Should The Drinking Age Be Lowered?

                I disagree with the group of 100 college presidents who believe that lowering the drinking age to 18 will make kids "safer".  Just because the police cannot enforce this law properly does not mean they have the right to lower the drinking age so that they can focus on "greater" offenses.  If the drinking age were to be lowered, consumption would not decrease, and a younger group of kids would be able to get their hands on alcohol.  As a result, students in high school would have easier access to alcohol and I believe there would be an even greater issue of underage drinking at the middle and high school levels.  Regardless of whether the drinking age is lowered or not, the police will still run into the same problems and it will be just as dangerous for minors.  With a large number of DUI's in this country and deaths resulting from them, I also believe that by lowering the drinking age more careless young teenagers would get behind the wheel drunk, and more lives would be at risk on the road.  While there are problems and difficulty catching all underage drinkers, the law in effect still saves a considerable amount of lives, in my opinion.  If a young adult makes a decision to drink alcohol, it is on their conscience and their responsibility to know their limits.  Ultimately, if a person under the age of 21 wants to find a means to drink alcohol, they will do it, whether or not there is a law in place preventing them to do so.

Comments

[Casey Levesque]

I agree with you Rachel, that if the drinking age was to be lowered that younger kids would be able to get it easily. More young teens in high schools would start drinking because they would easily get it from the upperclassmen. Which is another issue, buying for minors. I also agree with you when you say that more teenagers would get behind the wheel. I feel as if they are not matured enough and think that nothing can ever happen to them so they will act reckless and drink and drive which will cause many more deaths. Very good arguement, good points as well, I strongly agree with you.