Many laws are the topic of heated debates among politicians other officials; one hot issue for debate is the current legal age to consume alcohol. Many feel that the age should be lowered to eighteen while others believe it should remain twenty-one. Some argue that an eighteen year old may enlist in the military and serve overseas but not consume an alcoholic beverage; the law permits an eighteen-year-old person to purchase and smoke cigarettes, enter an X-rated film, club, or store. While these are decisions that may affect the physical or mental health of an individual, they are not as life altering as the next few. Upon turning eighteen, an individual no longer needs parental consent to marry or enter into other legally binding agreements. In fact, many times a person is questioned before turning eighteen if they want to register to vote. Answering “no” to this question will most likely cause many people to gasp because public opinion is that all adult citizens of this country has a right and duty to vote and it should be exercised by all who are physically and mentally capable and eligible.
It is a law that all males register with the military within so many days of turning eighteen and if there are females who wish to enlist they are welcomed with open arms. There are many employment opportunities available only to those eighteen years of age and older; for example working in a pharmacy with medications or operating heavy machinery. Many believe that lowering the drinking age to 18 would decrease underage drinking among college students because it removes the “forbidden pleasure” mentality. John McCardell, former president of Middlebury College in Vermont argues, “This law has been an abysmal failure. It hasn’t reduced or eliminated drinking. It has simply driven it underground, behind closed doors, into the most risky and least manageable of settings.” (1)
The other side of the argument is that lowering the drink age to eighteen could increase many alcohol related incidents such as deaths, injuries, crime, and sexual promiscuity or increase the risk of addiction to alcohol and other drugs. Another concern with lowering the drinking age is that at the age of eighteen many young people are still dealing with peer pressure; many at this age are still very impressionable which may cause them to make poor decisions such as driving under the influence and participating in risky sexual activity. Some have volatile personalities and may participate in criminal activity. Young people are more likely to get behind the wheel after drinking. According to Fox News, “more than 4 million people younger than twenty-one drove under the influence of drugs and alcohol last year… That’s one in five of all Americans aged 16-20″ (3) . The report goes on to say, “In 2002, 22% drove under the influence; last year it was 20%” (3) . Family based Christian organization Focus on the Family’s Physicians Resource Council states, “alcohol is involved in one-third of all traffic deaths for young people aged 15-19. Overall, driving under the influence is the leading cause of death for people between ages of 15 and 24″ (2) .
Alcohol also lowers ones inhibitions mainly their sexual inhibitions. Focus on the Family’s report on alcohol and young people under twenty-one quotes Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) as reporting, “60% of college women diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection were drunk when they were infected” (qtd. from M.A.D.D.) (2) . Other research conducted by M.A.D.D. cites that, “95% of violent crimes on college campuses is alcohol related, and 90% of reported campus rapes involve alcohol use by the assailant, the victim, or both” (qtd from M.A.D.D.) (2) .
If we begin changing laws because we have rationalized and justified them in ways that benefits us then we may as well not have laws at all. At the time I originally wrote this article I purposed the question and made the following statement, “What is the next law to be challenged, the law passed in the November 2004 elections requiring parental notification of a teen seeking an abortion or will it be the law establishing the legal age of consensual sex? I feel that changing the legal drinking age will open the doors to other laws being challenged and revamped.” As I edit this paper in preparation to publish it I am reminded an article, I have recently read where the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is reconsidering its definition of pedophilia (4) . What some would have labeled as a “slippery slope argument” in my original paper turns out to not be so slippery after all.
I base my opinion of the drinking age partly on the research studies I have quoted above, but mainly, I have based it on my moral and ethical beliefs. It has been my observation, which has been confirmed by many news articles, studies, and personal experiences of friends, family, and acquaintances that nothing positive can become of alcohol consumption at any age especially young people.
References
(1) CBSNews. (2010, March 1). The debate on lowering the drinking age . Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/19/60minutes/main4813571.shtml
(2) Focus on the Family Physician Resource Council, U.S.A. “Understanding the Drugs Teens: Use The Gateway Drugs: Alcohol” 2004. http://www.focusonyourchild.com/health/art1/a0001016.html
(3) The Fox News Channel. The Associated Press “Study: 1 in 5 Young People Drink and Drive” 30 Dec. 2004. http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,142930,00.html
(4) Dial , K. (2011, August 16). Conference speakers lobby apa to change language on pedophilia . Retrieved from http://www.citizenlink.com/2011/08/16/conference-speakers-lobby-apa-to-change-language-on-pedophilia/