Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered to 19

Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered to 19

  • Submitted By: bcl90
  • Date Submitted: 03/01/2009 9:13 AM
  • Category: Miscellaneous
  • Words: 1939
  • Page: 8
  • Views: 1261

For many years, the minimum drinking age has been an ongoing debate. The law has been changed multiple times across the country and each time people protest the change. The age one is permitted to drink has been anywhere from 18-21 in the past fifty years. Since 1984, this required age has been 21. When turning eighteen, one is considered an adult, and with this comes many more rights and responsibilities. Many believe that being allowed to drink should be one of them. This is an important issue today that faces the national and state governments because of college campus binge drinking and the fact that the United States has the highest minimum drinking age. Should the drinking age be lowered to eighteen years old, when one is considered an adult, or remain at twenty one as it has been for twenty four years now?
There were drastic changes made in the early 1970s due to the Vietnam War. It was this time that people first felt the need to object to the law that the minimum drinking age should be 21. This all began with the question, If one can be drafted into the army, shouldn’t they have the right to vote? Eighteen year olds gained the right to vote when President Richard Nixon certified the Twenty-sixth Amendment on July 1, 1971. Shortly after, a new argument was brought forth. If one is able to vote, smoke, be charged with a crime, and die for their country, shouldn’t they be permitted to consume alcohol? Due to the emergence of the baby boomer generation and the war with Vietnam, the law was changed allowing people the age of eighteen to drink alcohol in nearly every state. Due to the increase in automobile accidents caused by drunk driving, The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was established. This required all states to raise their minimum purchase and public possession of alcohol age to 21. States that did not comply faced a reduction in highway funds under the Federal Highway Aid Act. President Ronald Reagan had initially been opposed to...

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