What Should The Legal Drinking Age Be?

Most places in the United States have their legal drinking age set for 21 since the Drinking Age Act was passed in 1984. Ever since then it hasn't changed that much only with some smaller states changing it to higher or lower it. However, currently it is set for 21  no younger and no older for all 50 states in the US. Some have argued it should be lowered to 18 because it will actually help lower death rates and binge drinking in younger teens. Some also argue it should be highered.

Many argue that if you lower the MLDA (Minimum Legal Drinking Age) to 18 then it can lower binge drinking in underage youth and encourage responsible drinking habits. Lowering the MLDA will normalize good and responsible drinking habits among the youth. Those are some of the reasons why we should lower the minimum drinking age to 18.

However, some argue that lowering the legal drinking age to 21 would be bad for the youth and have more deaths by drinking rise. According to the cdc, "Excessive drinking contributes to more than 3,900 deaths among people below the age of 21 in the U.S. each year". 

 

https://tinyurl.com/stephens-edu

https://tinyurl.com/cdcalcoholfactssheet

 

What age do you think the MLDA should be at?

Do you plan on consuming alcohol when your older?

What is your opinions on drinking age?

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  • I think drinking age should stay at 21. people arent very smart on what they are doing and how they do it, honestly it should be raised a little bit just becasue how people react to it or how dumb people are. even though people raise it or it stays at 21 college kids still have fake ids and its not going to stop people

  • I think the MLDA should be lowered to 18. If a person is old enough to pay taxes, serve in the military, and vote, they should be considered responsible enough to drink. I think everyone will consume alcohol at least once. Whether it's just a sip or a full-sized glass. By lowering the legal drinking age, there would likely be less cases of underage consumption because teens won't have to "wait as long".

  • I'm not going to campaign for the lowering of the drinking age, but I do think 18 just makes more sense. Most countries have it set to 18 or lower. If you can serve in the military it would make sense that you should be able to drink. Like I said, however, I'm not actively pushing for a lower drinking age because alcohol is already very normalized in our culture (maybe too much).

  • I think that the legal drinking age should actually be raised instead of lowered. 25 is the age when your frontal lobe finishes developing. This is the part of your brain that makes decision-making skills, which is needed for those who drink too much and make poor decisions. 

  • I think that the MLDA should be 18. It's a common statement that if you can go to war for your country, then you should be able to go to a bar with your friends if you make it off the fields. I think that underage drinking is a problem because of the "forbidden fruit" aspect of it, and if we lower the drinking age then I think that there would be less cases of underage drinking.

  • I agree that the age should be lowered. If you are able to become a working adult and are able to buy a house or a car at 18, it just makes sense that you should be able to consume and buy alcohol. At the age of 18 many people feel free from their parents and find some way to drink anyways. Maybe by lowering the age limit then they could build tolerance and get over their "party stage" and move on with their lives.

  • I think the age should be lowered to 18 because if you are old enough to vote and go to war then you should be able to drink some alcohol. there are always going to be dumb people who will abuse this but people do it anyway so I think it should be lower.

  • I think that it should at least be lowered to at least 19 because at this point you are already done with high school. I will drink responsibly like when i get off of work and its a friday i'll drink. I think drinking age is a good thing because not all people are responsible enough to drink.

  • In my oppinion at 21 people should be mature enogh to control themselfs and have a limit, although teenager start drinking when they are 15-16 and in my oppinion that is not okay but that just my oppinion , and no im not planing on consuming alcohol when im older 

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