America Must Lower the Drinking Age Essay -- Legal Alcohol Consumption

America Must Lower the Drinking Age The current drinking age in the United States of America is 21. There are some people who agree with the current drinking age even some who think it should be raised. On the other hand, a number of people feel that the current drinking age produces more problems than it prevents (â€Å"Cross Fire†). The United States has unsuccessfully tried prohibition legislation not once, but twice in the past. These laws were eventually done away with due to the inability to enforce and the repercussion towards them that ended up causing even more trials and tribulations (Engs). â€Å"Prohibition demonstrates beyond a doubt that drinking and the problems caused by drinking cannot simply be eliminated from the United States† (Olson). In the present day, the government is still reiterating the same mistakes that they made in past attempts (Engs). Research from the early 1980’s until present-day shows a decrease in per capita consumption instead, there has been an inc rease in other problems involving excessive and negligent drinking amongst college students after the twenty –one year old law in 1987 (Engs). The current drinking age of 21 is not effective and is causing other social problems. (Engs). This calls for us as a nation to change our existing drinking law. The drinking age of twenty-one is a paradox of age eighteen as the age of consent. â€Å"The age of consent is defined to be the age at which the person becomes able to make responsible decisions† (â€Å"Why the US Drinking Age Should Be Lowered to 18†). The government needs to start genuinely treating eighteen year-olds like the adults the U.S. constitution says they are (Barnes). The United States entrusts eighteen year-old citizens with ... ...eb. 2000. The Lycos Network. 3 Oct. 2001 http://www.studentadvantage.lycos.com/lycos/article/0,4638,c5-i53-t0-a23235,00.html Engs, Ruth. Forbidden Fruit. Winter 1999. 3 Oct. 2001 http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/articles/fruit.html Ford, Gene. Expert Opinion. 3 Oct. 2001 http://www.2.postdam.edu/alcoholinfo/ExpertOpinion/LowerDrinkAge.html Harald Net. â€Å"Parents cannot rely on the drinking-age laws.† Herald Net 18 June 2001. 3 Oct. 2001 http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/01/6/18/13878319.cfm Nichols, Hans. â€Å"Getting Drunk on Rebellion.† Insight 9 Oct. 2001 http://www.insightmag.com/archive/200107174.shtml Olson, Steve. Alcohol in America: Taking Action to Prevent Abuse. 1985. 9 Oct. 2001 http://emedia.netlibrary.com/reader/toc.asp?cu_id=19302 Why the US drinking age should be lowered to 18. 9 Oct. 2001 http://www.web.mit.edu/ecoder/www/drinking.html