The Legal Age For Drinking Should Not Be Reduced: A Top-Quality Essay For Your Inspiration

There is sufficient proof that links heavy drinking (HED) to somber issues amongst university pupils. This has led to a debate across the country on whether the minimum legal age drinking should be reduced from 21 to 18. Considering a number of issues, I believe that the minimum age drinking should not be lowered. First, lowering the drinking limit to 18 will pave way for teens to be drinking in bars patronized by adults aged between 21 and 34. These adults are likely to drink more heavily than the teens because they have had many years of drinking. The 18 year old teens are likely to be exposed to high drinking habits. These norms might influence the youngsters in negative ways which might lead them to be chronic drinkers at tender ages of 20 and above. It is, however, argued that if the minimum age is to be lowered, then the teens should only be allowed to drink in unsupervised locations. All in all, most of them will find their way into the adult bars, and so the reason the age should not be lowered. Research has also revealed that if the legal drinking age is 21 and not 18, those below the age of 21 drinks little and is also likely to continue drinking little after 21. The minor tempo of consumption below 21 will not guarantee an elevated rate of consumption after 21. However, if the legal age is reduced to 18, there is a high likelihood that the teens will have a higher rate of consumption afterwards in life. The ones who begin consuming alcohol at the age of 18 are expected to be alcohol reliant in life than the ones who begin at 21. Moreover, youths who start drinking at 18 are expected to have two times the chances of drinking to intoxication than the ones who begin to drink at 21.
The legal age of drinking should be maintained at 21 because there are many negative factors that are associated with drinking at 18. According to a study on the effects of drinking at an early age, youths who begin consumption of alcohol at the age of 18 have a 30 to 50 % possibility of injuring themselves while on the manipulation of liquor. This is also accompanied by the increasing threat of being implicated in accidents because of consuming a lot of alcohol in the past years. The youngsters are also at a 50-60% chance of engaging in physical fights because of their immaturity. This is much compared to 25% for those who start drinking at 21 years. Moreover, when the legal age is reduced to 18, then the youth between ages 16-18 will also start drinking because they will obtain alcohol from their 18 years peers. The scenario was above was evident in New Zealand when the government reduced the drinking age from 20 to 18. Within that period, the alcohol-related crashes increased with the most affected being the 15-17 year olds. This is why I consider reducing the consumption age to 18 will alleviate the youngsters drinking troubles. Early drinking by the youth has also projected a significant increase in future risks caused by alcohol. Some of the risks include addiction, accidents, physical fights, and injuries, among others. Studies show that the teenagers who start drinking at the tender age of 15 are 12 times more likely to be unintentionally injured than those who start drinking at 21. Also, early drinking may lead the teens to other unsociable behavior such as sex, pornography, using other drugs such as cocaine and tobacco among others. In the process, the youths end up contracting sexually transmitted infections because of the parties and orgies.
The current legal age is working and has seen a tremendous improvement in accidents and other drinking-related problems. From 1982 to 2004, drinking drivers aged 21 and above involved in fatal accidents has reduced by 33%, according to a survey. Also, accidents caused by drinking drivers below that age of 20 significantly reduced by 62 % during the same period. The reduction in the number of accidents has been caused by tougher legislations, a great public awareness, and better enforcement of the legal age. The age limit of drinking has also resulted to a tremendous reduction in the number of suicide cases, homicides, and unintentional injuries, among others. Studies have revealed that if the legal age of drinking is reduced to 18 in the United States, then there would be increased rates of deaths caused by drinking. Setting the age limit at 21 is also cost effective than setting the age at 18, which begs for the government intervention to solve the externalities. According to scholars, if at all the government will reduce the legal age to 18, and then it should drinking licenses to those teens that complete a course in alcohol education. However, there is no evidence that upon completing the course there will not be issues with drinking among the teenagers. There are policies that the government can adopt and control the drinking of underage teens. Some of them include better enforcement of laws against alcohol sales to minors. Some programs, such as Communities That Care (CTC) engages the society on the dangers of allowing young people to drink alcohol. This intervention include school based programs, family based programs, among others. In conclusion, there is strong evidence that reducing the legal age of drinking to 18 has negative impacts on the society. therefore, the legal age should remain at 21.