
There has been a continuous discussion in the United States on whether the drinking age should be brought down to 18 like a other countries of the world or it should remain at 21.Underage drinking has been a significant questionable issue for a considerable amount of time, yet why is it not under control? Still young adults are continuing to purchase liquor with fake ID cards, drink, get into bars, and drink illegally. Now a days being a Young adult and having fake ID cards has become a trend.  There are considerable measures of factors that meet up to why the drinking age should be decreased down to 18; the clearest reason is that large number of Young adults is drinking before they are 21. Alcohol stores, bars, and clubs all wants to earn profit and in that case if they can make money by selling liquors to underage drinkers then they will. There is one common question, what should be the drinking age? All over the world people drinking age is different. In some countries drinking age is 21 while in some countries drinking age is 18.The places where the MLDA is 21 a lot of arguments take place, whether to keep the age to 21 or should be lowered to 18. In 1984 the drinking age was increased to 21 in the United states which has helped a lot in decreasing drunk driving accidents as older people are more mature than teens and they know how they should react after drinking. By increasing the MLDA, binge drinking has risen in the United States because the legal drinking age is 21 and most of the college students are below 21 so, they are not easily accessible to alcohol and cannot drink outside whenever they want. Students tend to get fake ids to buy alcohol, which is a crime and they don't have proper education on how much they should drink and they have a mind set to consume as much as they want when it is available to them. But if the government lowers the drinking age then the young adults can be given proper education on how much they should drink to avoid fatalities. Increasing the drinking age has rather pushed underage drinking into private and less controlled conditions, prompting to more wellbeing and life-jeopardizing behavior by youths. When children’s attain the age of 18 they are considered adult. At that time they are given rights like signing a contract, go on war for their country, they are allowed to marry and when they commit a crime 18 year olds are also treated as adults than drinking alcohol is a small factor against few of the rights that they are given at the age of 18

    Around 1984 when the drinking age used to be 18, many drunk-driving accidents had taken place, which caused many deaths. As a lot of accidents used to take place, organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) started movements to increase MLDA. Seeing this Ronald Reagan president of the congress decided to pass a law name National Minimum Drinking Age Act to increase MLDA to 21. “Ronald Reagan, a wave of conservative thinking, and the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984.”(Hines, Nick) said that if a state doesn't pass a law making it unlawful for individuals under 21 to purchase or freely have liquor, then that state will lose 10 percent of the government funding for state interstate funds. The thought was to control drunken driving accidents that were taking place till 1984, which were going on at a higher rate for individuals between the age of 18 and 20, than any other age group at the time. While In 1971, the 26th Amendment changed the voting age from 21 to 18. The 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition, allows each state to set its own drinking age. Because of the highway funding provided by the government every state had to increase the drinking age so that the government doesn't stop the funding (Vine Pair).

The permitted MLDA should be decreased down to around 18 or 19 and young adults should be permitted to drink in controlled circumstances, for example, diners, pubs, bars and certified school and college events. According to the author “Those under the age of 21 are more likely to drink more -- sometimes called "binge” drinkers”  (Ruths Engs). While there has been a reduction in per capita utilization and vehicle crashes, tragically, amongst this same day and age, there has been an increase in different issues identified with overwhelming and excessive drinking among college age youth. The vast majority of these revealed practices indicated little change until after the 21-year-old law in 1987. For instance from 1982 until 1987 around 46% of understudies revealed, vomiting because of drinking. This jumped to more than half after the law change. Increasing the age has not only increased binge drinking but also has affected the studies of the students. Which can be seen through this quote “Noteworthy increment were likewise found for different factors like cutting classes subsequent to drinking jumped from 9% to right around 12%, missing class as a result of a headache went from 26% to 28%, getting lower grade as a result of drinking increased from 5% to 7%; and "been in a fight in the after drinking" expanded from 12% to 17%.” (Ruths Engs).  These practices are lists of unreliable drinking. This increase in abusive drinking behavior is due to "underground drinking" outside of adult supervision in student rooms and apartments were same ages individuals congregate and because of lack of knowledge of how much they should drink. The drinking age was increased to avoid drunken driving cases but regardless of MLDA the accidents are going to take place for the first few years because of the lack of knowledge. In 1984 if the government had started giving education to people from young age instead of increasing the MLDA even that would have helped in decreasing the drunken driving accidents.

The drinking age should be lowered to 18 as it has increased percentage of binge drinking which is resulting in death of young adults. The present system, which restricts liquor to Americans fewer than 21, is generally ridiculed, with unfortunate outcomes as the MLDA was increased to stop death occurring because of fatal road accidents in which results were achieved but on the other hand it increased the percentage of deaths happening because of binge drinking after increasing the MLDA. Educating individuals to drink responsibly before they turn 21 would tremendously improve general wellbeing, as it will result in low drunken driving accidents because they would know how much they can and should consume so that they could drive, there will be stoppage of deaths in few years because of binge drinking. Presently, secondary school and school kids see unsafe binge drinking as a rite of passage. A recent report published in The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that between the years of 1998 and 2005, a number of instances where liquor caused deaths among 18-to 24-year-olds got tripled, bouncing from 779 cases to 2,290. The review likewise tracks a rise in fatalities from hypothermia and falls. A few reports connect excessive drinking to sexual assault. Rising the drinking age hasn't reduced drinking -- it’s merely driven it underground, to the riskiest of settings: unsupervised high school parties and fraternity parties. The prohibition, which restricted most liquor in the United States from 1920 to 1933, standardized the excited kind of drinking that happens today at school parties. In speakeasies and visually blind pigs, the goal was to drink as much and as soon as possibly, on the grounds that you never knew when the feds would appear.

The individuals who oppose the lower drinking age argue the law saves lives. “In view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's survey of about 50 peer-reviewed studies, it found that bringing down the minimum drinking age to 18 increases fatalities by 10 percent”(Underage Drinking). The statistics in the next quotation shows that increasing the age has saved lives as road accidents were decreased. “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says laws setting the drinking age at 21 have cut traffic fatalities including drivers of ages 18-20 by 13 percent and have saved an expected 19,121 lives since 1975”(Href Malto). At the point when Vermont voted to increase the age in 1985, liquor related traffic fatalities reportedly dropped by 40 percent, as indicated by Vermont State Police. Since liquor is as one of the main source of death among adolescents in drunk driving crashes, activist groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving had argue the law which served a valuable purpose and the age was increased to 21. Support for age 21 laws: Alcohol-related traffic accidents have dropped since the early 1980s, earlier mindset of drinking leads to a higher risk of later alcohol dependence, the brain develops through the early 20s and alcohol may harm the developing brain, countries with lower minimum drinking ages have had serious problems with binge drinking among youth and rates of drinking among high school students have dropped. But looking at other side people will realize that number of deaths has increased because of binge drinking. Here deaths are not occurring because of low MLDA or high MLDA, the problem is proper education, which has not been provided to the young adults. MLDA should be 18 because it is their right to decided whether they should drink or not. 18 years old are mature enough to decide what to do and what not to do.

In a society, where 18-year-olds are considered grown-ups for most purposes and kids as young as 13 are being punished as grown-ups for their offenses, some consider keeping the legal consumption of liquor out of range until age 21 as unreasonable.” But Evelyn Avant, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) does not agree that the U.S. legal drinking age is too high (Href Malto).” “Alcoholism is a brain disease and the earlier people start drinking, the more awful the impacts on the mind”(Underage drinking). Additionally, research has demonstrated that the earlier individuals begin drinking, the more likely they are to develop alcohol problems later in life. The latest national study on youth behavior conducted by the CDCP (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) found that half of the high school students aged within 12 and 16 who took part in the survey had consumed liquor in the 30 days earlier to the survey. It might be a possibility that drinking from an early age can damage human mind and can cultivate a problem for addictiveness but that’s what giving education is all about. If the young adults were given knowledge from a young age then they would not have any problem in future. 

There has always been a great discussion when it comes to legal drinking age here in the US. With regards to law, there has always been an opinion; some are for it and some are against. The author of the article is against the law of minimum drinking age i.e. 21. He believes that the age should be 18, not 21. In this article, the author gives reasons why the age should be 18 and he wants his readers to know what is better for them and why the legal drinking should be lowered to 18 so that binge drinking can be stopped and to avoid fatalities. An 18 year old in the US has the privilege to vote and serve in the military. In the event that an 18 year old can decide with reference to who the potential leader of the nation should be and take a bullet for their nation, they should have every privilege to buy and drink liquor. A survey was conducted to find out what number of young adults below 21 and above 21 are drinking alcohol in excessive quantity, the following quote gives an exact number describing that heavy drinkers in the age group of 18-21 are more in number than heavy drinkers above the MLDA 21. “According to a study, 22% of all students under 21 compared to 18% over 21 years of age are heavy drinkers. Among drinkers only, 32% of under age compared to 24% of legal age are heavy drinkers”(Cognac.com).

Legal drinking age varies around the world, and strong opinios can be found on both sides of the debate. The MLDA in United States is 21, while in many other countries like russia and Europethe MLDA is 18. For instance Germany is one of the most relaxed country for minors regarding drinking age, they are allowed to consume drinks like beer and wine when they are being accompanied by their parents and can drink alone after the age of 16. If they want to consume hard liqour then they should be altleast age of 18. Unsupervised, illegal drinking has become a widespread in the whole world, but mostly it’s been active in the united states than anywhere else. Even the president’s daughter Jeena Bush was arrested at the age of 19 for underage drinking in 2001. The MLDA 21 in America is the highest legal drinking age in the world (ABC News). In fact, only four countries in the world have a permitted drinking alcohol over the age of 18. 

In United States, earlier the age used to be 18 and later on it was increased to 21.After this event there have been a lot of arguments to decreased the age back to and why it was increased. This project is conducted to convey to the people why the age was increased to 21 and the reasons for which researchers/scientists think that the age should be 21. This rise in binge drinking behavior is because of underage drinking outside of adult guidance in student rooms and apartments were same age people assemble and due to the absence of knowledge of responsible drinking practices. Schools and Universities regularly dispute that the legitimate drinking age should be 18 in light of the fact that prohibiting liquor consumption in universities for those under 21 is increasing the issue. These schools and colleges say that permitting liquor consumption lawfully may help cut down liquor related deaths in universities

When we turn 18 in America we are supposed to be considered adults, but then what is the 21-age mark? Is it like that we get an adult trial time for three years without freedom to drink alcohol but with all the consequences. For example if we look at a twenty-year old, soldier from Iraq who is wounded can vote even get married without asking his parents and be considered as an adult, but he cannot even purchase a drink! Apparently, we give significance to the circumstance of his social life more than life itself. Most of each and every solider has experienced this scenario.. This is nothing new; there is a long history of alcohol ageism. Nearly 2 billion people drink alcohol. A specific age limit is set in different parts of the world to consume alcohol, as it can turn into verbal abuse and fighting incidents. Age limit varies in each country; some countries have 21 while some have 18. 

We can see that in countries like Italy, China, Greece, etc. where the drinking age is less has no alcohol related problem. It seems that Current law in the United States in terms of legal drinking age has caused more alcohol related deaths than there has ever been. We can see that when in college most students under the age of 21 years can get hold of drink through their seniors. They are not permitted to drink at occasions where others may have the capacity to drink. This once again makes them need to try out what it is they are being kept away from. They will give it a shot. The truth that they don't know when they will have the chance to drink again is the reason most minor has a tendency to get excessively drunk when they get an opportunity. Thus there are issues as dangerous as deaths. Students should be given education so they can understand and learn healthy drinking. There are many negative effects on both consumers and producers because it has increased number of deaths because of excessive drinking and decreased the income of the government that they used to get because of alcohol. What is the difference between 18 years old in Europe and 18 years old in United States or 18 years old in Russia? They are same; don’t think there is any between them except the nationality they belong to. If there are no problems occurring in Europe or Russia then I don’t think decreasing the age limit to 18 in United States would cause any problem or any type of fatalities In conclusion, lowering the drinking age would most likely do good to the country than bad. Most other countries like Russia and Europe are already using MLDA 18 and are successful.
