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Cassandra Black
Professor Lisa Cook
ENG 1201.115
March 27, 2016
Lowering Drinking Age to 19
In 1984, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed in the United States, which
made the legal drinking age rise from 18, to 21 in every state. The state could chose not to adopt
the Act, but then they would lose ten percent of their federal highway funding, thus forcing all
states to adopt it. This was for purchase and for public possession. People who were able to
purchase and consume alcoholic beverages before the act was passed were grandfathered into
being able to continue purchasing and consuming the beverages. My father was grandfathered
into being able to purchase and consume beer. It only took effect on those who had not yet turned
18. At the time, the original reason for changing the drinking age was due to the fact that
President Regan saw what he thought was a Drunk Driving Crisis, and he wanted to change it.
An organization called Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, lobbied the issue for several
years, helping Regan make his decision to sign the act and officially change the age (Choose
Responsibility). All around the world, there are countries with lower drinking ages than 21, and
even 18. Some countries dont have drinking ages at all, while in the United States, we are
allowed to vote and give our lives to fighting for our country, but not allowed to consume
alcoholic beverages. This raises my question. Should the drinking age in the United States be
lowered from the age of 21 to the age of 19?

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With having the drinking age set at 18, kids that are still in high school are able to get
ahold of alcohol and that could affect their studies as well as the dropout rate. Along with that,
Despite efforts to prevent underage alcohol use, the average American adolescent starts drinking
by age 16 (Morean). Which means that just because the drinking age is set at 21 does not mean
that people are not drinking until they are 21. Many kids are drinking at 15. To make matters
worse, some alcohol companies target the younger groups of people with some of their flashy
products. Flavored Alcoholic Beverages (FABs) high alcohol content, low price, sweet
flavoring, attractive packaging, and targeted marketing strategies have caused concern that FAB
consumption might disproportionately contribute to alcohol-related emergency department visits
by underage drinkers (Albers). This puts some of the blame on the companies that produce the
beverages. When companies make products, they make products that can be mass produced.
When mass producing, they want the product to catch a persons eye. The same thing goes for
cigarette companies. They make commercials that will maybe pull people in to buying cigarettes.
They dont really care who buys it; they just want to make the money. That seems to be the
problem with todays society. People do not care about the affects it will have on them, they just
want what everyone else wants or has. Some people feel like they have to drink or smoke in
order to fit in with their friend group. But when they drink or smoke to fit in they do not think
about their health. They do not take into consideration what damage it could cause to their
futures. Say they are underage and post a picture on social media of them drinking or smoking,
what could happen to them? Well for one they could get in trouble by their parents. They could
lose the opportunity at a good job. A college might not accept them. They may even drink too
much and get alcohol poisoning.

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Fig. 1. Beer companies targeting younger people to buy their products. (Youth Alcohol Brand
Survey).
Out of 196 Countries in the world, there are 115 Countries in the world that have their
legal drinking age set for the ages of 18-19. There are 42 Countries in the world that have their
drinking ages set for the ages of 16-17 or younger. There are 12 Countries that have their
minimum drinking ages set to 21, with the United States being one of them. Some countries do
not have a drinking age at all (ProCon.org). College officials have noticed the lack of progress
when it comes to alcohol related problems in college students. Most college students range from
18 to 24 in age and a large majority between 18-20 years still participate in drinking activities
with their peers. As of November 2009, presidents and chancellors of 135 colleges and
universities have signed on to the Amethyst Initiative calling for a public debate about lowering
the minimum legal drinking age to 18 years (Wechsler). They argue that the age of 21 just isnt
preventing younger people from consuming alcoholic beverages. The Amethyst Initiative
suggests that they observed declines in drinking, traffic fatalities, and related harms since the

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minimum legal drinking age of 21 years became law are a result of other factors, such as
improvements in motor vehicle safety, and not the change in the minimum legal drinking age
(Wechsler). This shows the fact that the drinking age may have been lowered for a good reason,
but the change that we have seen over the years isnt really due to the fact that the drinking age
was raised to a higher age. Due to advancements of technology in vehicles many, fatal accidents
have been prevented. Cars are now able to stop when they sense a car coming their way. Some
even notify people when they start to leave their lane. This doesnt make it right by any means,
but we shouldnt have a law that is trying to prevent drunk driving when data shows that many
still drive while intoxicated. The blame should not be on teens anyway. Many teens, when they
drink, will arrange for them to stay at a friends house so their parents will not find out.
With that being said, if the drinking age was lowered to the age of 19, there could be
other ways of getting younger people the information they need to know about handling the
alcohol responsibly. For example, health classes in high school do not go very in depth about the
major consequences of underage drinking. There are many mental and physical health defects
that a person can get, but it does not mean a person is defiantly going to get it. States could
require high schools to teach a specific class on substance abuse and what exactly happens to
your body when you abuse alcohol. The argument has been raised everywhere that alcohol
effects a developing brain more than a fully developed adult brain. Alcohol does accelerate the
aging process, however, this accelerated aging, happens in those who abuse alcohol and
become alcoholics at any age (Oscar-Berman). Drugs will do the same thing to anyone. Smoking
will age people physically and health wise. Those who become alcoholics at such a young age
often are not aware of the fact that their body can be a victim of this. Every organ in the body is
susceptible to being damaged and most likely will become damaged when the drug is abused,

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even if the person starts drinking at the age of 21. Brains of alcoholics resemble brains of
chronologically old non-alcoholics (Oscar-Berman). It is about the responsibility and the way
someone uses alcohol, which can be taught to those who would like to learn.
Lowering the drinking age to 18 would make it so that those who have turned 18 and are
legally able to fight in wars for their country, as well as vote, can consume alcoholic beverages.
You should be able to have a drink or two, or however many you want for that matter, if you can
fight for your country and your friends and family to live free lives. Lowering the drinking age to
19 makes it so that people that are still in high school cannot legally purchase alcoholic
beverages until they have graduated. Lowering the drinking age also helps keep people out of
trouble that drink with their friends in college. Alcohol is available on many college campuses
and officials dont like seeing their students get in trouble with the law when they are trying to
enjoy their college life.
Growing up, my mom has always let my brother and I try any alcoholic beverage she
had. She always explained to us that she would rather us be tasting different beverages under her
supervision instead of us experimenting on our own. Because of this I have never wanted to go
out and party with friends or get drunk. I am a firm believer that when a child is told no, they
will do it anyway so they can figure out why they are not allowed to do it. Similarly, my mom
has said she firmly believes the more you tell someone no the more determined they are to do
it. Telling teens that they have to stop drinking or that they cannot drink until they are 21 makes
teens frustrated. When teens are frustrated they want to fight back and argue. I believe that if we
did not have a drinking age the issues with drinking would not be the way they are today.
In my first year of Spanish at my high school, my Spanish teacher informed our class
that their drinking age was 16 but they never questioned them unless they were irresponsible

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with how they drank. The drinking age is now 18. She said that when she was in school they
could go home during their lunch and their parents would have a beer and they could indulge
in one too and then go back to school. What I am trying to say is that these people were allowed
to drink at such a young age but nobody frowned upon it because no one was getting killed
trying to sneak around. Parents get suspicious over every little thing it seems and the kids just do
not want to get caught.
The drinking age should be lowered from the age of 21 to at least 19. This could be a
reduction in age just for beer. When the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed, those
individuals that were grandfathered by the act were grandfathered only to purchase beer. The
original reason that the drinking age was raised (drunk driving), has not changed. With increased
technology, cars have become safer so less intoxicated drivers have gotten in fatal accidents.
Many think that just because cars are now made with more advanced technology that they can
trust themselves enough to drive home while intoxicated. If the drinking age is 19, most high
school kids cannot purchase alcohol. If the drinking age is 19, it also reduces the stress on
college officials who want their students to stay out of trouble when it comes to drinking
alcoholic beverages. All of the bad things and consequences that alcohol abuse causes can be
taught to young kids and better prepare them for the future to help prevent alcoholism. Many
countries have drinking ages below the age of 18. The United States should have a drinking age
of 19, instead of 21.

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Works Cited
Albers, Alison Burke, et al. "Flavored Alcoholic Beverage Use, Risky Drinking Behaviors, and
Adverse Outcomes Among Underage Drinkers: Results from The ABRAND
Study." American Journal of Public Health 105.4 (2015): 810-815 6p. CINAHL
Complete. Web. 6 March 2016.
Balko, Radley. "Efforts to Lower the Drinking Age Have Both Supporters and Detractors."
Should the Legal Drinking Age Be Lowered? Ed. Stefan Kiesbye. Detroit: Greenhaven
Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "Back to 18?: A New Chorus of Critics Say It's Time to
Lower the Drinking Age."Reason.com (12 Apr. 2007). Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 6 Mar. 2016.
"Choose Responsibility." Legal Age 21. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.
Hamilton, Wendy J. "Age-Twenty-One Drinking Laws Protect Youth." Alcohol. Ed. Andrea C.
Nakaya. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Press
Conference Remarks."20th Anniversary of the 21 Minimum Drinking Age Law. 2004.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.
Morean, Meghan E, et al. "First Drink To First Drunk: Age Of Onset And Delay To Intoxication
Are Associated With Adolescent Alcohol Use And Binge Drinking." Alcoholism, Clinical
And Experimental Research 38.10 (2014): 2615-2621. MEDLINE with Full Text. Web. 3
Nov. 2015.
OscarBerman, Ph.D., Marlene. "Alcoholism and the Brain: An Overview."Alcoholism and the
Brain: An Overview. N.p., July 2004. Web. 04 Dec. 2015.
ProCon.org. "Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) in 190 Countries." ProCon.org. 25
Aug. 2015. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.
"Should the Drinking Age be Lowered?" The Learning Network Should the Drinking Age Be
Lowered Comments. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.

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"Top 10 Alcohol Brands Consumed By Youth." Sober Recovery. 2014. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.soberrecovery.com/recovery/top-10-alcohol-brands-consumed-byyouth/#/underage-target>.
Wechsler, H, and TF Nelson. "Will Increasing Alcohol Availability By Lowering The Minimum
Legal Drinking Age Decrease Drinking And Related Consequences Among
Youths? American Journal of Public Health 100.6 (2010): 986-992 7p.CINAHL
Complete. Web. 6 March 2016.