Lowering The Drinking Age

There are many arguments on why the drinking age is set at 21, but are they fair considering the other obligations and responsibilities we obtain at other ages? Although we can be selected for military service or be convicted for our actions as full adults, we can still not legally purchase and consume alcoholic beverages like citizens ages 21 and older. Is this fair?

Underage drinking in the US is a big problem that we spend obscene amounts of money every year trying to prevent.

According to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2006, 17,941 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes - an average of one every half-hour. These deaths constituted approximately 41 percent of the 43,300 total traffic fatalities. Drunk (those at or above an illegal BAC of .08) drivers were involved in 13990 fatalities in 2006(MADD Online:Statistics).

Drinking and driving is a huge problem in the US, for both adults and minors. "Young drivers are less likely than adults to drive after drinking alcohol, but their crash risks are substantially higher when they do(Underage Drinking)". The risk of an underage drinker getting in an accident is one thing that really shows how the law was formed. After all, the government has to try to protect its citizens.

Alcohol can have long term, or short term debilitating effects on the brain for heavy drinkers, and even moderate drinkers.

We do know that heavy drinking may have extensive and far-reaching effects on the brain, ranging from simple "slips" in memory to permanent and debilitating conditions that require lifetime custodial care. And even moderate drinking leads to short-term impairment, as shown by extensive research on the impact of drinking on driving(Alcohol Alert).

This is important because according to modern psychology, the brain is not fully developed by age 18, and you don't want to damage something you haven't even been able to use to its full potential yet. Our brains are one of the things that separates us as human beings from other animals, and we should take care of them as best we can at the very least until they are fully developed. We have to take care of ourselves, we know alcohol can hurt us and possibly do serious damage. We know it really isn't a "good" thing, but should it really be illegal?

In the US we take on full citizenship at age 18. We can vote for the leaders of our country, we can go to war and fight for our people, we can smoke, we can drive with full privileges, we can even be convicted of crimes and maybe even be punished with death; however, we cannot buy or consume alcohol. We are full citizens, but just as individuals under the age of 18, we still have restrictions. Is there really an age where drinking becomes safe? No. But was prohibition successful in the US? No. In my opinion the drinking age should be 18, not