Lowering the leagal drinking a

By law, anyone 18 years and older will be tried as an adult in court, is allowed to vote, and is required to pay taxes. On one's 18th birthday the law no longer views him as a child yet he is restricted from many places of social activity. Bars and many dance clubs are strictly for those 21 and over due to the legal drinking age in America, so many legal adults are not permitted entry. Clearly a discrepancy exists between an 18 year old adult and a 21 year old adult; however, since they are viewed by law as equals shouldn't they have the same privileges? Obviously certain laws that regulate activities by age are necessary. Voting, alcohol, and driving should not be available to people of any age because of the amount of responsibility these activities require. However the segregation between younger and older adults is unwarranted.

Up until 1984 the legal drinking age was 18, however Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) spurred a campaign to raise the age limit to 21. They succeeded w

Americans hold personal freedom to be an undeniable right. The right to drink one's self into a drunken state still falls under the personal rights category; however, this basic freedom is restricted by the implementation of the 1984 law. Instead of being able to have complete control over one's life when they reach the legal age of adulthood, citizens are forced to wait an additional three years for an equal level of freedom. A need for drinking regulation definitely exists, yet it needs to coincide with other laws defining adult privileges. All rights would be gained simultaneously and lowering the legal drinking age to 18 would erase the discrepancy that now exists.

Unbelievably, the United States citizens trust their sixteen-year-old children to drive three thousand pound vehicles. We require our working young to pay taxes. We trust the decision-making abilities of eighteen year olds in public elections, with the right to smoke, and with the choice of marriage without parental consent. Our young adults are encouraged to join the army and fight for their country. We however believe that until the age of twenty-one our young adults can not handle alcohol.

Elizabeth Whelan declares, "Banning drinking by young people makes it a badge of adulthood -- a tantalizing forbidden fruit" (84). This badge of adulthood is quickly attained by college freshman, who lash out at the drinking age, with binge drinking. The abuse of alcohol by young people can likely be prevented, certainly not in all cases but in many.

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