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September 21, 2005
Steve Lennon Neovox Article #1
Steve Lennon
PWR 209
NeoVox Article
18 or 21, That Is The Question.
Should the drinking age in the United States be 18 or 21? This is currently a question that is being considered by many lawmakers, and is also being scrutinized and thoroughly reconsidered by the American public. In Vermont, legislators are in the process of introducing a bill in order to lower the drinking age to 18. However, Kerry Sleeper, Vermont’s public safety commissioner and other opponents of the bill, say the higher age has helped. They have proven that all fatal crashes involving alcohol dropped from 50 in 1986, the year the drinking age was raised, to 25 in 2002(Belluck). Although some feel that being over the age of 18 should give a person the right to drink alcohol, the main issue continues to be that alcohol can be detrimental to ones health, and raising the drinking age has been proven to improve problems associated with drinking.
Drinking and driving is a constant issue and continuous problem that has plagued The United States for many years. After dropping the drinking age limit to 18 in the 1960’s and 1970’s, legislators recognized that our society had a steady increase in the number of alcohol related driving accidents. In light of evidence linking this to younger drinking ages, President Ronald Reagan appointed a Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving in 1982. This commission recommended the passage of legislature, requiring all states to raise their minimum drinking age to 21, and in 1984 President Reagan signed legislation to deny federal highway funds from any state that did not comply (A.M.A.). Currently, all fifty states have a minimum drinking age of 21, which has proven to be very successful in reducing problems related to drunk driving. In Research conducted by NHTSA (The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), it is estimated that because of drinking age being raised to 21, there have been reduced traffic fatalities involving drivers 18 to 20 years old by 13 percent in since 1975 (M.A.D.D.). Similarly, as illustrated in the graph below, it is estimated that since 1975 these laws have saved 21,887 lives as well (N.H.T.S.A.). These statistics show that
acquiring a higher minimum drinking age has had a positive impact on our countries problems with drunk driving. As far as the oppositions statements claiming that lowering the drinking age can possibly solve this problem, state motor vehicle fatality data from the United States, found that lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 during the 1970’s resulted in an 11 percent increase in fatalities among this age group (Cook). Although still a problem in The United States, this shows that maintaining a drinking age of 21 will be more successful in the fight against drunk driving.
Drinking and driving is a very big problem, but equally as significant, there are many problems with people ages 18 to 21 drinking in a very dangerous and irresponsible manner called binge drinking. This is the consumption of dangerously large quantities of alcoholic beverages in one session. A new trend, binge drinking is becoming a very big problem and has been very prevalent in the high school and college drinking scene. According to a National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1 in 5 persons aged 12 to 20 engaged in binge drinking in 2001, which is 70 percent of underage people who report drinking alcohol in the last month (N.H.S.D.A.). With an extremely high percentage like this, it shows that when drinking, people of this age group are not being responsible. Also, 48 percent of all 21 years olds report that they have engaged in binge drinking in the last month (N.H.S.D.A.). With a steady rise in binge drinking rates that begin at age 12 and peek at age 21, this proves that with drinking being legal, the rates of binge drinking significantly increase (N.H.S.D.A.). Lowering the minimum drinking age would make it easier for these younger kids to obtain alcohol, causing theses already high rates of binge drinking to increase. Opposing the “Forbidden Fruit” argument which argues that lowering the drinking age to 18 will reduce the allure of alcohol as a “Forbidden Fruit”, this could be very dangerous, and with the safety of our youth in mind, there is no logical reason why the drinking age should be lowered (A.M.A.).
Drunk driving and binge drinking are not the only problems associated with drinking alcohol, there are many other risks that people take when drinking as well. Most of these problems are exacerbated by drinking at a young age, and many can lead to serious health problems. One of these problems is that the younger a person begins using alcohol, the greater the risk of them developing alcohol dependence or abuse some time in their life. Of those who begin drinking at age 18, 16.6 percent subsequently are classified with alcohol dependence and 7.8 percent with alcohol abuse. However, If a person waits until age 21 before taking their first drink, these risks decrease by over 60 percent (Grant). These statistics are quite alarming, but with the minimum drinking age at 21, the amount of underage drinking is lower than if the age was 18. Another serious problem that is associated with drinking alcohol is the physical damage it can do when abused or drank at a young age. The human brain continues to develop into the early 20’s, and drinking alcohol can be harmful to its development. It has also been documented that regular alcohol use during adolescence can produce abnormal physiological effects, like sub clinical liver damage likely in adolescents with diagnosed alcohol problems. It was also found that long-term abusers of alcohol are at risk for serious debilitating diseases during adulthood (D.H.H.S.). Alcohol dependence is not any easy thing to control unless a person is given proper treatment, and if it is not treated it can potentially lead to these serious health related problems. Lowering the drinking age would only add to the people taking these risks, on the other hand, keeping the minimum drinking age at 21 would keep young people healthy by postponing the onset of alcohol use (A.M.A.).
One argument frequently presented by the opposition holds that if at age 18, people can vote, smoke, sign contracts, and join the military. Why is it illegal for them to drink alcohol? The fact is that ages of initiation can in fact vary. For example, a person can vote at 18, drink at 21, rent a car at 25, and run for president at 35. These ages may seem subjective, however, they take into account the requirements, risks, and benefits of each act (A.M.A.). In 1996, Manuel Ortiz challenged the minimum drinking age of 21, in a Louisiana State Supreme Court hearing. The court upheld the law, stating that, “...statutes establishing the minimum drinking age at a higher level than the age of majority are not arbitrary because they substantially further the appropriate governmental purpose of improving highway safety, and thus are constitutional. (A.M.A.)”. Drinking alcohol is not a necessity and can be very harmful when abused. In addition, there is too much evidence confirming that alcohol is the source of a great deal of problems in the United States. Therefore, affirming the fact that the minimum drinking age should continue to be 21.
While many people feel that the minimum drinking age should be lowered to 18, there is an overwhelming amount of factual evidence that suggest otherwise. Dangerous habits like driving drunk and binge drinking have brought about these laws that decline alcohol to people under the age of 21. Also, research has been done that proves underage drinking to be a health hazard that has been drastically improved as a result of the higher drinking age. Drinking may currently still be a problem, however lowering the minimum drinking age to 18 will only make the problem worse.
Works Cited
1. A.M.A. AlcoholpolicyMD.com. 7 Mar 2002. American Medical Association. 14 Sept. 2005
2. Belluck, Pam. "Vermont Considers Lowering Drinking Age to 18." The New York Times 13 April 2005: A13.
3. Cook, PJ and G Tauchen, “The Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Legislation on Youthful Auto Fatalities, 1970 - 1977,” Journal of Legal Studies, 15(4):159-162, 1984.
4. D.H.H.S. “U.S. Teens in our world: Understanding the Health of U.S. youth in comparison to youth in other countries.” Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 2003
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/24/55/80.pdf
5. Grant, BF and DA Dawson, “Age of Onset of Alcohol Use and Its Association with DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Study,” Journal of Substance Abuse, 9:103-110, 1997.
6. M.A.D.D. "Statistics on Minimum Drinking Age Laws." www.MADD.org. Mothers Against Destructive Desicions. 16 Sept. 2005
7. N.H.T.S.A. "Traffic Saftey Facts 2002 (Alcohol)." . 16 Sept. 2005
Posted by Steven Lennon at September 21, 2005 2:44 PM
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