I can take a bullet for this country, elect our nation’s president and marry Selena Gomez if I want to, but I cannot drink any alcohol whatsoever. I and many other teenagers are faced with this dilemma and we are wondering the same thing: why? So, I decided to do some research and look into the facts of why in America one must be twenty-one to enjoy a cold beer, and honestly I was perplexed. From the New York Times to local collegiate websites I read fact upon fact of how the nation is better with our drinking age, but I simply cannot agree. I was intrigued by how many other individuals felt the same way I do, and even more surprised to find that physicians also had the same ideas as myself. I believe a lowered drinking age would not be as detrimental to the country as it is thought to be, and I feel that my sources do a great job of “backing up” my claim. 

In the United States of America, eighteen is an age that seems to come with great amounts of power. You can vote in major elections, serve in the military and marry. So, with all these great opportunities, you would think the consumption of a slightly alcoholic beverage would be perfectly acceptable, right? Wrong. The New York Times has a fantastic article ("Return the Drinking Age to 18, and Enforce it." nytimes.com, edited by Gabrielle Glaser)

 on this topic and it goes into the fact that the youth “deserve the chance to learn” and I completely agree with this as how are we supposed to be able to try new things as simple as enjoying a beer when the government makes it illegal? The article also refers to the idea that when we turn sixteen we are not automatically ready to drive a car, for we have had practice before, so why would a twenty-one-year-old be capable of handling alcohol the second he turns twenty-one if he has not had the proper guidance beforehand? This article makes great points in that teenagers already have such a great deal of power in the world, so why not allow us to drink alcohol when we are able to decide important decisions like who gets elected president. 

Another key feature of my argument is in the possibility of having a safe drinking environment. I believe many people assume by lowering the drinking age that there must just simply be chaos, but that is not true. There does not have to be a real life “Animal House” just because college students would be able to drink earlier, for there is place for a controlled environment. Imagine controlled “get-togethers” or parties in which eighteen-year-olds can drink alcohol as long as they are accompanied by an adult perhaps twenty-one or older. Obviously, these arrangements would also include no drinking and driving and with the presence of someone a few years older, there would be a mediator to ensure the younger teens are not drinking too much or being too reckless. Another interesting idea I read into was the idea of “alcohol safety classes”. In theory, those under twenty-one would be able to take an informative class in which they would learn the wrong things to do whilst drinking. And perhaps my favorite idea I read about was having a permit to be able to drink under twenty-one. An article on CNN’s website (Should the US Lower the Drinking Age?, Fox and Friends, 1 Oct. 2015.) brought this idea to my attention and I believe it is a great idea because with a permit, the teenagers must pass a test in order to get the license and that would mean they are more knowledgeable on drinking and could allow for safe drinking among teens. I believe having a safe drinking environment for those under twenty-one is completely achievable and with that could make a large change in the fight against underage drinking.  

One of the most important features in my argument is the point: minors are going to get alcohol no matter what the drinking age is. In America, “binge drinking” is an act in which underage drinkers consume great deals of alcohol in a short amount of time. This is done in order to be drunk and not have to purchase/drink alcohol in the presence of authorities, and is quite popular in the high school and college environment. A U.S. News piece (Time to Lower the Drinking Age." usnews.com, edited by Mary Kate Cary, 7 May 2014.)  goes into detail on the fact that lowering the drinking age would help in controlling binge drinking, and I strongly agree.  By having a lower drinking age there would be less of a reason to partake in binge drinking, as the large majority of the individuals binge drinking now are aged eighteen to twenty. The article believes younger people view “binge drinking” as a form of a rite of passage into the alcoholic world and I completely agree. Being nineteen, I have been able to witness first-hand the dangers of “binge drinking” or “pre-gaming” and it is a dangerous game to play. Young adults believe that by consuming great quantities of hard liquor before going to a party or any social gathering they will be drunk enough for the night, but it hardly ever goes as planned. I would say nine times out of ten “binge drinking” leads to a night curled up around a toilet and a following morning of a splitting headache. The major problem with binge drinking is in its relations to alcohol poisoning. By having such great deals of alcohol in one’s system in such a short amount of time, the body is forced to continually move alcohol from the stomach which ends up in the bloodstream thus making a person’s blood alcohol rise rapidly. A healthcare website has an article perfect for the discussion of binge drinking ("Alcohol Poisoning." MayoClinic, Mayo Clinic Staff, July 2016) and in the article it is explained that many young adults/women tend to pass out after consuming too much alcohol, but even then alcohol is still worked into the bloodstream which can prove to be fatal. Furthermore, I believe by lowering the drinking age there would be less of an incentive to “binge drink” and that would contribute to less hospital visits and the destruction of the social norm of excessive pre-gaming. 

A prime example of a functioning drinking age system would be: Europe. In Europe, one must be eighteen to purchase or consume alcohol, and there are less alcohol related deaths among teens abroad than in the United States. The author of the the Huffington Post’s article on the drinking age (“Is It Time to Lower the Drinking Age to 18?." Huffington Post. edited by Wil Fulton, 29 Mar. 2016.) brings up that he lived in France and was able to witness the youth drink and was amazed by their maturity with alcohol, and the difference between the European and American teens is that Europeans train their children how to deal with alcohol at a younger age, but in America it is regarded as a dangerous drug until one is twenty-one. The article also points out that Americans drink less than Europeans, but we still die from more alcohol related causes. That is another prime example that Americans NEED to be educating the youth on alcohol and how to use it in a mature manner. The same Huffington Post article also goes into detail on how younger drinkers stray away from bars and other controlled drinking environments due to the scare of being caught drinking which leads them to unsafe, hidden drinking areas, and with that comes the drinking without limits. If the drinking age was lowered, teens would not feel inclined to go out drinking copious amounts of liquor in short amounts of time, for they would be able to safely drink around older people who could watch over them. Another possible change with lowering the drinking age could be the eradication of fake i.d.’s. In the United States, teenagers can buy fake forms of identification (usually licenses) in order to purchase alcohol or get into bars/clubs. This leads to large numbers of teens getting arrested for having said fake i.d.’s, but what if there was no need for “fakes”? With a lowered drinking age the teenagers would simply be able to use their own i.d.’s, and that would save many law enforcement officers the interactions they have with teens with fakes. With a lowered drinking age, the United States would be able to instruct the teens how to have alcohol safely and the presence of fake i.d.’s would begin to disappear. 

Another key point to my argument is the failure of the previous prohibition. When prohibition was put in place in 1920, the people were still going to obtain alcohol. Speakeasies were incredibly popular places to get alcohol during prohibition which led to the main problem of the law: it was hardly enforceable. Police officials simply could not regulate every person, and that is the same case today. In an interview with a police officer (The Debate on Lowering the Drinking Age." cbsnews.com, 9 Feb. 2009.), the officer claims that officers are just trying to contain underage drinking, not prohibit it because they cannot. The ratio of underage drinkers to police officers is obviously in favor of the minors, so what can the police really hope to do? The law enforcement officials are not going to be able to put an end to underage drinking, so I feel that by lowering the drinking age that would give the officers more time to focus on the more important crimes going on in the country and not a nineteen-year-old with a Bud Light. 

I do; however, understand why there is a fight against minors with alcohol. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a large organization that is teamed with families that have been affected by drunk-driving accidents, most of which involve a teenager abusing alcohol then operating a vehicle which I completely do not support. MADD is backed with the facts of the lowered number of DUI accidents since the drinking age was raised to twenty-one, but I still feel that a lowered drinking age would not be as bad as it is made to look. I have looked into other theories as to why some suggest that a lowered age would be detrimental and found an interview between two physcians. In the interview on “Fox and Friends” (Should the US Lower the Drinking Age?, Fox and Friends, 1 Oct. 2015) the psycho-therapist claims that a lowered drinking age would lead to a higher number of high school drop-outs, while the therapist argues that the higher drinking age contributes to the higher number of BAC related deaths among teenagers in America. I do not agree with the psycho-therapist’s claim of higher high-school dropouts because I went to a high school in which underage drinking was popular, and I knew students who would drink excessive amounts of alcohol and still show up to class the next day and make an “A” on the test. The point is that anyone can claim what could happen, but no one really knows until a chance is give, and I think giving us minors at least a chance to prove ourselves in the world of teenagers and alcohol would be very much appreciated and would not go the way that many scared parents think it would. 

After all my research, I still honestly believe that a lowered drinking age would prove beneficial to the country. Because I am a college freshman I have been able to witness the dangers of “binge drinking” and I can attest that it is not an easy game to play. The issue of fake i.d.’s would also be done away with due to the lack of need for them which would also give police more time to fight crime and less time stuck dealing with drunk college freshmen claiming “that is not even my i.d. I have no clue how that got there sir”. If we model our drinking system after Europe’s, I believe we would see great things happen. It is frustrating to all of us eighteen and up that we have so much power in the country, yet we cannot enjoy an alcoholic beverage, even if it be us simply alone in our room. My most important point to my argument stems from the point that: underage individuals are still going to get their hands-on alcohol no matter where you may think to hide it. So, why not just stop trying to hide it and teach us? I believe I speak for most when I say that I would not mind taking an alcohol safety class or something of the sort to be able to drink amongst my friends. My father tells me stories of how different college was when he was at Ole Miss in the eighties and I am honestly jealous. I want to be able to drink a beer with my best friends and watch a football game, but I am apparently “not ready”. Even though I can elect our nations leader, I am not “mature enough”. Well, while those of you continue to not believe in us, some of my fellow minors will be standing in a line of gunfire for you.  
