The drinking age in all the states in the United States is 21. This is relatively higher than many other countries which have their drinking age limited to 18 years. People have debated for years on whether drinking age should be reduced or it should stay at the same age. Some have even advocated the drinking age to go below 18 years of age. There have been many reasons that have surrounded the reasons on why the steps should be taken to either decrease the age of drinking or leave it at the current age. Top psychiatrists have also been involved in the tussle as they also aim at proving their points on the issue. When people under 21 abuse alcohol they also involve themselves in other drugs like Marijuana. “We also find some evidence that the discrete jump in alcohol consumption at age 21 has negative spillover effects on marijuana use but does not affect the smoking habits of young adults” (Yörük, Barış & Ceren, 740-752). Therefore reducing this will also help curb other drug related problems. The point of my paper is that the drinking age should be reduced to 18 years in the United States.
I stand for the idea that the drinking should be reduced to the age of 18 years. It is inappropriate for the age of drinking to be set at 21. Many countries have set a minimum age at 18, and the system has been more successful than that of the United States. The system that is currently used only seems to frustrate the youth who have set their interests in drinking. Due to this, they might also indulge in taking of other drugs that might be illegal in the country. The age being set at 21 has many negative impacts that the projected positive impacts that the government aims to achieve. These problems can, therefore, be curbed by reducing the drinking age in the country. This will make sure that the adventurous youths will be able to realize the effects of the alcohol at an early age. Realizing it at the age of 21 is rather late and will not help much in making the youths make concrete decisions on whether they will drink or not. A study done shows that between the ages of 12-20, 10.0 million youths drink alcohol. This is 26.3% of their age group (McCartt, Anne, Laurie & Bevan, 173-181).
The first advantage of reducing the age of drinking is that the youths will be able to quest their thirst early in advance. This is the stage that most of them are through with school and also start becoming independent from their parents. They tend to want to test all that they can find including drugs. The thirst for use of such substances as alcohol can be quenched at this early age. This is also known as the ‘forbidden fruit syndrome’ whereby the youths use alcohol because it has been banned until they attain a certain age. They would, therefore, experiment so that they can find out the reasons why they are being stopped from consuming alcohol whenever they want to. This leads to addiction as they will always feel “naughty” after they have used the drugs behind the parents’ backs. They will feel the tendency take more and more alcohol and after a short period they will be addicted and lose the ability of stopping the behavior. If alcohol is introduced at an early age, it will not have any problems when compared to what has been contrasted so far.
The age will give the youths a chance to experience life as they grow up. This is based on their finances and other factors that are available for them to use. They will make concrete decisions that directly affect their life especially when it comes to using of drugs like alcohol and the rest. They should be able to focus on long term goals which have been hindered by the current minimum age of alcohol restriction. The age of 21 might be appropriate of giving them the advantages that are noticed from this. They will have outgrown the age that they might have been able to know the circumstances that the drugs can have by themselves. Education at school might help but to only a small percentage of people. This percentage will, therefore, not turn into a long-term dream that the government has had of ensuring that drugs like alcohol and bhang are eliminated from the system. The age of 21 can, therefore, be seen as a late age in which young people will realize advantages and disadvantages of drugs by themselves. It would be better if they found out by themselves.
An example of the abuse of alcohol by people under the age of 18 is in the American colleges. About four over five students drink alcohol in college. 1,825 students in colleges between the age of 18 to 20 die each year from alcohol related problems. “Almost all studies designed specifically to gauge the effects of drinking age changes show MLDAs of 21 reduce drinking, problematic drinking, drinking and driving, and alcohol-related crashes among young people” (Hingsong, 45). When the young people start taking the drugs, they do it in such an irresponsible manner. The cases of these incidents can be witnessed in almost all the colleges and universities in the United States. They have used as a badge of rebellion against the authority and saw it as a symbol of adulthood. If the age that the youths can start drinking then, these cases will decrease, and there will be no more ill behavior that will be noticed in young students. Most of them are through with school at the age of 18 years, and most are idle as they wait to join colleges. They can start using alcohol and by the time they are through with college they will know if to drink or not (Maisto, Stephen, Mark, and Gerard, 417-419).
The other reason that the age should be lowered to 18 is because they are also allowed to vote and serve in the military. If the government thinks that they can vote and serve in the military, then they surely have the right mind to make decisions on whether they are to drink or not. The choices that they make at the age are, therefore, ripe according to the tasks that they have been allowed. Therefore, restricting them from taking alcohol should be seen as a "bad social law". The government should give them all the rights that are given to adults who also vote and serve in the military. It will also show the youths that the government is concerned about them as they go about with their duties to serve the country.
There have also been many death related cases in college of students who die from alcohol. They have to take the alcohol while hiding that is very harmful due to the methods that they use to take them. Most students are aged from 18 to 20 the same age that has been restricted from taking alcohol. “A greater percentage of 18- to 24-year-old college students compared with non-college respondents drank five or more drinks on an occasion” (McCartt, Laurie & Bevan, 173-181). If they are allowed to take alcohol in public, it can be easily supervised and ensure that there are fewer cases of students dying from alcohol. The cases have become many that most colleges and universities are complaining about the situation. If the lecturers complain then, it shows that the deaths by the students have become a big menace. This can only be adjusted by allowing this group to take beer in public (Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter, and Robert, 103-105).They will learn from the experiences they encounter and stop the consumption of alcohol at a relatively young age.
When they drink while hiding, they will drink a lot of beer because they do not know the next time that they will be able to drink again. This will automatically put their lives at risk due to the heavy consumption that they will make to compensate for the time that they will lose. If they survive this they become heavy drinkers after they are allowed to drink. Rebellion at this stage is imminent as they feel that their adulthood is at stake and is also being undermined. It might cause family breakups and family tension. All this is because they feel that their position as adults is being undermined. The duty of the government is to safeguard its citizens, and this problem would have undermined it instead (Correia, Christopher, Murphy, and Barnett, 13-16).They should be sure to make families stick together and children to receive the care they deserve from their parents. It will cut the rate of people who do underground drinking, therefore, risking their lives in doing so. The rates of deaths in colleges will also reduce drastically, and studies will be carried out normally for people to help the country achieve its goals education wise.
Conclusion
I stand for the idea that the drinking age should be reduced to 18 years. It is inappropriate for the age of drinking to be set at 21. Many countries have set a minimum age at 18, and the system has been more successful than that of the United States. The first advantage of reducing the age of drinking is that the youths will be able to quest their thirst early in advance. This is the stage that most of them are through with school and also start becoming independent from their parents. They tend to want to test all that they can find including drugs. The thirst for use of such substances as alcohol can be quenched at this early age. It will also reduce the rate of criminal cases in the colleges. Many college heads have also been calling for the reduction of the drinking age to 18. This is because 18 year olds are considered as adults.
The other reason that the age should be lowered to 18 is because they are also allowed to vote and serve in the military. If the government thinks that they can vote and serve in the military, then they surely have the right mind to make decisions on whether they are to drink or not. The choices that they make at the age are, therefore, ripe according to the tasks that they have been allowed. There have also been many death related cases in college of students who die from alcohol. They have to take the alcohol while hiding that is very harmful due to the methods that they use to take them. Most students are aged from 18 to 20 the same age that has been restricted from taking alcohol. The age being set at 21 has many negative impacts that the projected positive impacts that the government aims to achieve. These problems can, therefore, be curbed by reducing the drinking age in the country. This will make sure that the adventurous youths will be able to realize the effects of the alcohol at an early age.
Work Cited
Correia, Christopher J, James G. Murphy, and Nancy P. Barnett. College Student Alcohol Abuse: A Guide to Assessment, Intervention, and Prevention. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Internet resource. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=N_Irk7IUKR8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=College+Student+Alcohol+Abuse:+A+Guide+to+Assessment,+Intervention,+and+Prevention.
Hingson, Ralph W. "Magnitude and prevention of college drinking and related problems." Alcohol Research & Health 33.1-2 (2010): 45. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3887494
Maisto, Stephen A, Mark Galizio, and Gerard J. Connors. Drug Use and Abuse. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2011. Print. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=XjLDlr3IilAC&pg=PR2&lpg=PR2&dq=Drug+Use+and+Abuse.+Belmont,+CA:+Wadsworth,+2011.+Print.&source
McCartt, Anne T., Laurie A. Hellinga, and Bevan B. Kirley. "The effects of minimum legal drinking age 21 laws on alcohol-related driving in the United States." Journal of safety research 41.2 (2010): 173-181. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article
Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter, and Robert J. Fogelin. Understanding Arguments: An Introduction to Informal Logic. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2005. Print. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Understanding_arguments.html
Yörük, Barış K., and Ceren Ertan Yörük. "The impact of minimum legal drinking age laws on alcohol consumption, smoking, and marijuana use: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design using exact date of birth." Journal of Health Economics 30.4 (2011): 740-752. Retrieved from http://www.iza.org/conference_files/riskonomics2011/yoruk_b6699.pdf
