experiment both culturally and historically. Most other countries have a minimum drinking age of 18 and rarely enforce it vigorously. With the exception of Islamic countries, most of the world has a much more relaxed attitude towards youth alcohol consumption. As a result, they suffer less from alcohol-related problems among their youth. The United States has the strictest youth drinking laws in the Western world. Internationally, laws on underage drinking are sweeping. Most adults aged 18, 19 and 20 consume alcoholic beverages. In fact, by raising the drinking age we have made drinking a sign of “true adulthood.” Therefore, our laws have made drinking even more attractive. And drinking to excessit has become a standard way of rebelling against what they consider to be an unjust and immoral law. In another research of mine I conducted this: "They say that your brain is not fully developed until the age of 25. Therefore teenagers should not drink alcoholic beverages since their central nervous system is still developing, i its neural pathways are more sensitive and alcohol use can abuse several functions. Alcohol use in adolescents can bring emotional, cognitive, social and physiological changes and problems. In addition to various problems, adolescents have characteristics that make the. alcohol a more dangerous substance than most adults: • Demanding attitude - this characteristic can lead adolescents to break the rules, not only to drink alcohol but also to exaggerate and drink too much • Also the search for independence, the separation of parents are characteristics that can lead adolescents to consume alcohol as a form of belonging to the adult world, or something like: "I am not a child, I have grown up, I am an adult", now I can do adult things, like drinking for example . "• The evolution of sexuality and the search for a partner can also encourage the use of alcohol as a substance that helps adolescents overcome the shyness of the first attempts at sexual contact. • Compared to adults, adolescents get drunk much more quickly because they have lower body mass, lower tolerance to alcohol and inexperience with its effects, which makes them unable to control the amount, making it more difficult to control the amount consumed • Finally, adolescents are generally very vulnerable to pressure of peers, a characteristic that makes it difficult to refuse an invitation to drink, “Today scientific evidence supports a simple fact. The early introduction of drinking is the safest way to reduce youth alcohol abuse. Spain and Argentina rarely abuse alcohol. They learn to drink within the family, which sees drinking in moderation as natural and normal. Young people in these societies rarely embarrass themselves or their families by abusing alcohol. In Portugal and New Zealand there are no minimum age requirements for drinking alcohol. In many countries, sixteen-year-olds can eat in restaurants when accompanied by their parents or another adult. Australia and South Africa have an 18 year minimum. The researchers pointed out that minimum drinking age laws in the United States are a post-Prohibition phenomenon. Before the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition), states rarely prohibited minors from drinking. Informal controls regulated alcohol consumption among adolescents. Family, community, peers, and self-control exerted control. The only successful controls on alcohol consumption over the centuries have been social and cultural constraints. Despite the dissolution of the family unit, the vast majority of young people in America are upstanding citizens. The twisted logic of minimum drinking age laws denies them this basic respect. Drinking alcohol with parents can perhaps teach them more responsible drinking habits. It can also take away some of the “thrill” or “excitement” of drinking. Dr. Kristie Long Fole, a senior researcher at Wake Forest University's School of Medicine, describes drinking with parents as a "protective" behavior. Dr. Foley concluded that “we should expect this result. Some societies and cultural groups have very high rates of alcohol consumption but very low rates of alcohol-related problems. They have some common keys to success. A key protective measure is for young people to learn about moderate alcohol consumption from their parents. And it!