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Lowering The Drinking Age

O.K. So you’re finally eighteen. You’re a legal adult! Suddenly you can smoke, vote, join the army, fornicate, or even die for your country.{Increasing legal drinking age} But wait! STOP! Put down that beer! You are still not old enough to buy or consume alcoholic beverages. No, you will have to wait three more years for that, until your twenty-one. Well I for one believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen.

If we are considered an adult and expected to act like one at age 18 it isn’t right to restrict us to a drinking age of 21. At eighteen you can drive cars, fly planes, marry, vote, pay taxes, take out loans and risk our lives as members of the U.S. armed forces.(crossfire) But laws in all 50 states say that no alcoholic beverages may be sold to anyone until that magic "21" birthday. Who says that twenty-one is the magical age that makes one intelligent and mature enough to consume alcohol? [CrossFire] Surely some adults abuse alcohol and some teenagers would be perfectly able to drink responsibly. While 21 may be the legal drinking age in the U.S., no scientific evidence exists proving this is the age at which young people can safely begin drinking alcohol. (Bryan Knowles) At 18, they're considered adults. Yet when they want to enjoy a drink like other adults, they are, as they put it, "disenfranchised."(Rally)

By lowering the drinking age it would take away some of the temptation. Its not as much fun when its allowed! The most common reason for underage drinking is because alcohol is seen as “the forbidden fruit” or” a badge of rebellion against Authority” and as a symbol of “adulthood”.[Dr. Engs] In a study by Dr. Ruth Engs, Professor of applied health and science, found that by increasing the legal drinking age, young people tend to abuse alcohol more. In actuality raising the drinking age was much worse than doing nothing.{Dr. Engs, B} Drinking is more exciting when it is illegal. So many people go out and get more drunk simply because they know they should not be drinking at all.

Leaving prohibitions on alcohol largely to the family is the best tactic if the aim is to reduce binge drinking by minors. We should also focus on safe drinking instead of age restrictions. Other countries like France, Spain, and...

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