Analysis Post

So as we all know through spending hours reading my fascinating blog, I am an advocate for lowering the drinking age. Still don’t believe me or are you a newcomer who doesn’t feel like reading through all my old posts? ….C’mon people, there is even a video! Still not feelin‘ it? Well then move your mouse and click on this link that gives you 15 reasons why you should get on team 18equalsadult.

Well if that little taste wasn’t enough and you want to stick around for both sides of the story, then you should continue reading! I was perusing through the websites concerning my topic, and decided to share with y’all those that seemed most useful in aiding you to make an informed opinion. Join the crowd, everyone cares about this! There are blogs and even facebook groups that provide a forum for everyone to express their opinion.

The main argument for lowering the drinking age seems simple enough; you are a legal adult. You can smoke, vote, fight, marry, and more. Why is it that we can’t drink? Some researchers argue that it would be detrimental to our poor little brains and livers because they aren’t fully developed yet (that sentence is so much better if you imagine me saying it in a cute-mocking-baby-voice). Others disprove this hypothesis by commentating that these experiments were done on mice or teenagers who were already dependent on alcohol. Another argument for lowering the drinking age is that prohibition failed and that the alcohol intake actually increased during this period of time. That makes a nice parallel to current and future situations with underage drinking. As mentioned in a previous blog post, we can compare our drinking age to those in other countries. A student from Singapore who is attending Duke University admitted that lowering the drinking age would be beneficial because it would help students adapt once they get to college. Why is there such a problem here but not so much in countries with even lower drinking ages than us? It all boils down to the mindset. With the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, a sort of forbidden fruit mentality was set up. We weren’t allowed to have it? Well then gosh darnit, we want it more. Even President Bush’s daughter, Jenna Bush, has been seen attempting to buy alcohol and consuming it at the ripe young age of 19.

Obviously, I am not right all of the time. There are massive amounts of people who disagree with me and who criticize the idea of lowering the drinking age. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD is one of the main proponents against lowering the drinking age. They present seemingly convincing statistics that demonstrate the dangers of and deaths caused by underage drinking. But as shown here and here, everyone can present statistics in a way that are in favor of one argument. MADD isn’t alone in their opposition; President Obama opposes lowering the drinking age as well.

I have realized that the main danger that comes with underage drinking is binge drinking. As Edwin says in a blog post comment, we drink secretly and to a great extent in private now due to the drinking age. We try to hide it from the cops and are more reluctant to get help when needed. This is much more dangerous (which is the main thing that MADD is worried about anyways, right)?

So how do we solve this pickle that we are in? The Amethyst Initiative consists of a group of over 100 college presidents who encourage lowering the drinking age, but also using a tactic we like to call alcohol education. As for now I am advocating the drinking age becoming 18, but eventually today’s problems will filter down into those even younger which therefore causes people to advocate having no drinking age at all. While this is a nice idea, I discuss in my blog comments that there are multiple risks that come with taking that leap. As in the rest of our history, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.