Discussion of Lowering The Drinking Age in America

You’re finally 18, you can now vote, you can enlist, you can do whatever you want it seems like but for some reason you are not able to buy alcohol. When you are 18 you are finally seen as an adult so why is it that in court you are tried as an adult, but you can’t go legally buy alcohol. The drinking age should be lowered as it would improve responsibility among young adults as well as benefit the economy. If you can join the military and risk your life at 18 you should be allowed to make your own decisions about drinking.

Mature enough to risk your life but not mature enough to have liquor at a restaurant. In the United States you can enlist and go to the military and risk your life so why are you not able to buy alcohol. If 18 is the age of adulthood, then it needs to be consistent. Lower the drinking age would make eighteen-year olds more responsible, because teens are not of legal age to drink, they don’t tend to drink very often leading to them binge drinking. In a article wrote by Shayna Herszage she states “90% of all alcohol consumed by young adults and adolescents in the United States is consumed during binge drinking sessions” because teens are not of legal age when they drink they tend to over drink. Lowering the legal age would make adolescents drink more responsibly, drinking could be done at bars or restaurants where binge drinking can be prevented. As well as making them more responsible it would make them drink at locations that are safer and they would not have to risk anything bad happening when buying it. Varying from state to state in some states you can get your gun license at 18 so why can you purchase a gun at 18 but you can’t buy a beer at a restaurant. All in all, lowering the drinking age to 18 is what’s right, it would make young adults more responsible and if at 18 you are allowed to enlist to the military then you should be able to make your own decisions regarding alcohol.

Also, it will help the economy, we always want the economy to improve and continue getting better, lower the drinking age would be a big economy boost. If the drinking age was 18 there would be more people drinking and more stores making more money. Liquor stores would bring in a lot more money. Young adults and adolescents spend more money on alcohol than any other age group, the alcohol industry makes more people from being that are not supposed to be drinking than those of age, in an article written by Brendan Keany he states “According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, underage drinking accounts for 17.5 percent ($22.5 billion) of consumer spending for alcohol.” If underage drinkers already account for $22.5 billion imagine if the drinking age was lowered, the alcohol industry would make even more money. Lowering the drinking age would have the type of economy boost that legalizing marijuana has had in states like Colorado, Seattle, etc. Underage drinking will always happen and having the legal drinking age at 21 is not effective nor is it helping the economy, lowering the drinking age would benefit everybody, there would be a big economy boost.

There is those that argue against lowering the drinking age by saying that lowering the legal age would cause more drunk drivers leading to more dui’s and car crashes. In an article written by Matt Nagin he says “An average of 17,000 individuals die each year in drunk driving related deaths” this number is what scares law makers when it comes to deciding the legal drinking age because they feel car crash numbers would rise too. This argument goes back to these people would be drinking more responsibly if the legal age was 18. This also is not the case, there are many countries where the legal drinking age is 18 and their drunk driving car accident numbers are lower than the United States. In Herszega’s article she states “In the United States, 31% of road traffic deaths involve alcohol. This percentage is higher than many countries with a drinking age lower than 21 such as France (29%), Great Britain (16%), Germany (9%).” Although, alcohol would be accessible to more and new drivers, they are drinking more responsible leading to less drunk driving car accidents.

Thus, lowering the drinking age in America would benefit everybody and it should be done. It would help with having people drink responsibly, underage people are already drinking and lowering the age would give them a place to drink somewhere safe to drink. Also, it would help the economy a lot, bars, restaurants, liquor stores would bring more money in, lowering the legal age would be a big economy boost, an economy boost that we need. If America is the land of the free and supposed to be the leader of the free world, why can a eighteen-year-old risk their life but not be able to buy liquor.