Lowering the Drinking Age to 18 in the USA - Essay Example

Lowering the Drinking Age to 18 in USA Alcohol consumption is a form of leisure all over the world. In the past, alcoholconsumption meant consuming a little volume often referred to as moderate consumption but the exact volume was not clearly defined. Due to agricultural revolution, urbanization, and industrialization, what was known as moderate alcohol consumption doubled and, therefore, led to emergence of the word “drinking”. During the pre-industrial period, alcohol was mainly consumed during special occasion such as after good harvest, rituals to honor ancestors, during sacrifices among other occasions. Alcohol also served as a source of important nutrients and was widely used for antiseptic and medicinal purpose. Apart from alcohol serving as a nutrient source, it also served as a thirst quencher and played an important function in enhancing the quality of life and enjoyment. In this case, it facilitated relaxation and increased appetite for food. While alcohol has been beneficial to many in the past and even today, alcohol has been misused by a minority of drinkers (United States 43). The misuse of alcohol in most of the countries has necessitated the drafting of laws to regulate the consumption of alcohol. These laws, according to a number of writers and scholars, were drafted with minors in mind. Most of the countries in the world, have Alcoholic Drinks laws that demand a lot of regulations from the stakeholders in the brewing and alcohol consumption sector. All these laws all over the world have one clause in common that, there is a right age to consume alcohol. Majority of countries prefer 18 years and others 17 years. However, the United State of America, puts the minimum age at which one can consume alcohol at 21 years (United States 56). The reasons why the law makers put the minimum alcohol consumption age at 21 years has generated heated debate. Various experts in law and the youth are for argumentthat the age should be lowered to 18 years. In United States, “The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984” stated that all the states beginning July 1984had to increase their minimum public possession and purchase of alcohol age from 18 to 21. After a few weeks since the law came into force, the United State Government confirmed that all the states had complied. In this sense, it was clear that, the national law prohibited public possession and purchase of alcoholic beverages but it failed to address the fact that persons under the age of 21 should not drink. This gap came about because “The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984” defined the term “public possession,” but indicated that it did not apply in a number of place. The first place was in an established religious function where the minor, was accompanied by a parent or guardian who was 21 years and above. The second case was when alcohol was consumed for medical purposes prescribed by a licensed dentists, physician, nurse, medical institution or hospital (United States 34). The third one was in private clubs and finally, in the lawful employment by a licensed retailer, wholesaler or manufacturer. The law did not achieve its main objective because minors took advantage of the gaps and abused alcohol. The question why the law put the minimum drinking age at 21, was posed to the main lawmakers who drafted the law. Their response was that they aimed to reduce the number of car accidents caused by drunk drivers. The youth have condemned this response and called upon law makers to have put the age at 18 years because at this age, one is mature to make decisions. The United States law on elections put the age at which one can vote to be 18 years. The reason behind the age being 18 years was that an individual was mature enough to make an informed decision. In a similar manner, “ National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984” failed to recognize that the same individual who could make an informed political decision, could also decide whether to drink or not (United States 77). Many arguments have been raised on how the law cannot work. A number of scholars compare the number of problems related to alcohol in United State and the United Kingdom, and concludes that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 years. The fact that the United Kingdom has lower alcohol related problems in comparison to United State, is attributable to the minimum drinking age. According to “The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984”, certain clauses included in the law create loopholes. For example, minors are allowed to take alcohol while in presence of their parents or guardians (United States 62). In another case, so long as the youth can drink with their parents and in restricted areas, the law is not violated. The law, therefore, contradicts itself and if the law makers were focused on preventing the young people from drinking, the law should have outlawed these practices altogether. The problem was the definition of word “public”that created loopholes for the youth to drink and still be within the law. The law maker forgot that these loopholes could lead into very dangerous consequences associated with over drinking such as alcohol poisoning and drug abuse. Even with the enactment of the law that prohibits underage consumption of alcohol, a lot of social problems associated with alcohol abuse are still increasing among the youth. The situation is worse, especially, in schools and colleges. Institutions of higher learning regret that their underage student’s bad drinking habits are contributing to poor academic performance. The institutions also reported that the number of students engaging in research is decreasing. The Act did not take into considerations that, the underage youth would buy and carry the alcohol to hidden places away from law enforcers. The law did not also prohibit alcohol consumption in places such as house parties which are unsupervised by law enforcers. Such house parties ended up becoming drug abuse places and drinking contests venues. The law makers should have instead, foreseen that lowering the drinking age allowed the underage to drink alcohol in regulated and safe environment (United States 81). The law also failed in that drunken underage youths caused accidents but failed to report to the police due to fear of legal consequences. This resulted in more deaths because police were not informed about the accidents so that they can take care of the injured. Therefore, it follows that if the age is lowered to 18, medical care can be provided in accidents because the youth would not fear being arrested. The Act should also consider stating a certain volume of alcohol that amounts to excessive drinking. Excessive drinking can be also be controlled if moderated drinking is made part of the culture and not banning total alcohol consumption by the youth. Another important reason why the age should be lowered is the laxity in enforcement of law. Police personnel have a lot more pressing cases to handle, rather than to chase youth below 21 who are drinking. As the law cannot be enforced effectively, it needs to be changed to make the law enforcing agents to comfortably enforce it. Juvenile courts are full of unsolved cases of drunkards and disorderly adolescents and judges keep receiving new cases each day. Since these cases are not treated with a lot of seriousness, they are left to lie on the judge’s desks as they need time to handle other pressing cases. It would save the judges a lot of time if the law makers lowered the age from 21 to 18 years because young people will engage in responsible drinking (United States 92). The United State electoral law allows teenagers aged 18 years to vote in national elections (United States 23). Electing leaders according to legal experts is a constitutional right of every United State citizen. The law allows the teenagers to vote because they are perceived to be mature enough to make important decisions such as choosing the right leader and actively being involved in a national elections or referendum.The law should have recognized that such an individual can also make a good decision about drinking. It is expected that many of the youth who are in high school or colleges have to look after themselves most of the time. This is because no parental or guardian supervision is available all the time. In this case, a person who has not started drinking at such a time must have made the decision of not drinking, regardless of the law. The law is questioned when it allows youth to smoke but prohibit drinking. Smoking is more dangerous than drinking, and is a health hazard, but legally allowed. However, drinking, that poses a health hazard of little magnitude to the populations is prohibited to the youth. For medical’s argument sake, smoking ought to be banned and drinking allowed. In another law, the government require people who join the army to be eighteen years. This means, those who join are teenagers and they make that decision themselves. This decision is equivalent to the same as choosing a decision of whether to drink or not. The army poses more threat to a young person’s life that alcohol and, therefore, the minimum drinking law should be lowered to 18 to match that of the armed forces act. In other aspects of life, an adult decides who to vote for, marry, either going to college or not and also the choice of his or her occupation (United States 41). If he or she is allowed to take so many important decisions, the decision about alcohol drinking should also be left to him or her. It is a fact that some youths drink and drive causing road accidents that lead to deaths and disabilities among accident victims. However, every age group has criminals, and thus it is unfair to consider everyone in the youthful age to be irresponsible. The law should consider lowering the drinking age and also ensure that, youth are properly educated about the hazards of overdrinking and the benefits of moderated drinking. Various experts have expressed concern that the most pressing concern in lowering the drinking age is drunk driving. The law has in some manner helped reduce the number of car accident (United States 59). The Highways Authority reports indicate than 11,000 people died in 2010 due to accidents associated with drunk drivers. Research also shows that incidents of drunk driving are more common in youth below 25 years of age and reduces with the increase in age. The argument is that if the drinking age was lowered to 18, more young people would perish due to drunk driving. The nation cannot be responsible for these tragedies and thus drinking age should be lowered. Drunk driving is a personal decision and cannot be used as an excuse to lower the age from 21 to 18. In the United State, binge drinking is a common phenomenon in US colleges, where they bets with each other to see who is a better drunk (United States 67). This leads to alcohol poisoning and causes death in many cases. Lowering the drinking age will invite more cases of binge drinking which is harmful to young people. The cases of high testosterone levels are increasing among the youth due to constant overdrinking. This increase of hormones makes them violent and aggressive. Alcohol has been associated with an increase in this violent behavior and causes a number of fights among youth. Lowering the drinking age will cause an increase in campus and street violence, leading to death and lifelong harm to the bodies of young people. In conclusion, this paper presents the reasons why the drinking should be lowered from 21 to 18. Lowering drinking age is likely to promote responsible drinking. Allowing the teenagers to decide whether to drink is allowing them to exercise their freedom of choice. It is fair enough to let them make these decisions, individually, without having to be forced into something they are not willing. This is seen as a bleach of their rights in a way. The fact that these teenagers make various decisions regarding their lives is enough prove of being responsible drinkers. Deciding not to smoke is a decision with similar and equal weight just like drinking. The government believes that at 18, a person is old enough to vote in national elections, which is described as an adult right. If the youth can make decisions such as voting and joining the army, the same government should consider trusting them to make decisions regarding drinking. Work Cited United States. The United States Constitution. New York: Textbook Classics, 2012. Print Read More