For Years, The Debate About Deciding A Minimum Legal Drinking

For years, the debate about deciding a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) has plagued the United States. The arguments can include that intoxicated driving accidents will increase if the MLDA was lowered or that the current MLDA is not decreasing drinking among young adults at all. The torn arguments between ages eighteen and twenty-one have not proven one age to be the right answer to the problem of deciding a drinking age, but if the MLDA was lowered to age eighteen, it would be the most beneficial choice because lowering it will benefit the economy, reduce binge drinking in colleges, decrease unsafe drinking environments, eliminate the Forbidden Fruit Syndrome, and follows through with the idea of adulthood at age eighteen. The first†¦show more content†¦It seems like a double standard, young adults can start smoking at the age of eighteen, but cannot drink till the age of twenty-one. If one is able to use a substance like tobacco, he or she should be able to drink alcohol. Therefore, the drinking age should be lowered. Not only can one start using tobacco product at eighteen, one registers for the draft, and he or she may enlist in the armed forces. An eighteen year old may not be looked at as responsible enough to drink alcohol, but without any hesitation he or she can volunteer to risk his or her life for this country (Hirby). Each duty listed above takes a considerable amount of maturity. Some people may think that eighteen year olds are not responsible enough to drink alcohol, but they clearly have to be. At the age of eighteen, one is given the responsibility of taking care of him or herself. Eighteen is officially and legally the age of adulthood; therefore, eighteen year olds should be given their right to drink alcohol. The second reason the MLDA should be lowered to eighteen is because it will eliminate the Forbidden Fruit Syndrome for underage drinking. The Forbidden Fruit Syndrome is the process of a person engaging in an illegal act because he or she possess a feeling of rebelliousness while engaging in the act. Thirty-two percent of all drinkers are under the legal age of twenty-one. When the drinking age was raised in 1984, there was already a decrease in the numberShow MoreRelatedThe Generations Of People Who Were Born After 1984 Have1284 Words   |  6 Pagespeople who were born after 1984 have only known the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) to be 21 years old. But, it was not so long ago when the minimum legal drinking age was 18. In 1984 Congress passed the MLDA Act as a result of the rise in drunk driving accidents involving teens and alcohol related deaths. This Act ultimately made the states raise their MLDA to 21 from 18 for fear of losing federal highway funds. 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