Drinking Age

Maintaining the Drinking Age Law of 21 Teen alcohol use kills about 6,000 people each year, more than all illegal drugs combined (Hingson and Kenkel). Alcohol use by persons under 21 years of age is a major public health problem. Alcohol is a common used and abused drug among youth in the United States. Although alcohol is harmful to everyone, alcohol harms adolescents much more than adults. Adolescents are more vulnerable than adults to the harmful effects of alcohol on learning, memory, and judgment. The national legal drinking age of 21 should be maintained because alcohol use by adolescents damages the neurological development of the brain, cause psychological effects, furthermore, it will cause unnecessary deaths. The body
Alcohol use affects an adolescent’s brain differently than it does an adult. A teenager’s brain is in different developmental stages and their body reacts differently to alcohol. Teens get drunk twice as fast as adults, but have trouble knowing when to stop (MADD). There are too many harmful effects of alcohol for it to be consumed by young people. Teenagers who drink will suffer blackouts, memory loss, alcohol poisoning from drinking (add a couple more health affects)! Teen brains are designed for maximum learning capacity and alcohol interferes greatly. Alcohol use before the full formation of the brain causes a decreased ability in memory, attention, and learning, all of which affect academic performance. Allowing teens to drink alcohol can result in academic failure because drinking leads to difficulty concentrating and memory dysfunction. Allowing adolescents to drink during these important developmental years will cause, long term, irreversible damage to the
European countries have worse problems than America does, as far as binge drinking and drinking to intoxication. Europe has more injury, rape, and school problems due to underage drinking. Since alcohol is more available in Europe, it increases the proportion of kids who drink there (MADD). Teenagers have not matured physically to manage the physiological effects of alcohol. Youth who drink alcohol will experience physical problems, such as hangovers or illnesses. Furthermore, underage drinking is strongly associated with many social problems, including poor school performance, physical fighting, and lack of participation in youth activities, sexual activity and smoking. Teens are constantly undergoing physical changes, new situations and pressures, and allowing them to consume alcohol will make them even more vulnerable to depression, violence, and unplanned and unprotected sex. The cognitive and physical development of adolescents must be protected. As adults, they will hopefully make thoughtful decisions about drinking, but younger than 21, they lack the capacity to do