Drinking Age: Lowered or Not

Andy Vaughn

Dr. Russell

English 1020-47

October 23, 2001

Drinking Age: Lowered or Not

The drinking age in the United States is 21. How ridiculous is that? You are able to do so many things at the age of 18. When a person reaches the age of 18, he or she can leave their homes or be kicked out, and become their own legal guardian. They no longer are required to have their parents sign their name to any documents pertaining to them, and are now considered an adult except when it comes to alcohol. When a person 18 or older commits a crime, they will be tried as an adult. Now the 18 year old no longer goes to Juvenile Hall when convicted of a crime, but instead they go to jail, state prison, federal prison, or even death row. At 18, they are held fully responsible for their own actions, and must accept the consequences. Don't you think we should change the law so a person cannot be tried as an adult until he or she turns 21?

On one's 18th birthday, the law no longer views him as a child yet he is restricted from many places of social activity. Bars and many dance clubs are strictly for the people that are 21 and over. This results in many legal adults not being able to enter. Clearly there is a difference between 18 year old adult and a 21 year old adult, but since they are viewed by law as equals shouldn't they have the same privileges? Obviously, certain laws that regulate activities by age are necessary. Voting, alcohol, and driving should not be available to just anyone because of the responsibilities it requires to do these activities.

Up until 1984, the legal drinking age was 18, however Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) started a campaign to raise the drinking age to 21. They did just that with the National Minimum Purchase Age Act in 1984. The law was aimed to lower the number of drunk driving incidents, which it has done, but only by a small margin. This law was passed by one of our nations best presidents, Ronald Reagan, but it takes away from an 18 year olds rights and make them wait 3 years longer to be completely an adult.

For many college students that fall in between the years of legal adulthood and legal drinking age, the desire to drink is spurred by getting away with something they are not supposed