Drinking Age: 21 or 18

Michael Rott

The LawNational Minimum Drinking Age Act

1984

Withheld federal highway funds unless state made the age to purchase alcohol 21

Old Enough to Fight At 18, a man must

register for the Selective Service

Old enough to die for your country

Not old enough to buy a beer

http://blog.honeycreekcamapts.com/files/2011/06/american-flag.jpeg

Old Enough to be independent

Responsible enough to choose next president

Old enough to emancipate self from parents

Old enough to accept risk to smoke

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/claire-amber/to-vote-or-not-to-vote-wh_b_1931281.html

http://jimjosephexp.blogspot.com/2011/03/white-label-packaging-for-cigarettes.html

Legally an adult At 18, if charged with a

crime you are tried as an adult

If arrested, you no longer go to a juvenile detention facility, instead you go to jail

Responsible for your crimes

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scale_of_justice_2_new.jpeg

Changing the drinking age to 21 came with ill effects

Forbidden FruitIt is a thrill to break the law when drinking

alcohol

At 18, teens are searching for independence that other adults have

Alcohol seems to be a right of being an adult

Barrett Seamen “When I began researching binge

drinking on American college campuses…I was struck by the unanimity of the culture on these campuses that seems to revolve around heavy, dangerous, determinative drinking, where people set out to get drunk and the whole notion of pregaming and doing shots in the dorm room. The sort of clandestine behavior I just didn’t remember from my days in college, which were definitely a long time ago. But back in the ’60s, when the drinking age in New York, where I went to school, was 18, we didn’t feel a need to do that stuff because it was legal.”

http://my.hamilton.edu/excelsior/excelsior-the-campaign-for-hamilton/a-salute-to-a-generation-of-hamiltonians

Daniloff, Caleb. "Drinking: 18 vs. 21." BU Today RSS. Boston University, 21 Oct. 2010. Web. 01 July 2013.

Former editor and correspondent for Time MagazineResearched drinking in relation to college campuses

Learning ResponsibilityAt 18, teens often live with their parents

If they could drink at this age, they could learn how to drink responsibly from the people who should be teaching them, their parents

If the drinking age were 18, teens would be able to drink in the presence of responsible adults who could monitor how much they drink

Drinking with parents will help diminish the “excitement” of drinking

Teens will often “pregame” an event

This means that they will try to drink enough to stay at least buzzed when they go to an event

This most often requires them to binge drink right before leaving to go to the venue

http://www.dimensionsinfo.com/baseball-field-dimensions/

•If 18 year olds were able to order a drink they would not have to pregame•They would be able to drink either less or the same amount, but spread over a few hours

Alcohol can be Good and Bad

Good

In moderation, perfectly cheerful

In moderation, no damage to youth development

In moderation, no one is harmed

Bad

In excess amounts can devastate families, jobs, and soceity

In excess, can damage youth development

Drinking excess and driving can take lives

Some claim that changing the drinking age to 21 has prevented so many driving

accidents

From 1982 to 1992 the incidence of drunk driving in the following countries dropped: UK 50% Germany 37% Australia 32% Netherlands 28% Canada 28% United States 26%

While the US has seen a drop in drunk driving, it cannot only be attributed to the change in the drinking age

The other countries, unlike the US, did not change their drinking ages

Sweedler, Barry M. “The worldwide decline in drinking and driving”. National Transportation Safety Board. Washington D.C., 1993. Web. 8 Jul. 2013.

Solutions One possible way that an 18

drinking age could be enacted is by requiring 18 year olds to go through alcohol education classes and obtain a “learner’s permit” to drink

“We should prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol in the same way we prepare them to operate a motor vehicle: by first educating and then licensing and permitting them to exercise the full privileges of adulthood so long as they demonstrate their ability to observe the law” – John McCardell

John McCardell, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of the South in Sewanee and founder of Choose Responsibly

http://wlunews.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/mccardell.jpg

McCardell, John M. “Let Them Drink at 18, With a Learner’s Permit.” Nytimes.com. New York Times, 28 May 2012. Web. 1 Jul. 2013

In Review18 year olds are old enough to Die for country,

smoke, live on their own, and be punished like adults

The change in the drinking age has brought about higher incidence of binge drinking

Teens should learn how to responsibly drink

Alcohol is inherently a good thing, but its abuse has many devastating side effects

Instead of pushing for a total ban, we should put policies into effect which would teach moderate drinking