Throughout the past few decades, there has been a constant clash of opinions in regards to whether the legal minimum age to consume alcohol at twenty-one years old is too high or not. This hot topic has headlined national news and segments on this debate have been broadcasted on major news networks, such as Fox News, CNN, and CBS even conducted a 60 minutes’ episode dedicated to the feud. Parties on both sides of the argument severely disagree with one another and no policy change has been made yet. The United States should lower the legal age to consume alcohol to eighteen because a lower drinking age will eliminate the image of alcohol being an alluring and enticing substance, which will result in it to no longer be excessively consumed in risky environments. Having a lower drinking age will also enable parents to teach their children how to drink responsibly, which will lower the amount of fatalities from car accidents, alcohol poisoning, and other alcohol related deaths. A change in policy is necessary since the current law is not being obeyed by minors and law enforcement is struggling to control this issue. 

There is an extensive history behind the rational of this law, which had been shaped by historical events and the culture of the 20th century. The legal minimum age to consume alcohol was changed from eighteen to twenty-one after President Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984; however, the origins of this legislative change began prior to the start of World War II under President Franklin Roosevelt. FDR started this controversy when he changed the minimum age for the military draft from twenty-one to eighteen during the early 1940s. At this time, the United States had become active participants in the second World War and the military needed more soldiers to fight (“Draft Age is Lowered to 18”). This age minimum remained at eighteen during the Vietnam War and many young men were called to serve. This led to much controversy in the United States as these eighteen year olds were unable to vote at the time, yet were old enough to be drafted to serve (“Draft Age is Lowered to 18”). As a result, the 26th amendment of the United States Constitution was ratified in 1971, which reduced the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen. 

When the voting age dropped from twenty-one to eighteen, many state legislators saw this as an opportunity to also lower the minimum age of alcohol consumption to eighteen, as it is up to the individual states to determine this law as stated in the 21st amendment. Years after this policy change, many states reported that they experienced an increase in fatalities from alcohol related accidents amongst those eighteen and twenty years old after the minimum age had been lowered to eighteen in most states. Certain states began raising the age back to twenty-one, while others remained at eighteen (“Why is the Drinking Age 21”). This created border problems between states because adolescents between eighteen and twenty years old would travel to these states with the lower consumption age then travel back home. A significant number of these individuals would go to bars or parties, which led to an increase in the number of traffic accidents from alcohol consumption because they would be driving under the influence. Protests soon followed from social organizations, such as the Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who called for a national minimum age to consume alcohol at twenty-one. They viewed these age discrepancies as problematic and one of the major causes for the increase in alcohol related traffic accidents. President Reagan eventually answered their calls with the passage of the National Minimum Age Drinking Act of 1984 (“Why is the Drinking Age 21”). This legislation told the states to raise their minimum drinking age to twenty-one and if they did not comply they would not receive federal highway funding. By 1995, all states had raised their minimum age to twenty-one in compliance with the Act. 

By raising the minimum age to consume alcohol, younger Americans have developed a curiosity and greater desire to consume alcohol, which has led to an increase in the number of minors consuming alcohol illegally. Creating an age requirement has the impact of making one more interested in doing something that they would not have done before. Karis Rogerson from the USA Today writes, “Perhaps if they had been exposed to alcohol at an earlier age, it would not present itself as such an intoxicating, unreachable thing” (“Viewpoint: Why America Should Lower the Legal Drinking Age”). A higher drinking age has resulted in almost an Adam and Eve type effect on the people in which the more restricted alcohol has become, the greater the curiosity to drink. A higher drinking age has also created the image of consuming alcohol as being one of those most fun and exciting ways to spend a person’s leisure time. Rogerson also writes, “My friends in America think getting drunk is a high form of entertainment, possibly the highest” (“Viewpoint: Why America Should Lower the Legal Drinking Age”). This quotation supports how not only does a higher drinking age make minors want to consume alcohol more, but creates the idea that drinking will allow someone to have the most fun. By raising the legal age to consume alcohol from twenty-one to eighteen, younger Americans have increased their desire to experiment with this substance and has made consuming alcohol seem like the ultimate activity. 

Numerous presidents of universities across the country agree with establishing a lower age to consume alcohol after experiencing an increase in binge drinking, sexual assault cases and alcohol related injuries amongst college students. These individuals are able to see firsthand the lack of obedience to the law and the inability of law enforcement to prevent underage alcohol consumption. Presidents from over 100 universities, such as Dartmouth College, Duke University, and Virginia tech, recently signed a declaration that current laws were not working and needed to be fixed. They believe that raising the minimum age to has not worked and has driven drinking to the riskiest settings that promote binge drinking (“Drinking Age Debate”). A minimum age to consume alcohol at twenty-one has created a culture on college campuses of students consuming excessive amounts of alcohol in settings with no supervision, resulting in a rise in the number of alcohol poisoning cases and injuries related to alcohol consumption. One characteristic on campuses is a practice called “pre-gaming.” Students consume as much alcohol as they can before they attend social events because they are unable to use the substance in public. Another characteristic of the culture is binge drinking. Since these adolescents are considered underage, they typically drink as much as possible in short periods of time because they have limited time and opportunity to do so. The Journal of Alcohol Studies and Drugs published a report in 2009 that stated between the years 1998 and 2005, the number of cases of alcohol poisoning between those eighteen and twenty-four increased from 779 cases to 2,290, which is almost three times the amount (“Return the Drinking Age to 18 and enforce it”). Much of the increase is due to binge drinking. These presidents want to be able to find a solution to fixing the problems on their campuses. One article reports that the presidents “contend that by lowering the drinking age, colleges would be able to bring booze out into the open and educated students on responsible consumption” (Why is the Drinking Age 21?”). This is significant because the presidents are admitting that they will not be able to stop the underage consumption of alcohol and want to take different measures to solve alcohol poisoning and fatalities on campuses. Alcohol education and supervision are solutions the presidents advocate for. There has become a serious issue in the United States in regards to the degree and consumption methods of minors on college campuses and university presidents are trying to find solutions to this problem.  

Other countries around the world do not share the same policy in regards to having a minimum legal age to consume alcohol as high as twenty-one, which has enabled them to grow up more familiar with the substance and not be as prone to exhibit dangerous consumption behaviors. Karis Rogerson from the USA Today compares the drinking culture in her home country of Italy to that of the United States. She explains how she was raised drinking wine at a young age, which led her to not think much of it by the time she was legally allowed to purchase alcohol: “Italian children know what alcohol is from the time they are young, and when they turn 16 and are allowed to buy it, it doesn’t present the same temptation it does for American children” (“Viewpoint: Why Americans Should Lower the Legal Drinking Age”). Familiarity with alcohol is an important characteristic amongst the Italian youth that is not present amongst young Americans. This is significant because if American children were raised the same way, there would be a decrease in dangerous experimenting among minors and less cases of binge drinking on college campuses. The key to eliminating dangerous drinking behaviors in the United States is to start exposing children to the substance at a younger age to develop familiarity and eliminate the mysterious image minors have for alcohol.  

There is much opposition to lowering the legal age to consume alcohol from twenty-one to eighteen and one major argument against having a lower legal age to consume alcohol is that there will be more cases of drivers under the influence. The belief is that there will be more injuries and fatalities among minors caused from those driving under the influence. There is evidence to support this claim as the number of deaths caused from alcohol related accidents decreased after the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. Reports of the time stated that there was a “62% decrease in fatalities among teen drivers since 1982” (‘Why is the Drinking Age 21”). However, there are other factors in today’s society that have significantly decreased the number of deaths from traffic accidents caused from alcohol consumption amongst minors. New laws for wearing seat belts and stricter DUI laws have also led to a decrease in this statistic: “Tougher seatbelt and D.U.I rules have also contributed to the decrease” (“Return the Drinking Age to 18, and Enforce It”). Innovations in safety in automobiles are much higher than they were thirty years ago. This has saved many lives of individuals that could have been hurt or killed in previous years. A reform in D.U.I. laws amongst states have also taken individuals off the roads with repeat offenses of driving under the influence. Even though initially there was a spike in the number of deaths among minors with a higher drinking age, recent safety innovations in automobiles and stricter laws have contributed to a lower percentage in this statistic. This invalidate the argument that a legal minimum drinking age at twenty-one has kept the roads safer.  

There are many critics that disagree with lowering the legal to consume alcohol because they believe that there will be an increase in the number of alcoholics nationwide and also because there have been minimal studies on the effects of having a lower drinking age for Americans. The author of the Pharmacology of Alcohol and Drugs of Abuse and Addiction explains how many adolescents that go on to become alcoholics have their first drink in their teenage years: “Almost 40% began drinking between ages 15 and 19” (Miller). This supports how those that begin consuming alcohol at earlier age go on to become alcoholics in the future. However, there are other factors that influence alcoholism, such as genetics and one’s environment that have a greater impact in determining if one will be a future alcoholic. An individual is more likely to become an alcoholic if they have a family history of it or addiction in their genetics. The media also plays a major role in enticing minors to want to consume alcohol through the use of various tools, such as commercials. Dr. Paschall concludes in his scholarly article, “Our findings suggest that more comprehensive and stringent advertising control policies may be inversely related to youth alcohol consumption” (Alcohol Policies and Consumption by Alcohol Consumption by Youth: A Multi-National Study”). Paschall makes the argument that the more minors see alcohol commercials or being consumed on television, the more likely they are to experiment with it. Critics also argue that there have been no studies conducted on the effects of having an eighteen-year-old drinking age in the United states. One scholarly article reports, “However, such a policy change would remove one of the most research and supported policies in the nation’s alcohol control arsenal. There is little evidence that other intervention policies are capable of working on the same broad level” (“Heavy Drinking on College Campuses: No Reason to Change Minimal Drinking Age of 21”). This quotation makes the argument that the United States has no data on what will happen with a lower legal age to consume alcohol; however, there are 183 countries in the world with legal minimum ages to consume at eighteen years old or less (“Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) in 190 Countries - Minimum Legal Drinking Age - ProCon.org). American researchers are able to use data conducted in other countries to analyze the impacts of their legal drinking age, in regards to traffic accidents and cases of alcohol poisoning. Enacting this new policy would seem like a drastic social change in the United States, yet the United States is one of twelve countries with drinking age at twenty-one. 

There are numerous possible solutions to lowering the legal age to consume alcohol in ways that can ensure that those that are able to drink exhibit healthy behaviors. One possible solution to lowering the minimum age is to implement a license that those between the ages of eighteen and twenty can apply for after taking alcohol education courses in high school; however, the person’s license can be revoked after violating the rules associated with the privilege of having the license. (“Drinking Age Debate”).  This is a good method because those between the ages of eighteen and twenty years old can learn about the chemistry of alcohol and how it is made, the short term and long term impacts associated with consumption, and the legal penalties that result when the law is broken (“Drinking Age Debate”). There is a limited amount of alcohol education in today’s school systems and students barely cover the subject in basic health classes. This will ensure that those eligible to drink have full comprehension of the substance and the effects of consuming. Creating a license for those between the ages of eighteen and twenty to own is a solution that will further educate those of this age group, while also enabling them to consume alcohol legally under the age of twenty-one. 

Another possible option that has been suggested is to completely eliminate the minimum drinking age all together, which will allow younger Americans to be exposed to alcohol under the supervision of their parents and will also enable them to learn their limits at an earlier age. Many times underage Americans are peer pressured by their friends to drink alcohol for the first time before they have reached the legal age of twenty-one. In some cases, they even partake in binge drinking activities, which is extremely dangerous. These minors have no tolerance for the substance and do not know their limits. This can lead to alcohol poisoning or potentially even fatalities. By eliminating the drinking age all together, Americans will be able grow up around the substance and be able to understand their limits by the time they get to college. This will lead to a decrease in the number of cases of alcohol poisoning and fatalities on college campuses because these adolescents will know how to drink responsibly and will know their bodies well enough to know when to stop drinking. College campuses could theoretically benefit with the elimination of a legal minimum age to drink. 

Having a legal minimum drinking age lowered to eighteen will benefit the United States as a whole because alcohol will lose its image as being a mysterious and alluring substance, which will lead to less dangerous consumption methods amongst minors in risky environments. The current policy has not prohibited minors from consuming underage, but has backfired and led to more underage drinking in settings with no supervision. A legislation change needs to be made sooner rather than later in order to reduce and prevent minors to suffer from more alcohol related injuries and fatalities. Many professors at universities have provided realistic solutions to solve this societal problem; however, politicians have continued to ignore this issue and bring it to the attention of the public. Hopefully in years to come, a movement will be made to help reduce the number of injuries and fatalities from the underage consumption of alcohol. 

   