Benefits Of Raising The Drinking Age To 21

The legal age of which an individual can purchase and consume alcohol in Manitoba is 18, this seems fitting as it is the year you legally become an adult. The age of an individual in no way determines when they are ready to consume alcohol. At the age of 18 a youth’s body and brain is still developing and alcohol is a great way to cause issues in the present or future with themselves or people around them. At the age of 21 a youth has had three extra years to develop their body and gain responsibility. Raising the drinking age to 21 prevents severe underage drinking cases, helps ensure the safety of today’s youth, and allows for teenagers brains to develop without barriers. Teenagers of today are under constant pressure to drink underage,
whether it is with a couple of friends or a party the pressure is always there. Health Canada reports that the average age an individual first tries alcohol is 15.9 years old. When an average is this low it can be assumed that drinking is also occurring with younger ages than 15. The statistic shows us that it has become a social norm in Canada to try alcohol two years before the legal age. Many people make the argument that early exposure to alcohol results in the teen becoming more responsible and educated about the substance. However, study results published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research prove that individuals who have their first drink in their early teens have elevated drinking levels and hazardous consumption patterns in the future. (Szalavitz)At the age of 16 the teenage body is in the middle of puberty and mixing alcohol with raging hormones in no way can result in anything good. Adding to this, at 16 alcohol can easily be abused as the youth does not yet know they’re limit which leads to binge drinking. With the social norm of drinking two years before the legal limit in place it can be said that if the drinking age was raised to 21 years of age the youth of Canada on average would not try alcohol until the average age of 19. This is a much safer age as the mind and body has had three more years to develop. Raising the drinking age not only prevents cases of severe underage drinking but also helps ensure the safety of teenagers and those surrounding them. The safety of the youth in any country should be a top priority.
Actions need to be taken to protect our future. Teenagers everywhere are known for being irresponsible, so in Manitoba when these irresponsible teens turn 18 we decide they are ready to purchase and consume liquor. Many people make the argument, you’re an adult now and you’re responsible enough to consume alcohol. Society has yet to see proof of young adults being responsible enough to purchase and consume alcohol; instead we have seen the exact opposite. Two-thirds of alcohol related crashes involving teens it was the teen who was intoxicated. Adding to this, teens have the highest rates of traffic death and injury per capita among all age groups. (MADD) This shows that teens are clearly not ready for the privilege to purchase alcohol; they are putting themselves and anyone else on the roads in severe danger. Now many individuals will say that there is no proof raising the age would make the roads safer. However the United States in 1975 rose the drinking age from 18 to 21, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that since 1975 the raise in the legal age has saved 23733 lives. (Voas) Therefore it can be said that raising the legal age will provide a safer environment for our youth and everyone around them, it will also save innocent lives. Not only is the 18 year old legal age causing unsafe conditions it is doing internal damage to the
teens. Everyone knows that teenagers are obsessed with their external appearance.
It is what is going on internally what we should be worried about. Young people today care so little about their internal health they don’t realize the damage they are doing to their most important asset of all, their brain. Young people of today do very little to develop their brains outside of school, the average young adult spends 16.7 hours online a week and this time is actually lowering reading and writing skills. (Goldwasser) With the little respect teens have for their internal health they have no problem consuming alcohol. At the age of 18 the human brain is still developing, because it is developing it is actually more vulnerable to the bad effects of alcohol. The brain is not fully developed until the early twenties. (Trudeau) Now exactly how severe can the damage your doing be? Research shows that the drinking moderate to large amounts alcohol before the age of 21 can cause irreversible brain damage. (Hanson) If the most important part of the human body is being severely damaged as a result of the 18 year old legal limit it only makes sense to raise the legal age to 21. Although the brain is the most important, it is not the only internal body part being affected. Alcohol is not good for any internal organs, especially the liver. The liver is what processes alcohol before it is sent to be urinated out. This means too much drinking can cause serious liver problems especially in a young
adult as the liver is still developing. Raising the drinking age is necessary to protect the mental and physical health of the future of our society. The government raising the drinking age to 21 may cause frustration and anger in young people but it would be for the good of themselves and all others surrounding them.Stopping severe underage drinking, protecting the youth, and ensuring strong mental health should be a top goals for Canada and raising the legal drinking age to 21 would be a huge step forward for ensuring the health and safety of Canada’s future.