Drinking Age - Samantha

Back in the day things were much different than how they are now. In some cases people were allowed to do things without severe consequences. Over time though the country has went through the creation of amendments and laws that citizens must learn to follow. For example Amendment VI gave us the right for the following, “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed...” (U.S. Constitution). The amendments in the constitution are the base for the government in the United States, but the constitution is well dated, and more and more is it being overlooked.  In the United States there used to be laws prohibiting substances like liquor and alcohol. As time went on these laws were changed, and yet changed again. Along with alcohol came the consumption by men, women, and even children. Before the drinking age was lower and in place of this then came larger numbers of fatalities. So the age in which you were able to obtain the element went up, but in modern day so has the number of times this law is broken. It doesn’t matter though if it is drinking, smoking, or even speeding, people are going to break the law, so I ask the question should the drinking age be increased or decreased?

In the United States prohibition was focused on the manufacture and sale of alcohol, although drinking was never illegal. Prohibition was a major movement from 1840 into the 1920s. The sale of alcohol was made illegal by the Eighteenth Amendment. (Prohibition).  The Eighteenth Amendment section one states “After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purpose is hereby prohibited.” Section two went to say that “congress and the states have the power to enforce this law through appropriate legislation.” (U.S. Constitution). Although “sale of alcohol was illegal many people kept private bars to serve guest. Large amounts of alcohol were smuggled to the United States by Canada, land, and sea. (Prohibition). The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified in 1919, but was then repealed fourteen years later by the twenty first Amendment in 1933. The twenty first Amendment states in section one that the Eighteenth Amendment is hereby repealed. Section two, states “The transportation or importation into any state, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.” (U.S. Constitution). From this point on the drinking age was low, until 1980 when the Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization was introduced.

            Mothers Against Drunk Driving also known as MADD, was an organization introduced on May 7^th of 1980 by Candice Lightner with the mission to stop drunk driving and to support the victims of crimes, while trying to prevent underage drinking. The blood alcohol content also known as BAC used to be .10, but the MADD program was in favor of the blood alcohol content being lowered  to .08 when the topic came about. Since the creation of Mothers Against Drunk Driving the organization has come up with an “Eight-Point Plan”. Within this plan some hopes MADD has is to resuscitate efforts to prevent impaired driving, increase enforcement, set seatbelt laws in every state, reduce underage drinking, and increase beer tax. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). In 1984 the organization had its biggest success when the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was established. Although it wasn’t long before between 1970 and 1975 some states had lowered their legal age with the passing of the twenty sixth amendment which had changed the voting age from twenty one to eighteen. When the National Minimum Drinking Age Act took place, it enforced that you had to be at least twenty one to buy and drink alcohol, under this new law if the states didn’t agree they would receive a ten percent decrease in annual federal highway funds. (National Minimum Drinking Age Act). With these changes there also came a raise in vehicle fatalities. By 1988 all fifty states including Washington DC had raised the minimum age back to twenty one. Although the raised drinking age helped solve fatality problems, it has not helped the fact that underage drinking still exists. (National Minimum Drinking Age Act). Research presented during the hearing about the implementation of the national minimum drinking age act In October of 1992, 20.7 million seventh to twelfth graders were recorded while 10.6 million of them were listed as students who drink. Of that 10.6 million, eight million students drink weekly, but students drinking patterns are reason for concern. 2.7 million students drink to feel high or when bored, while 3.3 and 4.4 million students drink alone and when upset. (Implementation). It is simple to know that alcohol is easy to pick up. If you know the right people then it comes just as easy, but two out of three students can’t distinguish alcoholic drinks from non-alcoholic drinks. The content in which some beverages contain is also unclear to students. Less than one in six students were able to identify the drink which contained the highest amount of alcohol. (Implementation).

            Everybody grows and matures over time, but the maturity level between an eighteen year old and a twenty one year is much different depending on the individual. When you turn eighteen you are a legal adult, and adults should have the right to make their own decisions.  There are things that you can do when you turn eighteen that you couldn’t do before such get married, vote, be tried as an adult for a committed crime, buy cigarettes, lottery tickets and even serve for the country. (Drinking Age Pro-Con) Although it would be simple to say that we should be able to drink from our eighteenth birthdays and on, you have to think about what the accident and fatality rates would also change to. Fatality rates when the drinking age was eighteen were high, but so are the rates when you first turn twenty one. Not all countries are like the United States for having age twenty one, some drinking ages range such as Italy where the legal age is sixteen. (Legal Drinking Age). In Italy it is said that the kids who drink at the dinner table with their parents are less likely to binge drink as adults, and if they did decide to become heavy drinkers it wasn’t until they were older. Youths in other cultures learn to drink more reasonably; because drinking is a normal standard and exposure comes when you are younger. (Blue). When you set a rule to make drinking illegal it only causes more problems, kids look to do it because they are being “sneaky” and breaking the law. Would changing the drinking age law be effective for the nation? Some may argue yes, while some also may argue no for favor of keeping age twenty one. Yet at the same time maybe increasing the drinking age from twenty one could be a possible solution. It is common sense that the older you get the more you learn, as well as the more mature you become. So say the drinking age is risen to twenty five because in reality twenty one is not working. Adolescents, students, and young adults drink anyways.  “a strong belief of mine is that the drinking age should be increased. I don’t believe that at the age of twenty one most people are mature or responsible enough to handle drinking” (Palatine). I have found that I agree with this statement. Today many people are immature about a lot of things, and if they cannot handle themselves how are they going to manage alcohol. 

            In conclusion, I think over all the drinking age should be eighteen. You gain adult responsibilities and why should you be limited in the one area, I do understand that if the age gets lowered then there will be an increase in high school drinkers and school grades will suffer, while more younger children will begin drinking because it will be easier to obtain. No matter what the age is there is always going to be problems, and I think that the government should make a decision and go with it to see what the outcome turns out to be.

Works Cited

Blue, Laura. “Italian kids who drink with Meals are less likely to grow up as binge-drinkers.”        Time 19 Aug. 2010: Web. 20, Nov. 2012.

CBS News. n.d. Web. 20, Nov. 2012

Daniloff, Caleb. Drinking: 18 VS. 21. 21, Oct. 2012 Web. 27 Nov. 2012

“Rethinking the drinking age: Making it illegal to drink under the age of 21 isn’t working.            Would lowering the age offering education on safe help?” 20, May 2009. Web. 20, Nov      2012.

Implementation of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. Washington: U.S. Government        Printing Office, 1992. Print.

Legal Drinking Age. 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.

McCardell, John. “Atlantic Monthly.” Points of View Reference Center Home 2009.

Minton, Michelle. “The Legal Drinking Age Has Not Been Effective.” National Review. 20         April. 2011.

“Mothers Against Drunk Driving.” Wikipedia.  25 Nov. 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012

“National Minimum Drinking Age Act.” Wikipedia. 25 Nov. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012

Ogilvie, Jessica Pauline. “Pro/Con: Should The Legal Drinking Age Be Lowered To 18?” SIRS    30. May. 2011.  19, Nov. 2012

Platine, H. Lianne. “Drinking Laws.” 21 Jan. 2008. 20. Nov. 2012.

“Prohibition.” Wikipedia. 25 Nov. 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

Toomey, Traci L. Toben, Nelson F. and Lenk, Kathleen M. “The age-21 minimum legal drinking              age: a case study linking past and current debates.” Policy Case Studies (2009).

Watkins, Christine. “Lowering the Drinking Age Could Reduce Underage Alcohol Abuse.”                     Alcohol Abuse 2007.

U.S. Constitution. Art./Amend. VI, XVIII,  XXI.