The legal drinking age has been a
topic of debate for many years, often varying from state to state. However even with the current restrictions,
many of the problems related to alcohol abuse have not been resolved. In fact,
the average age that American teenagers begin drinking is 16 years-old. Lowering
the legal drinking age to eighteen in the United States, which would allow
teenagers to drink in controlled environments, would prove to be beneficial in
decreasing the number of teenage, alcohol-related incidents. This would also allow minors to become
exposed to alcohol gradually as they mature, along with the guidance of their
parents.
The
National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed by Congress on July 7, 1984. This act stated that all states would be
required to enforce the age of twenty one years as a minimum age for purchasing
and possessing alcoholic beverages. The
Federal Aid Highway Act said that any state which does not enforce this age
would receive a ten percent decrease in federal highway funding. However, this act did not outlaw the
consumption of alcohol by people under the age of twenty one. Today, most states still allow “underage
drinking” and possession in some circumstances.
In fact, some states have no restriction on private consumption. In California,
Colorado, Montana,
New York, Wisconsin,
and Wyoming, consumption is
allowed in certain locations with the consent and supervision of legal
guardians. The consumption of alcohol
for religious and medical purposes is also permitted by this act. Even with alcohol being permitted in these
limited settings, there was still much opposition to the passing of this law. Several organizations were formed, seeking to
lower the drinking age back to eighteen.
Others argued that it infringed on the rights granted to states by the
United States Constitution. Over the
last few years several states, including Wisconsin, Montana, Minnesota,
Kentucky, South Carolina, and Vermont have also considering lowering their
drinking ages back to 18 (Balko).
While The National
Minimum Drinking Age Act had great intentions, it produced many negative
results. Because of this act, and the
fear that a minor may be caught with alcohol, “underage drinking” has primarily
been forced “underground.” Now, instead
of consuming alcohol in controlled environments where the youth can be closely
monitored by responsible adults, it is done mostly behind closed doors. Minors may try to hide their alcohol
consumption by drinking before they go into public. This act has been given the name “pregaming”
or “pre-partying.” This may be especially dangerous because it often results in
drunk driving. Thirty-six people in the United
States are killed, and almost 700 more are
injured daily in crashes involving a driver who is under the influence of
alcohol. In 2007, an estimated 12,998
people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Alcohol-Impaired
driving fatalities also account for over thirty one percent of the total
fatalities (Traffic Safety Facts). Alcohol
related crashes also cost more than fifty one billion annually.
The leading
arguments for keeping the drinking age set at twenty one is the fact that
alcohol-related automotive fatalities decreased when the current laws were put
into effect. However, attention has recently been brought
to the fact that the majority of studies on highway fatalities since the
drinking age was set include data from twelve states that had already set their
drinking ages at twenty one. There are
several other factors that rendered these statistics incorrect. First, automobiles are now much safer with
the development of new safety features. It
was not rare to have a car without an airbag when the trend of alcohol related
fatalities first started being studied in 1982.
Also, with the use of breathalyzer technology, sobriety checkpoints, and
a lower minimum blood alcohol concentration law enforcement has adopted a much
more strict policy regarding drunk driving.
Finally, the use of “designated drivers” is now very common. All of these factors could have possibly
altered the data, showing a trend that does not actually exist. Also, the problems concerning driving under
the influence could be further prevented by instituting a zero-tolerance policy
for young people drinking and driving. Setting
the limit on blood alcohol level low enough for drivers age eighteen to twenty
one, so that one drink will put them over the legal limit, would help keep
intoxicated drivers off of the road while still allowing others to responsibly consume
alcoholic beverages.
An organization
known as Choose Responsibility recently renewed the debate about the drinking
age. Choose
Responsibility is “a nonprofit organization founded to stimulate
informed and dispassionate public discussion about the presence of alcohol in
American culture and to consider policies that will effectively empower young
adults age eighteen to twenty to make mature decisions about the place of
alcohol in their own lives.” This non-profit
group was founded by Dr. John McCardell, Jr.,
a Harvard graduate. The main goal of
Choose Responsibility is to lower the drinking age by educating the public
about responsible alcohol consumption. McCardell said the organization
does not have any plans to lobby Congress to introduce legislation to lower the
drinking age. Instead, he hopes to stir up a grass-roots movement and national
debate about the drinking age (Parker). By studying other societies with a drinking age under twenty
one, they have been able to scientifically measure that these other societies
have more responsible drinking habits than Americans. The group recently proposed a new idea to
change this. Instead of having the legal
drinking age set at twenty one, which they feel promotes immature behavior they
have proposed lowering it to eighteen. Their
plan would help to ensure that only those who are responsible and mature enough
to consume alcohol would be able to do so.
First, anyone who would want to be able to legally purchase and drink
alcohol would have to go through alcohol education classes. At these classes, students would learn how to
responsibly consume alcoholic beverages.
Once a student had completed this course, they would be issued an
alcohol certification and a license allowing them to purchase and consume
alcohol.
Choose Responsibility is not the only group who is
currently supporting lowering the drinking age.
In July of 2008, John McCardell took another step towards getting the
legal drinking age lowered. McCardell
launched an organization know as the Amethyst Initiative. This organization is made up of chancellors
and college presidents who are calling for a reconsideration of the legal
drinking age of twenty one. They say
that the federal minimum drinking age has been a contributor to the epidemic of
binge drinking and other dangerous drinking habits on college campuses. Dozens
of students are admitted to university hospitals each year with alcohol
poisoning, and 1,700 people between the ages of eighteen and twenty four die
every year from alcohol-related injuries (Ewers). The Amethyst Initiative is
currently supported by more than 130 presidents. These presidents, from colleges such as Duke,
Syracuse, Dartmouth,
Maryland, and Ohio
State,
have observed that the current age has done nothing to prevent the
access to alcohol by students under twenty one years old. Aside from forcing underage drinking
underground, these laws have caused numerous other problems. One of these problems being if someone needs
medical attention from consuming too much alcohol, their peers may be reluctant
to get help because they are afraid that they may get themselves in trouble.
The Amethyst Initiative has faced much opposition and criticism from
organizations such as Mothers Against
Drunk Driving, , the American Medical
Association, the National
Transportation Safety Board, and the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety.
The United
States currently has one of the highest
drinking ages in the world. In countries
where there is a low, or even no national drinking age, people are exposed to
alcohol gradually, and under the supervision of their parents. In the majority of cultures outside the United
States, alcohol consumption is permitted at
the same time one becomes an adult. At
the age of eighteen, American’s are considered mature enough to vote, sign
contracts, and enlist in the military. Teenagers
who enlist in the military may be trusted to make life or death decisions every
day in the battlefield but when they return home they are not allowed to
legally celebrate their service with a beer.
Legislation introduced in Kentucky,
Wisconsin and South
Carolina would lower the drinking age for military
personnel only (Keen).
Thee
current laws have proved so far ineffective in preventing underage drinking. Instead, they have had the negative affect of
increasing reckless drinking behavior. Studies
have shown that eighty two percent of college students under the age of twenty
one report using alcohol within the past year.
This statistic shows that many people under the age of twenty one
completely disregard the laws. Instead
of being able to drink in controlled environments they are doing it in places
such as dorm rooms, fraternity parties, or cars where they may be exposed to dangers. These current issues have been compared to
the prohibition era. Then, adults
consumed alcohol in secrecy, where they often drank too much, too fast. Today it is teenagers who are doing this. If the drinking age were to be lowered it is
likely that teenagers would have more respect for the law and wait till they
are legal to consume alcohol. Other
studies have shown that two out of five twenty year olds have reported that they
binged in the past two months and more than ninety percent of alcohol consumed
by underage drinkers is done so during binges.
These statistics show that there is a decrease in casual drinking and
more people are now drinking to get drunk.
Binge drinking can be defined as consuming alcoholic beverages with the intention of becoming
intoxicated by consumption a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time. This not only puts the consumer at the same
risks as someone else who uses alcohol, but it may also put them at risk of
alcohol poisoning.
Another
reason that having the legal drinking age set at twenty one is not working is
the fact that many teens find doing something illegal thrilling. Their parents
may have warned them about the dangers and risks associated with drinking, so
they want to be rebellious and experience it for themselves. This may even be
the only thing driving them to drink underage. By lowering the drinking age,
minors would loose their sense of being rebellious, and possibly quit drinking,
or at least reduce the frequency of their alcohol consumption. A drinking age
of twenty one also puts extra stress on peers to “fit in” and “be cool” when
they must do something illegal in order to do so. This peer pressure to drink
may be either direct or indirect. If they give in to the pressure and then
decide that they like the taste of alcohol, this could lead to a dangerous
addiction.
“The
law was changed in 1984, and the law had a very specific purpose, and that was
to prohibit drinking among those under the age of 21,” said Dr. John McCardell, Jr.,
“The only way to measure the success of that law is to ask ourselves whether,
23 years later, those under 21 are not drinking.” Although the twenty one
year-old legal drinking age has been instituted for almost twenty five years,
minors drinking are commonplace in today’s society. How long will this blatant disregard for the
law be allowed to go on? Support for lowering the drinking age is growing;
however it is likely that the debate over lowering the drinking age will go on
for many years to come. In order for
this to change, it is going to take the cooperation of lawmakers, parents, and finally
those who are drinking. The lawmakers are going to have to take everyone’s
opinions into consideration and pass the legislature which will benefit the
most people. New legislations are being reviewed concerning this issue. Steps
are being taken towards a lowering of the federal drinking age. Missouri,
South Dakota, Vermont
and Minnesota have all introduced
measures to lower their drinking ages. Parents
must not send their children mixed messages.
They must establish that it is ok to drink or that it is not. Those who are
drinking must be able to prove that they are mature enough to consume alcohol
without putting themselves or others in danger. With the cooperation of all of
these units, the consumption of alcoholic beverages may some day be able to be
enjoyed responsibly by both minors and adults.
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My Junior term paper
