Benefits of Lowering the Drinking Age

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In the US, the legal drinking age is imposed at 21 years of age. For many people, this particular issue is highly debatable because of various concerns regarding the actual age of maturity among teenagers or the young people in the US. There are various exceptions to this law in some states and this relates to alcohol consumption under the supervision of adults or at home for example but many people still clamor for the legal drinking age to be lowered to 18 years of age. Some states may already have lowered the 21 year guideline to 18, 19, or 20 but there are still many states across the US that follow the standard rule of 21 as the legal drinking age. Proponents of lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 years of age emphasize various benefits like the following:

  1. Possible reduction of unsafe drinking sprees

At 18 years of age, a person in the US will have already assumed most legal rights of an adult except for drinking. At 18, a person can already vote and participate in the national elections. 18-year olds can also serve the military or work in different institutions and be treated as adults. When these 18 year-olds are given the right to drink, proponents believe that it could eliminate so-called thrill-drinking. At this particular age, many of them are expected to try out different things in life including drinking. When it is illegal for them to drink at 18, many of them will have a great chance to violate the law and do drinking sprees which can be unsafe for them and the people around them.

  1. Expected decrease in driving accidents

The imposition of the 21 year – legal drinking age has basically resulted to many teens across the US to literally drive to neighboring states just to drink legally. Some states already allow drinking for 18, 19, or 20-year olds and because of this scenario teenagers in states with stricter laws may opt to drive long distances to adjacent states just to participate in drinking-related activities without breaking the law. The problem with this scenario is that the same 18 year-olds will have to go back home after their drinking spree and many of them get involved in road accidents. By lowering the drinking age to 18, the same teenagers wouldn’t need to drive long distances and therefore figure less in possible road accidents.

  1. Lower cases of alcohol-related crimes in school

Proponents of lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 also point out that many crimes in various colleges and universities across the US are often alcohol-related.’ ‘  If they are allowed to drink in the first place, then these teenagers wouldn’t have to resort to various illegal means and activities which can possibly end up in crimes being committed inside school campuses.

Lowering the legal-age of drinking in the US is advocated by many people in the US because of these reasons. Statistics have also shown that age is not the main factor in terms of road-related accidents in the US. Many also argue that since 18-year olds are given various rights as adults in the US, they should also be given their drinking rights at the same time.

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