MATURITY: The debate of lowering the drinking age from 21 continues even though the negative results outweigh the positive.
By Valeria Gutierrez, Staff Writer
It is an adult world. At restaurants, there are two to three pages of alcoholic beverages ranging from margaritas to beer, yet only three types of soda and water are available for those under the drinking age. Cities are filled with bars, as are vacation hotspots like Las Vegas. Every party, whether it is with family or friends, contains some form of alcohol. From the most interesting man in the world to a silver bullet and a captain, alcohol commercials flood nearly every channel on television. As a result, minors are tempted on a daily basis to drink up or ignore the enticements.
Ever since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was passed, there has been a constant debate over the best drinking age. Americans who wish to lower the drinking age believe that age 18 is adulthood, and regardless of the U.S. law, teenagers and young adults below the drinking age consume alcohol illegally as well as legally in other countries. The United States and other nations such as Indonesia and Guam keep the highest legal drinking limit in the world not only for the safety of the consumer, but for others around them as well.
Professionals studying the human body all agree that alcohol consumption has the most damaging effects before the age of 21. Swayne Proctor, a newspaper writer, states that research has proven “the brain doesn’t stop growing until about age 21 or 22, and that alcohol consumption can alter or retard growth.” Consequently, the teenage brain can be irreversibly damaged by alcohol consumed before the directed age. If physicians were to agree with a lower drinking age, it would be medically irresponsible as no part of the body would gain any benefits. Even though it is a common misconception that alcohol can lighten a mood, it is a depressant that makes the consumer feel worse than before.
Regardless of the drinking age, alcohol has the same dreadful effects of numbing the brain, slowing down reaction skills and temporarily disabling a majority of the brain’s senses. The older drinkers are more experienced with their alcohol limit, but young adults and teenagers do not completely understand the consequences of drinking. From drunk driving to the dangers of clubs, there are grave risks for young adults in search of alcohol and those around them. Even though Americans wish to lower the discriminatory drinking age, the government is allowed to care for future generations. Therefore, they do not take away any benefits with the drinking age but help future adults enter a responsible world.
Since other countries around the world have lower drinking ages, America is able to compare statistics in order to justify the higher limit. In comparison to European countries who have a drinking age limit of 18, Bettina Friese and Joel Grube from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation were able to prove that the drinking rate among American teenagers is lower than those of European countries. Predictably, America also has a reduced number of underage drinking. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the higher limit was also able to decrease the number of fatal traffic accidents for 18-20 year olds by 13 percent since 1975. Because of the higher legal age limit, there is less peer pressure among young adults, and they are less likely to mix alcoholic beverages with drugs. Those who criticize the age limit are not considering the long term effects.
18 is considered the age where adulthood begins, cigarettes are purchasable, voting rights are given and Americans have the opportunity to risk their lives for the country they love. Lower drinking age limits are trickling down to younger generations as alcohol becomes more accessible. Minors are under more pressure to follow the crowd as the limit continues to fall. Despite the fact that the law is already being broken in the United States, the government must not falter and succumb to the peer pressure of teenagers.
The endless debate over the American drinking age limit is pointless, since the American government already has a set mind of what is best for the country. The age limit does not just aim to save lives but also to lower the overall dangers that are associated with the consumption of alcohol. Laws are set in place to keep order. Just because people are continuously committing crimes does not mean the American government should consider changing their laws, so why should the issue on alcohol be any different?