Alexa Samano

English II

12-15-2017

Should The Drinking Age Be Lower?

Many citizens under the age of 21 have been illegally drinking while cases in court

discuss on lowering, raising, or keeping the legalized age to drink. Many agree that lowering the

drinking age would create issues to the community, not just the adolescent drinking. However,

many others believe that lowering the age of drinking should be allowed because by the age of

18 they are considered as adults and have the right to decide to drink like they have the right to

elect president and join the army. Lowering the drinking age below 21 shouldn’t be permitted for

studies show that a decrease in population would occur because of dangerous links that involve

underage drinking, legalizing drinking below 21 would affect the health of the adolescent, and it

could increase crime rates. ​For these reasons, the drinking age should not be lowered below 21.

A decrease in population would occur because of underage drinking. If the drinking age

is dropped below 21, the recklessness of teenagers will put the community in danger. The

association of alcohol with physical activities will harm the population. The recklessness of

teenagers would be worse if alcohol is consumed. Christopher Carpenter and Carlos Dobkin

states, “ ...motor vehicles accidents..homicides, suicides fall, and other accidents are all strongly

associated with alcohol consumption..are all strongly associated with alcohol consumption..

Around 80 percent of deaths among young adults are due to these “external” causes...young

people consume alcohol have the potential to affect the mortality rate of this population
substantially.” There are high risk dangers of allowing those under the age of 21 to drink.

Lowering the drinking age shouldn’t occur for multiple lives will be at stake because of a law

that permitted the drinking age to be less than 21. To teenagers that have not matured and are

reckless. It should also be common sense to notice that if teenagers by 16 can drive and then later

on be allowed to drink, the accidents of drinking and driving may increase and which could as

well mean the death rate will increase too. Lives will be at risk if the drinking age drops below

21. Adolescents drinking won’t just harm the community and affect the death rate, but also their

own health.

The health of the adolescent will be affected if drinking below the age of 21. The body of

any adolescent is still developing and changing, any interference with its growth can and will

permanently affect the adolescent for a lifetime. Any organ and cells in the body of an adolescent

can be affected if the adolescent drinks under the age of 21. The U.S Department “Drinking

alcohol during this period of rapid growth and development (i.e., prior to or during puberty) may

upset the critical hormonal balance necessary for normal development of organs, muscles, and

bones. Studies in animals also show that consuming alcohol during puberty adversely affects the

maturation of the reproductive system.” The drinking age shouldn’t be lowered below the age of

21 for their growth will affect their future. Clearly everyone knows that the brain isn’t fully

developed until the age of 21 or older, by allowing adolescents to drink, it could disfunction the

brain because it hasn’t been fully developed. The rest body hasn’t fully developed throughout the

teen years and therefore could cause future issues with the body and would then involve financial

aid one might not have the capability to afford. Legalizing drinking before the age of 21 would

cause a debt for the government because of family loaning money from banks in order to help
their loved ones get better in health. The government wouldn’t earn money, it would be losing it.

Adolescents won’t be the only ones to be affected by the drinking, the economy could be

involved and cause a financial crisis. By allowing the drinking age to be lowered, the law will be

allowing dysfunctional and ill adults to roam in the country. With drinking, their health is

affected, but also their mental state, allowing them to either cause trouble or be the one in

trouble.

The crimes that are typically caused by alcoholic beverages would increase if the

drinking age is lowered. When drinking, many that have drunk more than they can handle cannot

control their body or verbal communication. When under the influence of alcohol, they can either

be the victim or the perpetrator without it being in their control. Henry Wechsler and Toben F.

Nelson states, “Alcohol use is associated with a wide range of adverse health and social

consequences, including physical and sexual assault, unintended pregnancy, sexually

transmitted infection, violence, vandalism, crime, overdose, other substance use, and high-risk

behavior, resulting in a heavy burden of social and health costs. ​Drinking alcohol most

commonly begins during adolescence and early initiation of alcohol use is associated with

alcohol problems in adulthood.”

The streets are filled with danger and harm especially to those under the influence of alcohol for

they are easy victim targets. Some even under the influence of alcohol will be the cause of

danger. No family wants to deal go through courts if their child ends up being the perpetrator and

no family wants their child to be a victim. Families would be buried with debt and will need

loans if the drinking age was to be lowered below 21. Having the legal drinking age of 21 will

protect lives and prevent families and the adolescent from being broken and from paying costs
that will damage the economy and family. However, some believe drinking would put

adolescents in less danger.

On the contrary, many also believe that the drinking age should be lowered below 21. It

is against the law to drink if someone isn’t at the age of 21 or higher, and because of this,

adolescents sneak in alcohol to either parties or dorms. With that, the adolescents are

unsupervised and bring themselves harm or to others. This makes people believe that by

allowing adolescents to drink by lowering the drinking age, the adolescents can be supervised

when drinking and won’t be in harm’s way. Taylor Meagher states, “Allowing 18 to 20 year

olds, who are already considered adults, to drink alcohol while being in a regulated environment

would decrease unsafe drinking activity.” If the community cares about the protection of the

young adults, it should be allowed to lower the drinking age for it means they won’t be in

danger. Also, the drinking age should be lowered because by the age of 18, they’re considered

adults and have the right to drink by choice like they have the choice to vote, join the army, etc.

However, just because they are considered adults by law, it doesn’t mean they have the mentality

of an adult. They can still be reckless and put themselves in danger because after all, they want to

live life by having fun, not by being cautious. This would still mean they put themselves in

danger for the thrill of it, and when they’re drunk they won’t realize that. Additionally, parents

might not allow their son/daughter to drink even if the adolescent themself wants to and is at the

right of age. Therefore, the adolescent either way would sneak off to be able to drink away from

the supervision of their parents and put themselves in danger. Despite this, the drinking age

should not be lowered.

 All in all, the drinking age should not be lowered below the age of 21 for it can harm the

community and the underage drinkers as well. This could be done if they drinking age was

lowered by decreasing the population with reckless driving, harm the growth and health of the

adolescent, and could increase crime rates when the adolescent that drinks could be the victim or

the perpetrator. Lowering the age of being allowed to drink alcoholic beverages could possibly

put those in a safer environment and even if by the age of 18 they are considered adults, no

human behaves the same way and they can still be put at risk. It is a better option to not lower the

drinking age to protect adolescents from damaging their organs and putting themselves and

others at risk than to allow them to drink at a young age just because they are considered adults

when their mindset might not be. By not lowering the drinking age, adolescents and the

community wouldn’t be in danger and would instead be protected.

Annotated Bibliography -

Alcohol’s Effect on the Adolescent’s Brain - What Can Be Learned From Animal Models​,

Susanne Hiller-Sturmhöfel and H. Scott Swartzwelder,

Date: N/A, ​https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh284/213-221.htm​.

This article presents how alcohol can affect the developing brain of an underage drinker and is

done through experimentations with rodents. These experimentations give thorough data as to

how a rodent’s brain affected by alcohol would be very similar to how it would affect the human

brain. Throughout the article, it explains the changes in brain structure and function, sensitivity
in memory and hippocampal, and daily activities because of alcohol. The article states, “Because

the brain undergoes such extensive changes and remodeling during adolescence...disruption of

these processes by alcohol could lead to long-term alterations that influence adult behavior and

responses to alcohol....alcohol exposure during adolescence interferes with the developmental

processes that lead to adult sensitivity to alcohol’s effects on motor coordination.” This

elucidates that underage drinking will malfunction the natural process of the developing brain

and cause damage to future brain cells and other components of the brain during the years to

adulthood. This supports why the drinking age shouldn’t lower below the age of 21 because the

brain of the adolescents is still developing. Allowing them to drink when it would be legal for

them would mean allowing their health to be at risk of either dying or have long-term sickness.

Lowering the Drinkning Age Has Serious Consequences​, Tara Watson, February 10, 2015,

https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/02/10/you-must-be-21-to-drink/lowering-the-drin

king-age-has-serious-consequences

This newspaper article explains how lowering the legalizing age of drinking would cause bad

outcomes such as an increase poor decision making. Young adults are at risk of ruining their

lives because of being under the influence of alcohol. The article states, “Research by economists

Christopher Carpenter and ​Carlos Dobkin ​shows that arrest rates for violent and nuisance crimes

rise sharply at age 21 and persist through at least age 23.” By decreasing the drinking age, the

crime rates in the nation would increase and throughout the life of the young adult, it would

continue to get worse once continuously being under the influence of the alcoholic beverage.

This explains why the drinking age should not be lowered below 21 because very often young
adults are not capable of controlling their body, their emotions vary depending on what’s

occurring around them and they’re left vulnerable. Being under the influence can either mean

being the victim or the perpetrator, and either way it involves the increase in crime. By keeping

the legal age to drink above 21, the crime rates would not increase and many lives won’t be at

risk.

Lower the MLDA​,​ ​Taylor Meagher, June 2013,

https://558035936597420742.weebly.com/why-lower-the-mlda

This article states that alcohol should be lowered for the benefit of the 18 year olds safety and

they would be accustomed to the drinking throughout the years after the age of 18. Furthermore,

it states that statistics do not represent drunk driving accidents under the age of 21. It overalls

supports the idea of lowering the drinking age below 21. It states, “Allowing 18 to 20 year olds,

who are already considered adults, to drink alcohol while being in a regulated environment

would decrease unsafe drinking activity.” This supports that dropping the drinking age should be

allowed is because it would keep the community and themselves safe. No harm would come if

they weren’t afraid to be supervised because drinking below 21 at some limit is legal.

The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Public Health​, Christopher Carpenter and Carlos Dobkin,

September 28, 2011, ​https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3182479/​.

This article exhibits information such as surveys that explain how it affects the population and

economy. It additionally explains how the surveys can be reliable as support its stance on how

leaving the drinking age to 21 would be the right thing to do. This is supported using statistics
and analysis. The article itself states that most ideal accidents that involve harm and death is

associated with being under the influence of alcohol. 80% of young adults’ death that are not

legally permitted to drink are the cause for the probable decrease in population. This shows that

the minimum legal drinking age should not be lower than 21 for the lives of others and the nation

are threatened by young drinkers. The reason for the possible decrease in population because

many factors of accidents are because of being under the influence of alcohol and by lowering

the age for it to be legal to drink would mean allowing more life or death accidents to occur.

Underage Drinking​, U.S Department of Health & Human Services & Alcohol Alert, January

2006, ​https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa67/aa67.htm

In this article, it will be explained through research for the reason why adolescents drink, the

risks of drinking underage, and what can be done to prevent it. This article further explains the

consequences that can occur socially and in health. Many factors are involved that could cause

the urge to drink and many issues are at stake to those around a person and the person themself

once addicted. Laws too are involved to prevent tragedy in the youth population. The article

states, “Drinking alcohol during this period of rapid growth and development (i.e., prior to or

during puberty) may upset the critical hormonal balance necessary for normal development of

organs, muscles, and bones. Studies in animals also show that consuming alcohol during puberty

adversely affects the maturation of the reproductive system.” This supports why the drinking age

shouldn’t be lowered before the age of 21 is because their hormones will be affected. The body

hasn’t fully developed throughout the teen years and therefore could cause future problems with

the body and would then involve financial aid one might not have the capability to afford.
Legalizing drinking before the age of 21 would cause a debt for the government because of

family loaning money from banks in order to help their loved ones get better. Adolescents won’t

be the only ones to be affected by the drinking, the economy could be involved and cause a

financial crisis.

Will Increasing Alcohol Availability By Lowering the Minimum Legal Drinking Age Decrease

Drinking and Related Consequences Among Youths? ​Henry Wechsler and Toben F. Nelson, June

2010, ​https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2866588/

The gist of the article is simply that the health of the adolescent body would be a risk factor from

drinking alcohol. The debate of whether or not the minimal age limit for it to be legal to drink is

still at hand if it would make a difference for the community or the drinker themself. Both

perspective are written within this article so it isn’t bias and both are supported with data.

Research has been conducted in order to support the argument that lowering the drinking age

would lead to future and current problems for the community and the adolescent. The article

states, “Alcohol use is associated with a wide range of adverse health and social

consequences...Drinking alcohol most commonly begins during adolescence and early initiation

of alcohol use is associated with alcohol problems in adulthood.” This supports that the legalized

drinking age should not be lowered to less than 21 because many people would have the ability

to access the possibility of being mentally or physically hurt and abused. No one wishes to be a

victim of a crime or a wanted perpetrator.