The appropriate minimum drinking age is a controversial issue in the United States. The American Constitution defines 21 as the minimum drinking age. However, the provision has faced serious criticism with some people advocating for the lowering of this limit (Ellis 36). Some people feel that the National Minimum Drinking Age should be reduced to 18 years. This controversy has led to some states within America allowing teens from the age of 18 to drink alcohol. Drawing from Helzer and Canino’s report, 64% of 18 years old Americans consume alcohol with 75% of them being men (124). Studies highlight that those individuals who start taking alcohol at an earlier age experience serious harm than ones who start drinking at the late age (Ellis 80). The paper explores the controversial issue of establishing the appropriate minimum drinking age in America.
Initially, lowering drinking age would obviously result in an increase in the number of the teens consuming alcohol. This is detrimental because the condition is likely to result in increased accidents as teens considerably engage in reckless driving. According to Ellis (40), teens are likely to cause accidents than adults. This is also supported by statistics that highlight that most traffic accidents in America are caused by drunken teens (USNHTSA). Some states such as Texas, Colorado and New York that have set the minimum drinking to 18 have registered an increase in road accidents. About 78% of traffic accidents in states that have lowered the minimum drinking age are caused by teens who are under alcohol influence. According to USNHTSA, the alcohol-related accidents associated with the drunken teens in America were 47.2% of the total accidents in the year 1997. There is an apparent correlation between alcohol consumption and the likelihood of one causing an accident. Alcohol impairs judgment and interferes with the vision; thus, balancing oneself and the car becomes challenging. It is apparent that a driver affected in such manner is likely to cause an accident. Some people argue that they can monitor children even if the minimum was age was lowered. Claiming to be able to control the teens is essentially not a valid argument. In many cases, such youths always want to be at top speeds even in heavy traffic and are likely not to observe traffic guidelines. With the influence of alcohol, they might cause an accident. To reduce these alcohol-related accidents, the minimum legal drinking age should not be reduced.
Lowering the Drinking Age will also lead to the increase in the number of alcoholics in the country. Alcohol and people who drink cause a serious financial burden to the nation. The current estimates of the financial burden that alcohol abuse imposes on America range from $150-$300 billion a year (Gifford 85). With this great loss already being incurred, lowering the drinking age would be a considerably lethal undertaking. Alcohol abuse is characterized with diverse detrimental consequences that stretch from economic to socio-political issues. The problem is even severe when one starts drinking at an early age. This is in the sense that alcoholism is likely to distract someone’s life more severely when he/she starts drinking at an early age than at the late age. For instance, one may become disorganized before completing important life phases such as education or organizing his or her family. The effect would be less severe among individuals who start abusing alcohol at late age after they have already planned their life. Furthermore, it is obvious that cases of addiction would be higher when individuals start drinking at an early age. The country cannot bear the serious loss that result from addiction, which affirms the need of increasing the minimum drinking age to reduce this problem.
The apparent harmful effects that characterize alcohol consumption and the vulnerable nature of the teens assert the need of increasing the minimum drinking age. This is in the sense that teens are arguably not mature enough to take alcohol responsibly. Alcohol and alcoholic beverages are dangerous to the human body. The use of alcohol is harmful to the brain development especially of the young people. Most teens are at school going age; thus, a product that affects their aggressive brains is not recommendable. When underage teens are allowed to consume alcohol by the law, there will be cases of underdeveloped brains among the youths. This can often result in permanent brain damage (Gifford 85). The prolonged use of alcohol is also associated with various diseases of the body organs such as liver and stomach. For instance, alcohol causes liver cirrhosis and stomach cancer. This can be a burden to treat at a later age since it causes serious loss as most finances are channeled to hospitals. Furthermore, the state reduces the productivity of the people, as they can be sick for long time. Studies also account that alcohol is a major cause of diabetes and blood sugar related problems (Ellis 39). Alcohol affects sugar’s stability in the blood. It is also responsible for malfunctioned body blood pressure, which results in either high or low blood pressure. These diseases are chronic and are the major causes of death in the American society. The Minimum Drinking Age should, therefore, not be reduced to avoid these diseases in the country. It is clear that lowering the legal drinking age is tantamount to increasing the diseases and the mortality rate in the country.
The proposers of the idea of reducing the National Minimum Drinking Age argue that by the age 18, an individual is already mature enough to engage in responsible drinking. They argue that being a mature, responsible person, such as a person has the right to decide the actions to take. Among these decisions include alcohol consumption. America considers a person to be an adult by the age of 18. One can own property, vote and participate in any national exercise. Such person’s judgments of how to act is allowed provided it is within the law. They should also, therefore, be allowed to judge for themselves whether to drink or not, as in the case with other important decisions. They also cling to the fact that at this age, one has been allowed by the law to use other forms of drugs and alcohol should be allowed too. Furthermore, the law has allowed the consumption of substances such as tobacco (Ellis 39). Therefore, it becomes questionable why drinking alcohol has not yet been allowed in America at the age of 18. Most people who consume alcohol also consume tobacco yet drinking is still illegal. They also argue that banning alcohol for teens will increase their urge to drink. This is because they are always geared toward trying new things, including those who are against the law. It is, however, arguable that being an adult does not guarantee that someone will be at the position to make sound decisions. This dismisses the argument, as it does not present as a valid reason for lowering the Minimum Drinking Age. The law may identify 18 as the adult age, but individual at this stage are still considerably vulnerable, which affirms the need for regulation.
In conclusion, it is apparent that there is the need of re-thinking about the controversial issue of the minimum drinking age. Consumption is a negative activity that should not be encouraged to occur among the teens. The current minimum drinking age is reasonable and reducing it will be of great danger to the American nation (Gifford 34). Reducing the National Minimum Drinking Age to 18 will lead to further increase in the number of accidents on the road thus the casualties. Furthermore, the practice can increase the number of alcoholics and lead to serious health and medical complications. It is clear that reducing the minimum drinking age will attract more detrimental effects than benefits to the American society. The arguments presented by the individual in the support of the idea of lowering the minimum age are not adequate. It, therefore, becomes unchallengeable that the National Minimum Drinking Age should not be reduced. Indeed, an option of increasing the minimum drinking age should be considered. Such a move would attract many benefits to the American society. However, the legal national minimum drinking age is a matter that should be discussed with several points of view before a decision is made.
Works Cited
Gifford, Maria L. Alcoholism. California: ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print.
United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (USNHTSA). Drinking age 21: Facts, Myths and Fiction. U.S. Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1985. Print.
Ellis, Wayland. Abolish The Drinking Age: The Conservative Case Against Alcohol Regulation. Lulu Inc, 2016. Print.
Helzer, John E. and Canino, Glorisa J. Alcoholism in North America, Europe, and Asia. Oxford University Press, 1992. Print.
