The Drinking Age

The Drinking Age

As we all know the drinking age here in the United States of America is twenty-one years of age. In this essay I will argue the point that the drinking age defiantly should not be as high as it is, and that the government should reconsider changing the age limit. I believe that there are more logical reasons to lower the drinking age than there are to keep it the same.

I believe that the drinking age should be changed, and therefore lowered to eighteen years old. Since the drinking age in most European countries is not 21, I see no reason for the age limit in the United States to be any different. I don't think that Europeans are more responsible than Americans, so I don't understand why an 18 year old can drink in Europe, but when they come over to the United States they are breaking the law. Another interesting thing is, about 20 years ago the drinking age was changed from 18 to 21. If the drinking age for our parents when they were growing up was 18, then why did the government change the drinking age and raise it three years?

On the contrary, there are defiantly some reasons the drinking age should stay at 21 years of age. Over the past 20 years, since the drinking age was changed, people have been doing all sorts of studies to see if drinking related fatalities have increased or decreased. In recent studies done by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) it shows that, from 1982 when the law was changed, 43 percent (4,393) of drivers under the age of 21 who were involved in fatal car accidents were drinking before their crashes. This had significantly changed by 1998, when only 21 percent (1,714) of drivers younger than 21 involved in fatal car crashes had been drinking alcohol. With facts like this it is very hard to consider changing the drinking age back down to 18.

Other reasons to change the drinking age are, simply comparisons to other age limitations in the United States. When every American turns the age of 18 they have the opportunity to join the United States Military. What this means is, when a person has reached 18 years of age, they can now go to the Military and sign their life over to the government, but are unable to have a sip of alcohol. Another reason to change the drinking age includes, the age limitation on the purchase of tobacco products. It is a proven fact that the most addictive drug in the world is tobacco. Now