Should the drinking age be lowered to eighteen to make it legal for college students to drink, to avoid binge drinking, or is there enough scientific evidence and medical reasons to justify the minimal drinking age staying at twenty-one?  By looking at possible health issues of brain development, safety due to immaturity, and the economic impact acquired by change, we can compare the possible consequences that changing the legal drinking age could cause, as not all young adults are ready to take on responsible drinking, unless they were taught at home.  The minimal drinking age should be lowered, due to other freedoms eighteen-year old’s have and the positive affects it would have on the economy.  

“Changes in brain development” (CDC) and a lot of other health issues occurring from drinking alcohol at a young age, is one reason law makers would keep the minimal drinking age at twenty-one.  The brain of an eighteen-year-old is not developed enough to handle alcohol.  Alcohol poisoning can affect younger brains more than matured brains.  The Center for Disease Control says that a younger drinking age leads to an increase in “death from alcohol poisoning” (CDC).  The brain is not completely ready to handle toxins from alcohol at a young age; and the mentality of an eighteen-year-old is not yet mature enough to drink responsibly.  Responsible drinking would decrease the chance of getting alcohol poisoning. 

Many would oppose to the argument, that the drinking age should stay at twenty-one because young brains cannot handle alcohol, by saying eighteen-year-olds are going to drink anyways and are at a higher chance to get alcohol poisoning as they illegally binge drink.  Being able to drink alcohol legally would decrease underage binge drinking because young college students would not have to rush to drink as much as possible, while avoiding getting caught.  Excessive amounts of alcohol consumed at a rapid rate, may lead to alcohol poisoning.  College students could pace their drinking and potentially avoid being a victim of alcohol poisoning.  On the Seeker YouTube channel, in the video ‘Should We Lower the Drinking Age,’ Trace mentions research saying that “we know that the brain doesn’t even fully develop until twenty-five, but no one is pressing for that age” (Seeker).  This brings up the question as to if brain development is a proper argument as to why the drinking age should stay at twenty-one because even for twenty-one-year-olds, they still have four years for their brain to be fully developed.  Alcohol poisoning affecting young adults, without fully developed brains, may be a problem arising from the drinking age; however, we should perhaps focus more on responsible drinking, so that young adults do not consume too much alcohol at one time, causing alcohol poisoning.

The CDC also mentions instances where “suicide and violence” have risen due to minors drinking alcohol (CDC).  A twenty-one-year-old should be able to control themselves more, while drunk, then an eighteen-year-old has the ability to do, whom may theoretically get very depressed by the alcohol and then attempt suicide or another form of physical harm.  A twenty-one-year-old will also know when they have had enough to drink, whereas a minor may continue drinking due to peer pressure surrounding them in the college atmosphere.  Alcohol has different effects on different types of people, so this is important to consider when deciding on the drinking age. As young people still have a lot to learn, alcohol could harm parts of the brain that are responsible for some of that learning.  

Not only is how alcohol affects the young brain important to consider, but also the maturity level of the drinker.  The ‘US News’ thinks a younger minimal drinking age would cause more problems with drinking on college campuses.  They believe that the higher drinking age saves lives.  The ‘US News’ is against lowering the drinking age because they think it is “dangerous” for young people to be able to drink alcohol (Dean-Mooney).  Dean-Mooney is sold on the idea that “21 saves lives.”  This is the idea that the higher drinking age saves young people from accidents caused by drinking.  She believes that the law, leading to the increase of the drinking age, has had a positive effect on young adults’ drinking habits.  This law is said to have decreased the amount of crashes caused by drunk drivers.  Some young adults will attempt to drive drunk because they think that it is ‘cool’ if they succeed.  They may also be too scared to call someone to pick them up because they have been illegally drinking alcohol.  Binge drinking really needs to be discussed on college campuses (Dean-Mooney), whether the drinking age is lowered or not.  Many colleges choose to avoid the subject and pretend like underage drinking is not a problem, that they have.  

The Primary Research Group researched at “58 colleges and universities” (14) to learn more about how alcohol affects their campuses. They found that alcohol was a larger problem at four-year colleges. They believe that this is because they “have a much higher percentage of students living away from home and [without] parental supervision” (14).  These students have more freedoms and access to more things than those students who are attending a community college and living with their parents at home.  Many colleges use the “zero tolerance approach of not allowing any alcohol on campus nor at any college sponsored events” (16). This does not prevent college students from going off campus to parties or bars. In order for college personal to recognize if a student has an alcohol problem, some colleges “essentially do nothing” (17), whereas other colleges train university officials and have programs for incoming college freshman.  Binge drinking is going to occur and if college students are more aware of the consequences erecting from binge drinking, they are less likely to participate in alcohol related activities.  Colleges must be aware that there is a problem, in order for them to inform their students.  Binge drinking should decrease with maturity, leading to better health across all drinkers.

Although health is a huge deciding factor on the minimal drinking age, safety due to maturity should also be considered.  Maturity comes with age, so knowing when an adult is mature enough to responsibly drink alcohol is a necessity.  ‘Choose Responsibility’ mentions there is not a legal drinking age decided by the national government; however, each state individually decides (Responsibility).  All the states have decided on the age of twenty-one due to an act that prevents funding for roads, if the legal drinking age in the state is below twenty-one.  Many people believe that since the legal drinking age increased to twenty-one, less deaths, due to drinking, have occurred.  ‘Choose Responsibility’ did research and has found that this is not entirely true.  The number of underage lives saved by the drinking age increase, equals the number of lives lost by legal drinkers, due to their increase in drinking.  Underage adults are going to drink, so the higher drinking age “breeds disrespect for the law.”  It also “marginalizes the role of parents” (Responsibility).  It is easier for a parent to talk about alcohol, while their child is still in their house, than it is once the child moves out of the household.  If the minimal drinking age were to be eighteen, parents would have the chance to teach their children how to drink responsibly; and they would have less fear of their child being in danger, while learning irresponsible drinking habits on a college campus.  Choose Responsibility says, that the higher drinking age “has had very limited success” (Responsibility).  This is mainly because young college students are going to find a way to drink, whether it is legal, or not.  Some college students feel like drinking and partying is a part of the college experience and they do not want to miss out on it.  Having a lower drinking age would give them the chance to have, what they believe as, the “full college experience,” but rather do it more responsibly.

Safety of drinking habits is a very important factor to consider when thinking of lowering the drinking age, or keeping it as is.  The higher drinking age has not reduced the amount of drinking occurring; it has just driven it underground (Glaser).  Young adults should be able to drink in controlled environments to prevent underground drinking.  This is not currently happening with the drinking age at twenty-one.  College students under the age of twenty-one will binge drink to get as drunk as possible, since they cannot legally drink.  Through his thirty plus years of research, Professor Engs believes that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen to encourage young adults to drink in “controlled environments,” rather than just “underground” “outside of adult supervision” (Engs).  Having the opportunity to drink publicly would allow young adults to learn how to properly drink and their parents would be able to teach them responsible drinking behaviors.  Young adults should be taught how to drink responsibly before they enter a college campus.  

Glaser compares the twenty-one drinking age to prohibition.  Prohibition did not prevent people from drinking, just like the higher drinking age does not prevent high school and young college students from drinking (Glaser).  Glaser’s argues that the drinking age should be lowered back down to eighteen, but it should also be enforced more than the current drinking laws.  Young adults are going to drink, no matter what the age is, but it is safer for them to drink in public, which is why the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen.  Glaser compares our current drinking age to the Prohibition of 1920.  During Prohibition, drinking did not stop, even though it was illegal, it was just drug underground.  College students who are underage currently “dodge the system” by “underground” drinking at college parties (Glaser).  College students are still drinking with the current laws.  

Cary gives the reader insight on personal experiences she had while in college.  She says that when the drinking age was 18, it was normal to see students drinking at a normal pace and to see police officers just coming through parties to make sure everything was under control (Cary).  She talks about how it was much more laid back to have one cup of beer at a party and not feel pressured to drink as much as possible because it was completely legal (Cary).  Now college students are binge drinking to avoid getting caught.  It would be much safer if young college students were able to drink and law enforcement were able to stroll through parties for safety, not for busting.  Drinking in college is going to happen and it would be better if it were legal, which would ultimately lead to safer drinking overall.

The final factor we should consider, when deciding on lowering the drinking age, is the economic impact that would occur.  The ‘CDC’ has found that once the minimal legal drinking age passed at twenty-one, drinking declined overall.  They believe that underage drinking is a public health problem and that it affects all of the country.  They also think that underage drinking costs the economy (CDC).  When drinking declined, there were less alcohol sells, leading to less money going into the economy.  With a lower drinking age, a larger age group would be able to legally purchase alcohol, providing more money to our economy.  While the higher minimal drinking age did lower alcohol sells, underage drinkers have still found ways to purchase alcohol.

The CDC mentions how the current minimal drinking age is not properly enforced and that “alcohol sales to minors are still a common problem in communities” (CDC).  Checking ID’s should increase when a potential minor is purchasing alcohol and the seller should also check and make sure that the ID is real.  In order for the seller to know if the ID is real or not, they would have to be properly trained.  Everyone is not currently trained accurately to know if an ID is real or fake.  Selling alcohol to minors can cause a company to get charged with fees, if they are caught.  This really hurts the local economy because some small businesses may not be able to afford the charges and have to shut down.  A younger drinking age will prevent a majority of these occurrences from taking place and help the economy flourish.

When considering whether the drinking age should be decreased to eighteen, it is important to realize why the drinking age was increased in the first place.  Choose Responsibility discusses how the legal drinking age came about.  The United States does not have a national drinking age.  In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed a law, into effect, that would lower the amount of money received by the states, if they did not raise their minimal drinking age to at least twenty-one.  Many sources claim that the drinking age increase has decreased DUIs, but truly it was the tougher DUI laws that have been put into place.  Professor Engs says that drunk driving has decreased due to other factors, not just the increased drinking age like MADD and law makers would like you to believe.  Choose Responsibility mentions that the rate of teen traffic deaths decreased before the drinking age of twenty-one was accepted amongst all states.  

The drinking age has not really influenced anything since it increased amongst the states, in 1984.  Some of the things Professor Engs said has helped decreased accidents involving intoxicated drivers are “education,” “designated driver programs, increased seat belt and air bag usage” (Engs), safer vehicles, and much more.  Drunk driving has decreased over the years due to this law and several other aspects that have come into play; however, more accidents have occurred due to binge drinking.  There has been an increase in school related incidents like skipping and missing class due to drinking amongst college students.  Professor Engs writes, that through his research, in a survey, it was noted that over eighty percent of those college students that were surveyed mentioned there being at least one drinking related problem that they had experience.  This proves that underage drinking is a situation that needs to be addressed. Lowering the drinking age could potentially lower this percentage of drinking related problems to make things safer.  If young adults were legally able to drink, their parents could teach them responsible drinking before they go off on their own (Engs).  This would lead, to not only a decrease in drunk driving, but also more attentive college students.

A lower drinking age would impact young adults.  The article “Drinking in College: Consumption Patterns, Problems, Sex Differences and Legal Drinking Age” uses different races and sexes to study drinking patterns.  They noticed that in colleges, white people tend to drink more than any other races.  They also discovered woman drink less than men.  They say that the “drinking age has little effect on consumption levels or total related alcohol problems” (O’hare).  According to this source, the lower drinking age would not have much effect on how it impacts college students because drinking will occur either way.

Should the drinking age be lowered to eighteen to make it legal for college students to drink to avoid binge drinking or is there enough scientific evidence and medical reasons to justify the drinking age staying at twenty-one?  My own view is that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen because young adults can do all the adult things except for drinking and it would promote safer drinking.  I value college students staying safe, as they make their decision to drink or not.  Most countries have a drinking age of eighteen or lower.  Having a lower drinking age will certainly promote safer drinking because underage drinkers would not have to hide from law enforcement.  Young adults would be able to drink in their homes with their parents to learn the behavior of responsible drinking.  Before President Reagan signed a bill, that would have decreased the amount of funds going to states for highway projects, the drinking age was eighteen and MADD believed that that influenced the number of drunk drivers.  They now believe that the number of drunk drivers has decreased, but in reality, the age group has simply increased the cap it had on its age finality.  What they believe has decreased is just due to other laws and rules that have been put into place and more thoroughly enforced.  A younger drinking age could promote safer drinking and help the economy.
