Legal Drinking Age
Legal Drinking Age
The legal drinking age has been a huge controversial issue for an extremely long time (Meldon). Some people say the legal drinking age should be left alone at age 21. Others believe it should be lowered to age 18; the age when someone is considered an adult and given many responsibilities (ProCon.org). I believe the legal drinking age should be kept at age 21.
Alcohol is the number one drug problem in the United States. Americans spend a slightly under 100 billion dollars on alcohol each year. Just a little fewer than 50% of Americans have either experienced or knows someone in their family that have experienced alcoholism (Drug Rehab.org). “Alcoholism is when the body becomes physically dependent on alcohol.” According to World Health Organization, “there are an estimated 140 million alcoholics around the world!” Addiction is very hard to break out of and may even be part of their lifestyle for the rest of one 's life. Since alcoholics usually cannot control their behavior after drinking, they often have problems in their home and workplace (AlcoholAddiction.info). About 12% of alcoholics are unemployed (Drug Rehab.org). Statistics show that a person who consumes alcohol before age 15 is at a higher risk of becoming addicted later in life than a person who start to consume alcohol at a later age (AlcoholAddiction.info). These reasons show that leaving the legal drinking age at 21 would be more beneficial to the United States than to lower it to 18, and risk teenagers of having a higher chance of getting addicted to alcohol.
There have been many researches that prove alcohol is harmful to one’s health. Some major short term effects of alcohol are impaired vision, bad judgment, loss of coordination, and causes sleepiness. Alcohol has been proven to worsen one 's decision making and judgment as he or she consumes more and more (Marsden). Almost 7 million kids between the ages of 12 to 20 were binge drinkers in the year 2000 (Drug
The legal drinking age has been a huge controversial issue for an extremely long time (Meldon). Some people say the legal drinking age should be left alone at age 21. Others believe it should be lowered to age 18; the age when someone is considered an adult and given many responsibilities (ProCon.org). I believe the legal drinking age should be kept at age 21.
Alcohol is the number one drug problem in the United States. Americans spend a slightly under 100 billion dollars on alcohol each year. Just a little fewer than 50% of Americans have either experienced or knows someone in their family that have experienced alcoholism (Drug Rehab.org). “Alcoholism is when the body becomes physically dependent on alcohol.” According to World Health Organization, “there are an estimated 140 million alcoholics around the world!” Addiction is very hard to break out of and may even be part of their lifestyle for the rest of one 's life. Since alcoholics usually cannot control their behavior after drinking, they often have problems in their home and workplace (AlcoholAddiction.info). About 12% of alcoholics are unemployed (Drug Rehab.org). Statistics show that a person who consumes alcohol before age 15 is at a higher risk of becoming addicted later in life than a person who start to consume alcohol at a later age (AlcoholAddiction.info). These reasons show that leaving the legal drinking age at 21 would be more beneficial to the United States than to lower it to 18, and risk teenagers of having a higher chance of getting addicted to alcohol.
There have been many researches that prove alcohol is harmful to one’s health. Some major short term effects of alcohol are impaired vision, bad judgment, loss of coordination, and causes sleepiness. Alcohol has been proven to worsen one 's decision making and judgment as he or she consumes more and more (Marsden). Almost 7 million kids between the ages of 12 to 20 were binge drinkers in the year 2000 (Drug
Cited: AlcoholAddiction.info. 2003-2012. 18 February 2013 <http://www.alcoholaddiction.info/alcoholism-statistics.htm>. Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse . 2011. 18 February 2013 <http://www.councilonalcoholism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=108>. Drug Rehab.org. 2002. 18 February 2013 <http://www.drug-rehabs.org/alcohol-statistics.php>. Marsden, Dr John. BBC. 2013. 18 February 2013 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/emotional_health/addictions/typesaddiction_alcohol.shtml>. Meldon, Jeffrey. The Legal Examiner. 20 April 2009. 18 February 2013 <http://ocala.legalexaminer.com/automobile-accidents/the-neverending-debate-the-legal-drinking-age-in-the-us.aspx?googleid=261374>. ProCon.org. 12 February 2013. 18 February 2013 <http://drinkingage.procon.org/#background>.