This is a debate that has been going on and on for years now. Whether the drinking age should stay at 21 or be lowered to 19. There are pros and cons to both sides but which one is a better side? In this case, lowering the drinking age isn’t such a bad idea, There are many conversations in today’s society that discuss whether the drinking age should be lowered or if it should remain the same. Here are two sides to this argument. The legal drinking should be lowered to 19 because drinking doesn’t have anything to do with age. It all depends on the maturity of the individual and the environment in which they are drinking in. Having the age set to 21 definitely supports life threatening drinking habits. Many students in college that are under 21 will binge drink when they go out to parties because it is the nature of college living. If the drinking age were lowered to 19 then this wouldn’t be such a problem because students wouldn‘t feel the need to abuse the “powers“ above and try to drink as much as they can.
If something is allowed, then there won’t be a need for the desire for defiance. Some states allow for minors to drink while following some rules under the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. The 1984 NMDAA, requires that States prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving State highway funds. Basically, this act makes drinking safe for persons under the age of 21. It states that you can only consume alcoholic beverages for religious purposes, when accompanied by someone older than 21, for medical purposes when prescribed by a licensed medical institution, or in private clubs. 0n the other hand the drinking age should be kept at 21 for many reasons. Alot of them are medical reasons. The human brain does not entirely cultivate until age 21.
Many studies show that the casualties related to alcohol decrease the older the age this has a lot to do with the development of the brain. The part of the brain that deals with maturity is called the prefrontal cortex, When a person is consuming alcohol this is the first part of the brain that is affected, Even at the age of 21 this part of the brain is still not fully developed until age 25. So just imagine having someone under the age of 21 drinking There are many things that alcohol does to the body that many people know about. For instance, alcohol impairs judgment, slows motor skills, and also amplifies a person’s risk-taking behavior.
One big thing is that when teens drink, they don’t know when enough is enough, Teens get twice as drunk as adults and because of their immaturity, they don’t know when enough alcohol is enough. This can lead to a lot of medical problems Some medical problems can include brain damage, liver damage, and heart damage, It worsened, these can lead to death. So as stated up above, there are many reasons as to why it should be lowered or stayed the same. A person doesn’t need to be 21 to know how to drink, that can be something taught to an individual, it other countries can allow their minors to drink under 21 then the same should be allowed in the United States.
