Why the Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered to Eighteen
By: Mike • Essay • 1,984 Words • March 4, 2010 • 1,798 Views
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Why The Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered To Eighteen
In the United States, it is illegal to consume alcohol until the age of twenty-one.
At the age of 18 people are considered adults. “The right of citizens of the United States,
who are eighteen-years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or any state on account of age (Amendment 26, Section 1 of the
Constitution). At the age of eighteen, a person can get married, vote, drive, take out
loans, pay taxes, buy tobacco, have sex, be tried as an adult, have children, use credit
cards, buy real estate, act independently of parents and be in the armed forces and die for
their country.
If we look at Vietnam War, half of the soldiers that fought in that war were under the age
of twenty-one, and a lot of them were 17 to 19 years old. Yet that person still can not
drink alcohol. Also we can smoke when we are eighteen. Smoking kills just as many
people if not more than drinking. Smoking causes cancer, and many more conditions
compared to drinking that causes liver problems only after sever abuse of it. Smoking has
many chemicals including carbon monoxide which is so poisonous that we have alarms
in our house that detect it, but we can smoke and not drink. We can vote when we are
eighteen. We vote for bills and bonds that change our lives. We can vote for the senators
and the entire Congress that propose laws that govern our society. We vote for the
President who is the commander of millions of troops whom he can send to their deaths
in a minute’s warning. It is imperative that the drinking age be lowered to the age of
eighteen. The drinking age must be lowered to the age of eighteen because this age
would be consistent with other responsibilities that the government grants
eighteen-year-olds. For instance, at the age of eighteen, a person is liable to be in the
armed forces. If a person is being trusted to fight or even possibly die for their country, it
seems a lot less crucial to trust them with an alcoholic beverage. To add to the fact of
dying for their country, these people are being counted on to kill other humans. This
seems unreasonable that a person is liable to take on an adult’s job, that involves the
future of the country, and still be unable to enjoy an activity that other adults are allowed
to participate in. For instance, when a person reaches the age of eighteen he or she can
leave their parents’ home or be kicked out, and become their own legal guardian. They
no longer are required to have their parents sign their name to any documents pertaining
to them, and are now considered an adult except when it comes to the consumption of
alcoholic beverages. When a person eighteen or older commits a crime they will be tried
as an adult. Once a person turns eighteen, they no longer go to kindergarten prison
(Juvenile Hall) when they are convicted of a crime, but instead they go to jail, state
prison, federal prison, or death row depending on the severity. They are now held fully
responsible for their own actions, and must accept the consequences.
On one's 18th birthday the law no longer views him as a child yet he is restricted
from many places of social activity. Bars and many dance clubs are strictly for those 21
and over due to the legal drinking age in America, so many legal adults are not permitted
entry. Clearly a decrepency exists beween an 18 year old adult and a 21 year old adult;
however,