As an eighteen-year-old college freshman, I have discovered that alcoholic substances are commonly drunk at most social events and incorporated in the typical social scene of every college and university in the United States. Despite the legal drinking age in America being 18 years old, alcohol is easily accessible to under-age students. It is inevitable that under-age drinking will occur even with these laws in place. Under-age drinking is so common that the enforcement of the law results in “2 arrests or convictions for every thousand violations” (Streeter). It is near impossible for law enforcement to prevent under-age drinking from occurring and minor alcohol violations only result in kids finding sneakier, underground ways to get drunk. This leads to kids ending up in riskier and dangerous situations than they would be in if the drinking age was lowered. If America lowered the legal age to 18, law enforcement would be able to focus on more fatal issues involving alcohol, such as the over-consumption of drinking and driving under the influence. Despite having a legal drinking age of 21, The United States of America still faces the numerous problems involving alcohol. Through my research of various European drinking cultures, these cultures could significantly help the drinking problem in America. After comparing the drinking cultures between Europe and America, the legal drinking age of 21 should be lowered to 18 because it will allow parents to teach their children how to responsibly drink, there will be less binge drinking, and it will put more emphasis on the fatal issues involving alcohol. 

Over the past century, America has had its ups and downs dealing with alcohol. In 1919, prohibition began in the United States as an “American experiment with alcohol prohibition” (Schrad). The American government put a nationwide constitutional ban on the sale, production, importation and transportation of alcohol beverages. Prohibition was considered a “noble experiment that was intended to reduce alcohol consumption and many of the social ills associated with it” (Hall). Prohibition in the United States was a huge failure since “home production and medicinal alcohol still allowed for legal production and consumption to continue” (Hall). Since consumption still occurred, the social problems involving alcohol were still imminent, diminishing the whole point of the prohibition. Crime also increased because of prohibition. People called “bootleggers illegally smuggled booze into the country causing wars and violence amongst several groups of people” (Hall). As the era of prohibition progressed, citizens realized that these bans made the country worse off and that the negative effects outweighed the positive effects. Before prohibition, Americans “consumed more alcoholic beverages in much greater quantities than Americans do today and accounts of daily life during the 1700s suggest drinking was common practice therefore, Americans around 1800 felt no social stigma while drinking heavily” (Hall). The drinking culture in America has a new look now than it once did in the 1800s. In the society today, alcohol is used to ease awkward tensions and to make social experiences overall better, whereas early American settlers drank it throughout the whole day as a substitute to water. Drunkenness is an issue today whereas in the past it was a commonality. 

 The definition of alcoholism and how one perceives alcoholism relies on your culture and societal-norms regarding drinking in one's community. People’s perceptions of alcohol are dependent on the history of drinking in your country and how it has been used in the past. Depending on the location, the perception of alcohol varies. Alcohol could be perceived as an issue in one society and in another it could be overlooked. People do not blame alcohol for the problems, instead they judge the decisions a person makes. After measuring the “total alcohol consumption of the population or per capita consumption of different countries we can argue that attitudes toward drinking and alcohol-related problems are considered culturally defined” (Ahlström and Österberg). The problem that arises is that the United States does not necessarily consume more alcohol than its European counterparts. Despite European countries consuming a larger amount of alcohol, there are still more problems evident in America. If the average European is consuming more alcohol, then the average American then why are there more problems in the states involving alcohol? A Within Europe there are “three alcohol drinking cultures for European adolescents that distinguish between eight countries with ‘mainly non-using’ adolescents, six countries with adolescents who use alcohol in a ‘mainly mild but frequent’ way and 11 countries that show the ‘highest proportion of (heavy) episodic drinking adolescents’” (Braker and Soellner). Even within Europe, the drinking patterns differ depending on the region and geography. Since there are 44 countries in Europe, variation amongst drinking patterns are bound to occur due to the differences in background or religion that each group of people possess. A legal drinking age of 18 practically exists in every European country therefore the drinking patterns reflect the history of drinking in that country instead of the policies in that country. Drinking patterns that violate drinking policies develop when alcohol is easily accessible under-age and apart of the social normality. Like how it is in high schools and universities in America. When forming alcohol policies and prevention efforts, law enforcement must consider all the “differences in alcohol use and drinking culture between regions” (Braker and Soellner). In European countries, people tend to drink at a younger age with their families; therefore, their drinking patterns are related to the patterns of their whole population. If America were to introduce drinking into their society with a more formal perception and it extinguished the binge-drinking stereotype, then alcohol would become a much safer substance and cause less problems. A formal perception of alcohol may consist of drinking an alcoholic beverage with your meal, at a meeting with a client, or at a special occasion. A minimum drinking age of 18 years old would allow parents to usher in a new, safer perception of alcohol, which would cause the next generation of children to consume alcohol in a more responsible manner. In European cultures, Parents take responsibility of teaching their children proper alcohol etiquette as if they were teaching them their manners. The United States must accept these cross-cultural differences and incorporate the proper use of alcohol into their children’s lives.  

The drinking habits in the United States of America have “largely changed over long periods of time” (Cahalan 3). The drinking culture in America has changed immensely over its lifetime, but it will always hold a large influence and impact on the citizens. Today, alcohol will be served at practically every social event they desire to attend: concerts, dinners, formal functions, co-worker parties, etc. The America we live in today is powered by a lifestyle that revolves around alcohol. Most people make their favorite memories after drinking a couple beers or taking a couple shots. Gabrielle Glaser argues that the current drinking age of 21 is not suitable for the millennial lifestyle and it does not teach people how to properly and safely consume alcoholic substances. America should lower the age to 18 to expose the next generation to this lifestyle of drinking in America. Young adults will learn not to get drunk but to drink in moderation and to use the effects of alcohol to form friends instead of enemies. A lower drinking age will allow parents to drink with their young adults. By drinking with their parents, they will quickly adapt to the maturity level of their parents and learn not to act up when becoming intoxicated. A lower drinking age will also give young adults the opportunity to openly drink without the risk of getting in trouble by law enforcement, therefore there will not be the need for binge-drinking or dangerous consumption. Unfortunately, in America today “there are even more alcoholics than there were a generation ago; and the percentage of people with severe drinking problems has hardly diminished at all” (Cahalan 1). If data proves that the number of alcoholics has risen, then clearly something new has to be done. A lower drinking age would solve this issue, since minors would be able to ease their way into a culture of drinking and re-define the negative perception that alcohol carries around. Wherever you go, there will be different groups of people with different thoughts and beliefs. Because there are differences amongst these groups of people, “their definition of the proper use of alcohol will vary and policies on drinking in their community will also affect their drinking behavior”, therefore it is important to point out that there are socio-cultural differences between Europe and America (Gefou-Madianou). European families ease their children into a culture of drinking by providing a glass of wine for them to drink at dinner. Simply introducing alcohol in a calm and controlled setting will make children believe that alcohol does not have to be a dangerous substance. 

Perceptions of alcoholism vary. In some European societies where the drinking age is 18, they enjoy and accept the effects of drinking alcohol and they utilize it in a way to build relationships and bring their community together. According to Douglas, anthropologists before the 1970s did not necessarily treat alcoholism as a problem (Douglas). Like several European countries, these anthropologists challenged the idea that alcohol leads to more problems by claiming that problems in one person’s life leads to alcoholism. Instead of blaming all the problems on the alcohol, they blame it on the choices and decisions made by the people who drank the alcohol. Since alcoholism has such an open definition, it is hard to point out when it becomes a problem. That is why a drinking age of 18 will allow for law enforcement to crack down on people that make form trouble often when they are overly intoxicated. 

Regardless of the legal drinking age being 21 years old, under-age drinking is unavoidable. A legal age of 18 will eliminate minor alcohol charges and allow for people to focus on the deathly issues of alcohol. Since the drinking age is still 21 “high school and college kids view dangerous binge drinking as a rite of passage” (Glaser). The main purpose of raising the drinking age to 21 years old was to reduce total consumption of alcohol. Unfortunately, that is not what it has done, instead “it has merely driven it underground, to the riskiest of settings: unsupervised high school blowouts and crazy fraternity parties” (Glaser). With the legal age being 21, minors treat alcohol as if people would during the prohibition. Americans know that prohibition was one of the biggest failures in Americas history. Prohibiting adults between the age of 18 and 20 from consuming alcohol has a lot of upside. Like prohibition in the 1920s, the cons will eventually outweigh its benefits. If someone wants to drink they must try not to get caught with alcohol, therefore one tries to drink as much as possible in a minimum amount of time. A lower drinking age would allow for safer environments for people to drink that can be monitored by law enforcement if someone becomes dangerously intoxicated. For instance, college students just like “Gordie Bailey, freshman at the University of Colorado, underwent fraternity initiation and died from alcohol poisoning with his friends surrounding him” (Streeter). Since the consumption and possession of alcohol is against the law, the members of the fraternity chose to keep themselves out of trouble at the time and as a result they took the life of an innocent 18-year-old. In Canada, Ryerson University put a ban on freshman students from drinking alcohol during the first week of school. Despite the bans, students still find a way to disobey and drink in their rooms amongst their peers. Vidya Kauri claims that these bans have not been a large success since “we live in a culture where booze is essential to have a good time” (Kauri). Instead of focusing on prohibiting alcohol, a legal age of 18 will allow for everyone to limit and reduce any problems caused by alcohol consumption. The overall advantage of lowering the age to 18 “is we're not trying to enforce a law that's unenforceable. The abuse of alcohol and the over-consumption of alcohol and DUI driving. Those are the areas we must focus our efforts. Not on chasing kids around trying to give them a ticket for having a cup of beer in their hand” (Streeter). 

Of course, with a controversial issue like the legal drinking age, there are many doubters that argue against lowering the drinking age. Many people argue that if the drinking age were to be lowered, minors would consume a lot more alcohol because they would be able to purchase it legally. This would not necessarily be true because kids would not feel the need to binge drink and instead they would be able to kick back and enjoy an alcoholic beverage. Under-age drinking already occurs today, so a minimum age of 18 will only allow for people to drink more comfortably and stress free. No matter the drinking age, adolescents will always have the choice to drink or not to drink. Depending on their friend group: 

A non-drinking adolescent with mainly drinking friends is significantly less likely to initiate alcohol abuse if he or she has a minority of non-drinking friends. Furthermore, a drinking adolescent with most friends who drink has a decreased probability of continuing to drink and has overall lower levels of consumption if he or she has a minority of friends who do not drink. (Rees and Wallace)

Many people also argue that a lower drinking age will cause a “rise in fatalities from drunk driving and injury and death rates will significantly increase” (Dean-Mooney). However, a lower age will provide a safer environment for adolescents since law enforcement will not be trying to give petty fines. Busses and transportation that provide a safe and sober route home are always available to prevent any drinking and driving. 

I understand that along with alcohol comes dangerous and life-threatening issues that have strongly impacted many families. A lower drinking age should not be implemented for minors to get drunk legally. A lower drinking age of 18 should be implemented so that all citizens of the United States have a safer place to live and prosper. Although the cultures and history of European countries are different from America, a legal drinking age of 18 years old has proven to keep Europeans safer and happier. Of the fifteen countries in the European Union there has been “40,000 deaths due to traffic accidents and nearly one third of those deaths is caused by alcohol” (Institute of alcohol studies). In the United States alone “in 2015, 10,625 people died in alcohol-impaired crashes” (Blincoe). From this data we can conclude that drinking and driving is a larger issue in America considering a third of 40,000 is 13,333 deaths. Those 13,333 deaths are also divided amongst the 15 countries in the European Union, therefore Europe has less drunk drivers on the roads. A lower drinking age will ask for a lot more help and guidance from parents and guardians. Parents must teach their children about customary drinking traditions and clearly explain to them the positive effects and negative effects that result from consuming alcohol. Lowering the drinking age will be a huge success if all American’s come together to help fight the war on alcoholism. I believe all states should implement alcohol courses as a requirement in high schools so that they are exposed to the consequences of it early on in their life so that any problems can be prevented. If the drinking age is lowered to 18, then it will allow for law enforcement to focus on the more fatal issues involved with alcohol. The repercussions of driving under the influence and over-intoxication should become heftier so that people will take it more seriously and more lives will be saved. Americans technically become adults when they turn the age of 18. If one can join the military, purchase nicotine products and purchase firearms when they turn 18, then there is no reason why they should not be able to drink alcohol as well. European adolescents are granted legal permission to drink and after examining their behaviors, drinking patterns and drinking cultures, American adolescents should be able to do the same thing. 

 