Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18 in the U.S.?

Should The Drinking Age be lowered to 18 in The U.S.?

Should the drinking age be lowered into 18 in the U.S.? My answer is “Yes”. Only the U.S. remains the country among the other few countries which keeps the high drinking age of 21. People 18 years old should considered as adult and make their own decision, and it wouldn’t be illegal to them to drink.

Once 18, a person is legally considered as adult, he has right to decide his own way to drink or not to drink. In many countries except the U.S. the drinking age is 18. At this age young adult start to vote, start making tattoos, and start going to date. Why not to allow them to drink legally? Forbidden things make things more desirable. According to USA Today article, we could decrease death in America at a rate of 1.4 in 100,000 people by lowering the legal drinking age. The death rate by alcohol per 100,000 people in America is 1.6, making it 49th in the world. The death rate by alcohol per 100,000 people in Italy is 0.2, making it 163rd in the world. So, there is no reason 18 years old adults should be denied the right to partake an alcohol. At the age of 18, I believe young adults are old enough to make their own decisions regarding alcohol.

If teenagers would be allow to drink at the age 18 far less people getting in trouble. For example, many college students drink anywhere because of somebody’s birthday or at any party. I can’t imagine any party without alcohol. These young adults are getting in trouble with the law by receiving minor in Possessions or having their fake ID confiscated. According to New York Times article, rising the drinking age hasn't reduced drinking -- it’s merely driven it underground, to the riskiest of settings: unsupervised high school blowouts and fraternity parties that make "Animal House" look quaint. By lowering drinking age to 18, most college students would be allowed to drink without worries of getting caught.

However, by lowering drinking age to 18 would lead to serious consequences. According to BU Today article, MADD claims the higher drinking age is responsible for a decline in annual alcohol-related deaths, from 26,173 in 1982 to 16,885 in 2005, as counted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Research has shown that keeping the drinking age high reduce alcohol use among college students. Alcohol consumption by teenagers demonstrates serious costs, for example, a lower drinking age leads to more traffic accidents and more deaths in traffic.

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