Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Drinking Age

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The alcohol drinking age has been an on-going debate in our country because of the different views different people have. Over the past years, there have been suggestions to reduce the drinking age to 18 because minors drink anyway. The United States is one of the few countries around the world with a legal drinking age of 21. Even though other countries like Mexico and Canada have a lower drinking age, the United States doesn’t have to do the same. Each country may decide what laws to apply in their respective territories. The alcohol drinking age should not be lowered to 18 because of drunk driving, binge drinking and alcohol poisoning, and violent behavior cause by alcohol. The first reason why the alcohol drinking age shouldn’t be lowered is because of drunk driving by minors. Drunk driving has been an issue that has caused the deaths and injuries of many innocent people in our country. About 15% of drunk drivers have been identified to have the age…show more content…
By violent behavior, I mean physical and sexual abuse. It is very common to witness fights in bars and clubs because of alcohol. If used irresponsibly, alcohol may change one’s way of thinking and cause someone to commit actions one shouldn’t. A clear example occurred in the town of my college, Lubbock, TX, this past semester. After an altercation at a local bar, one student decided to stab another student, taking his life away. These are the types of issues we can avoid without alcohol. Sexual abuse, like rape, is sometimes caused by alcohol as well. More than half of the cases of students involved in sexual abuse are related to drinking alcohol or drugs. Many victims of rape usually do not remember anything that happened because of alcohol or drugs. Both types of abuses may increase greatly if the drinking age is lowered, considering the fact that most about 75% of college student’s ages range from

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