The Pros And Cons Of Lowering Drinking Age

Although the legal age to consume alcoholic beverages is 21 there are many people who argue that it should be lowered, they argue that if at 18 you are old enough to go to war or vote than they are certainly old enough to consume alcohol. I disagree, the legal age should not be lowered for the following reasons: drunk teenage driving, putting themselves in harm’s way alcohol related health problems. The MLDA 21 was put into act in 1984 by the United States government so that every state would raise their legal consumption and possession age to 21. During the course of the years the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program has found that more than twenty-five thousand lives have been saved since the states began to raise the legal drinking age to 21. …show more content…
In 1982 when the first estimates were available in the National Highway Safety Administration we saw that 48% of drivers 18 to 20 were involved in fatal crashed related to alcohol. Drunk teenage driving has taken the lives of more than 4,300. These statistics are bewildering, alcohol is the weapon for mass destruction since thousands of teens are at parties that supply alcoholic beverages for them to consume. Much of the youth does binge drinking in other words consuming large amounts of alcohol in a short time period.
Alcohol is a mood altering substance. It effects the nerves that pass messages around the body by slowing them down and the more you drink the greater the effect. Alcohol affects parts of the brain responsible for self-control, your reactions also slow down, and you may become uncoordinated or unsteady on your feet. Many teens ignore these signs that their bodies are giving them and processed to driving under the influence. Since their bodies are under the influence of alcohol they react much slower to their surroundings and get distracted