Drinking Age

Lower Drinking Age

“Although the legal purchase age is 21 years of age, a majority of college students under this age consume alcohol but in an irresponsible manner. This is because drinking by these youth is seen as an enticing ‘forbidden fruit’” (Engs 1).The minimum drinking age in the United States should be set at 18 instead of 21.

“The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 required all states to raise their purchase and public possession of alcohol age to 21, or risk losing federal highway funds under the Federal Highway Aid Act” (Grant 2). The states are not necessarily obligated to raise the drinking age, but this very effective force pushes the states into raising the minimum drinking age. The government finds a way of soliciting the idea of a higher drinking age in order to reduce the drunk driving fatalities of teens. The states buy into this concept; even if they do not, they raise the minimum drinking age. The people need to apply pressure on the legislature to change the minimum drinking age.

Other countries have a lower minimum drinking age, some below the age of eighteen. “In Europe, the drinking age in some countries is 12, and is designed to acclimate youth at a younger age and develop better judgment skills” (Gravatte 1). This allows students to become aware of the true powers of alcohol and gives them an opportunity to experience how alcohol can affect a person's senses. This is a good concept for most countries to adopt. The United States is one of the few countries with the drinking age set at 21, but in comparison the United States has an equal number of drinking and driving fatalities to those of other countries if not more. Why should the

youth be restrained from experiencing a commonly used substance called alcohol?

Different groups such as Italians, Greeks, and Chinese allow drinking at a younger age. The result of allowing younger-aged students to consume alcohol is a lower desire to drink. “Alcohol is neither seen as a poison or