Pros of Lowering Drinking Age Outline

Human rights.  Individuals who are legally allowed to vote and get married, sign legal contracts, smoke cigarettes, can be responsible when it comes to drinking alcohol as well. Turning 18 allows one to make their own decisions in life.  Evidence #1: “National Youth Rights Association does not feel this is an issue primarily about alcohol; rather it is an issue about equality, respect, discrimination, and freedom. Americans of all ages, races, genders, and ethnicities deserve equal respect, and they deserve the right to make their own choices in life. ”
Drink safely in regulated environments. Prohibiting this age group from drinking in bars, restaurants, and other licensed locations causes them to drink in unsupervised places such as house parties where they may be more prone to binge drinking and other unsafe behavior. Evidence #1: “Among college students, a decade’s worth of research in the College Alcohol Study found the proportion of students engaging in frequent binge drinking had increased. Compared to 1993, more 18- 24 year students who chose to drink in 2001 were drinking excessively- as defined by the frequency of drinking occasions, frequency of drunkenness, and drinking to get drunk. ” Evidence #2: “College students experienced a nearly 10 percent increase in the rate of drinking to get drunk between 1993 and 2001, which corresponded to an increase in secondary consequences and treatment for alcohol overdose. Evidence #3: “ National estimates suggest that among full-time college students, 690,000 are involved in assaults, 97,000 are involved in rapes, and 599,000 are injured as a result of alcohol”

Ineffective. Evidence #1 (Prohibition did not work then): “In 1920, alcoholic beverages were banned in the United States. However, the government had created a huge black market for the intoxicating substance by encouraging the drinkers to switch to spirits. It is believed widely to have been a misguided and failed social experiment that made alcohol problems worse. ” Evidence #2 (Prohibition did not work now): “95% of those who will be alcohol consumers in their lifetime take their first drink before age 21”. Evidence #3(Prohibition did not work now): “50% of 18-20-year-olds consume alcohol regularly”.

Evidence #4( Prohibition did not work now): “75% of high school seniors, 60% of sophomores and 40% of eighth-graders have consumed alcohol”.
Evidence #5(Prohibition did not work now): “ 5,000 lives were lost each year by those under the age of 21. Of these, fewer than 40% are traffic fatalities. The vast majority- over 60%- of alcohol-related fatalities take place off roadways”.