Should the legal age of alcohol consumption be lowered?
A topic fresh in the minds of many is the topic of whether or not the legal drinking age is set too high. The legal age of alcohol consumption in America should be lowered because it does very little to stop minors from drinking, is partially the reason behind the binge drinking epidemic, and it could also help prevent alcohol related deaths.
What is an appropriate age for Americans to consume alcohol? The legal age of alcohol consumption in America has a twisted history that has always varied. When America first became a country there were no rules set out to determine at what age you could or could not drink alcohol. America then went through a period of time when alcohol consumption became illegal for anyone no matter his or her age. This period that enforced a zero alcohol policy was known as Prohibition. Once Prohibition ended and Americans could legally drink alcohol again they had to decide how to regulate the drinking age. This fell on the states to decide upon and many set into place a legal drinking age of eighteen. This continued for years but was eventually changed to the age of twenty-one which is still the current legal age restriction for alcohol consumption.
Why is the legal drinking age in America twenty-one? The legal drinking age in America is twenty-one due to an attempt to lower drinking-related automobile accidents. In 1984 President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act. This act gave states a choice. They could either raise their legal drinking age to twenty-one or lose millions of dollars in highway funding. The states currently still have the power to control the drinking age however, they are still greatly swayed by the amount of government funding they would lose out on by changing the drinking age. The legal drinking age has been twenty one in all fifty states since they enacted Reagan’s law in 1988.
Despite it being illegal for underage people to purchase alcohol, it is not difficult and sales are made either to minors or for minors all the time. One way that minors acquire alcohol is by stealing it from someone who can legally drink. In this scenario the alcohol is usually taken from a parent. Minors can also acquire alcohol easily by falsifying their age with a fake id.
Milestone detox, a rehabilitation center for drug and alcohol abuse, says “According to their findings, over 60 percent of the students who had tried alcohol before college possessed fake IDs. In addition, it was demonstrated that fake IDs led underage drinkers to drink more at each instance and drink more frequently. Lastly, the study showed that these types of behaviors in young people lead to an increase in the likelihood of a drinking disorder later in life.” These fake ids make access to alcohol and potential binge drinking possible for anyone due to the fact that they are tough to spot, can scan, and have an actual picture of you on them. The numbers of people using fake ids has steadily rose throughout the years and has become a problem.
The easy access of alcohol only encourages drinking in excess, or binge drinking, to occur. Henry Wechsler, PhD, George W. Dowdall, PhD, Andrea Davenport, MPH, and Sonia Costillo, PhD, wrote an article in the American Journal Of Public Health that states “Being age 21 and over does not by itself predict binge drinking; thus the most important public policy on drinking for the traditional-age college student—the legal minimum drinking age—appears at present to be largely ineffective. This finding hardly encourages the notion that ‘cracking down’ on underage drinking on campus will be easy” (Wechsler). According to the National Center On Addiction and Substance Abuse, underage drinking accounts for 17.5% ($22.5 billion) of consumer spending for alcohol in the United States. In 2006, 72.2% of twelfth graders reported drinking alcohol at some point in their lives. The statistics from the National Center On Addiction and Substance Abuse show that almost three fourths of American high school seniors have drank alcohol while they were underage. The statistic that seventy two percent of high school seniors in America have drank alcohol is so high that it is almost unbelievable. Despite underage drinking being so common in america, there is a certain taboo surrounding alcohol and drinking practices. It is seen as a forbidden fruit to many which only leads teens to want it more. The fact of the matter is that teens will continue to use alcohol illegally despite having little experience with alcohol or how to use it in a responsible manner. This leads teens to drinking in excess and putting themselves in the way of serious harm.
Binge drinking can have drastic consequences. In 2010, Henry Weschler and colleagues said, “Recent epidemic-logical evidence demonstrates clearly that binging is associated with substantially higher risks of acute health problems such as serious injury, especially resulting from auto crashes; unplanned or unsafe sex; assault and aggressive behavior; and a spectrum of drinking related social and psychological problems. Thus, binge drinking is arguably the No. 1 public health hazard and the primary source of preventable morbidity and mortality for more than 6 million full-time college students in America”(Wechsler, Dowdall,Davenport, & Costillo).
Law Enforcement is in a constant battle that they can never win with underage drinking and are trying everything they can to get control of the problem. One of the ways that law enforcement combats underage drinking is by issuing minor in possession or MIP citations. States are also bribed to enforce the drinking age by grants. U.S Department of Justice says “ Block Grants- allocated annually to states for the general purpose of supporting the enforcement of underage drinking laws”(Slowikowski). In my opinion the enforcement of underage drinking laws has worked slightly to curb the use of alcohol underage but is still flawed and that it would be much easier to control underage drinking if the legal age was lowered.
It is evident that binge drinking has become a problem that needs to be addressed for college-age students. The legal drinking age of twenty-one was supposed to help combat this issue but is just not working. Binge drinking doesn’t start overnight many college-age binge drinkers began drinking while in high school. Many binge drinkers have had little to no guidance on how much alcohol is too much. Henry Wechsler and colleagues had this to say about binge drinking, “High school binge drinking is a major factor for college binge drinking, which suggests that drinking and binge drinking are behaviors with some history even for this young population.” Based on my research, if students in high school were given proper education on using alcohol safely, the number of binge drinkers would drastically decrease. I also think that if currently illegal drinkers, such as eighteen and nineteen year olds, could safely experiment with alcohol, say with a legal guardian, they would have a better understanding of how to safely consume alcohol.
People often associate driving as being one of the most dangerous activities related to alcohol, however, off road accidents are almost as common, especially to underage drinkers. Due to alcohol being illegal for many high school and college age students, many chose to participate in its consumption behind closed doors. When kids sneak and hide alcohol many things can go wrong. One example could be that someone has consumed too much alcohol and has alcohol poisoning which can be fatal. The person that had to much to drink is in danger and could possibly die simply because the rest of the people with him or her are afraid to get help because they are participating in an illegal activity and could get themselves in trouble. So many lives could be saved if the law on the legal age of alcohol consumption was lowered. I conducted an interview with a current student at the University of Montana that admitted to regularly drinking despite being underage. The student wished to remain anonymous but was happy to answer my questions. I asked have you ever personally felt in danger for your life after drinking too much or seen this happen to someone else? He responded, “Yes, I made a trip to Bozeman one weekend with some buddies and had a close call with alcohol poisoning. I was already intoxicated but was convinced by some people at the party to drink the death cup, a cup filled with four shots of vodka and twisted tea. I drank the cup through a beer bong (a funnel with a hose attached to it) in about twenty seconds. The next thing I remember was waking up in a bathtub covered in my own vomit and stuff in a house I had never been to before. My friends, who were also underage told me that they thought I had alcohol poisoning and put me in the tub on my side but then forgot about me while partying. I did not respond to anything anyone did to me and definitely could have died in that bathtub that night. That’s just part of partying though, ya know.” Lowering the drinking age would eliminate the fear of young people to seek medical help for friends who have had to much to drink. Many college and University presidents realize this crisis and have taken action to try to reduce alcohol-related deaths. The American Journal of Public Health says, “The overall lack of progress in reducing drinking and related problems among college students nationally is of concern to many college officials. As of November 2009, presidents and chancellors of 135 colleges and universities have signed on to the Amethyst Initiative calling for a public debate about lowering the minimum legal drinking age to 18 years. Specifically, they suggest that the current minimum legal drinking age of 21 years is not working to prevent youths from using alcohol and experiencing the negative consequences of drinking” (NEED correct author). If the issue is currently large enough for reputable college presidents to take action, there is a legitimate problem that needs to be addressed. The way that it should be fixed is by lowering the legal drinking age.
The legal age of alcohol consumption in America should be lowered because it does very little to stop minors from drinking, is partially the reason behind the binge drinking epidemic, and it could also help prevent alcohol related deaths. I have come to the opinion that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen because that removes the taboo of alcohol use and could lead to fewer alcohol related deaths.