These hazards can range from mixing different types of alcohol to knowing the different alcohol contents. Lowering the MLDA to age 18 and promoting responsible drinking habits reduces the risk of binge drinking among underage teens. The introduction of alcohol at a younger age will also normalize responsible drinking habits. Choose Responsibility (CR) is a nonprofit group that works to lower the drinking age to 18 and encourages states to grant exemptions allowing minors to drink at home and in private clubs. It also promotes social change that shifts the focus from adolescent alcohol use to home, family and individual (Main 33-34). They argue that states: Police tend to ignore or under-enforce MLDA 21 due to resource constraints, legal barriers, the perception that sanctions are inadequate, and the time and effort required for processing and paperwork. It is estimated that two out of every 1,000 cases of illegal alcohol consumption by youth under the age of 21 result in arrest. [18] As the saying goes, “strict parents create devious children.” Similarly, a strict country produces rebellious young adults. Compared to countries with lower minimum drinking age, the United States has an unusually high rate of binge drinking among young adults and adolescents. According to Dr.
Thomas Frieden of the Center for Disease Control, 90% of all alcohol consumption by young adults and adolescents in the United States is consumed during excessive alcohol consumption. There is a movement to lower the legal drinking age in the United States, and its leader is not a student or brewery owner. He is president of the university. The United States is one of only 12 countries in the world to have a legal drinking age of 21 and is the only Western country to have such a restriction. An overwhelming 116 countries have a legal drinking age of 18 or 19. Students who consume alcohol are inevitable – although not all choose to participate in alcohol consumption, many do. Alcohol consumption can lead to dangerous conditions. An altered state of mind affects individuals, making them more vulnerable to injury, sexual assault, and even death. Newly legal drinkers often buy alcohol for their underage peers, resulting in a “trickle-down” effect. [34] Surveys show that the most common source of alcohol among 18- to 20-year-olds is their peers aged 21 to 24. [35] The history of the legal drinking age is long and complicated. All states adopted a legal drinking age (MLDA) after prohibition ended in the United States in 1933 (Toomey et al.
1958). Most set the age at 21. That only changed in the 1970s, when the legal voting age was lowered to 18, leading more than half of states to lower the MLDA to 18, 19 or 20. However, after research showed an increase in alcohol-related accidents among 18- to 20-year-olds, most of these states reduced them to 21. That`s where Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) comes in. They called for and advocated for all states to have MLDA at age 21. The government supported them and enacted the National Lawful Alcohol Consumption Act, which required all states to set the MLDA at age 21 or suffer the loss of road funds. No state was willing to lose these funds, and until 1988 all states had some sort of rule that meant that the legal drinking age was 21 (Toomey et al.
1958). The debate has continued since then, and some states have repeatedly considered lowering the MLDA. This means that an overwhelming majority of under-21s drink alcohol anyway. There is no point in ruining someone`s life by drinking minors when responsible drinking habits can be encouraged from the age of 18. Adults between the ages of 18 and 20 should not be denied this enjoyment if other enjoyable activities are legal by the age of 18. In the United States, however, most young adults leave home before they can drink legally, while gaining other freedoms — including the freedom to make dangerous decisions without parental judgment. Excited about the new opportunity and not knowing when they will have another opportunity, underage students often drink when they have the chance. This leads to a power outage in dangerous places, alcohol poisoning, and many other health and cognition problems. The sudden increase in drinking freedom in college, with no prior experience of alcohol in a safe environment, contributes to making the United States the country with the highest rate of excess among young people.
It`s high time U.S. lawmakers recognized that a legal drinking age of 21 makes no sense. It`s time to join the rest of the modern world`s agenda by setting the legal drinking age at 18. While per capita consumption and car accidents have declined, there has unfortunately been an increase in other problems related to excessive and irresponsible alcohol consumption among college-aged teenagers over the same period. Most of these reported behaviours showed little change until AFTER the 21-year-old law in 1987. For example, from 1982 to 1987, about 46% of students reported “vomiting after drinking.” This percentage rose to more than 50% after the law was amended. A significant increase was also observed for other variables: “reducing class after drinking” increased from 9% to nearly 12%; the number of “hangover missing classes” decreased from 26% to 28%; “being rated lower because they consume alcohol” increased from 5% to 7%; and “been in an argument after drinking” went from 12% to 17%. All these behaviors are indicators of irresponsible consumption. This increase in abusive drinking behaviour is due to “clandestine drinking” outside of adult supervision in student rooms, houses and apartments where people of the same age congregate.
Irresponsible behavior manifests itself in a lack of knowledge about responsible behavior in alcohol consumption, motivation for reactance (rebellion against the law), or norms of the student subculture. 76% of bars sold alcohol to obviously drunk diners [43], and about half of drivers arrested for drunk driving or drunk in motor vehicle accidents drank in licensed establishments [44] [45] [46]. Neighborhoods with a higher density of bars, nightclubs and other alcohol outlets are more likely to suffer from assaults and other violent crime. [24] [25] Age milestones exist in the United States in various forms.