The National Minimum Age Drinking Act was passed in 1984 in the USA, which made the legal drinking age 21. There are only 10 other countries in the world with a legal drinking age this high. According to Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Centre 16 percent of all the alcohol consumed in this country is by the youth aged between 12 and 21.
In most countries, the legal age to start drinking is 18. In the United States, at age 18 one is treated as an adult and is allowed to choose the President of his country but isn’t allowed to go into a bar and buy a drink. Forbidden fruit is the sweetest.
Research conducted by the National institute of alcohol abuse and alcoholism shows that one in 12 adults in the USA are alcoholic. Alcoholism is a disease that haunts the country; it is breaking families and causing physical and emotional harm to a lot of individuals. It is important to accept that this is an issue that runs in society and address it in a way that really reaches out to the audience. Increasing the legal drinking age is not a way to either raise awareness or prevent alcoholism. It just sends out the wrong message.
In a lot of bars one has to provide proper age proof and identification to gain entry and have a good time. But if one has to really drink, they know how to bend the rules to get what they want. They can always have someone of legal age buy them a drink and nobody will know. And some under-informed teenagers may test unsafe places and measures to get their alcohol.
Alcohol in excess is harmful to health for individuals across all ages, especially children. A person 18 and above is considered adult for most practical purposes, so it’s not fair to prevent them from drinking. In my opinion, people to whom alcohol is introduced at a young age in a more controlled environment do not develop urges to binge drink at a later age, it is a safer way to actually ensure that one is aware of what they are doing.
Asian countries, like China and India, have lower alcohol consumption rates in spite of having a lower drinking age limit. It is the increase in awareness and controlled attitudes towards drinking that account for the lower consumption rates.
Teenagers may think that it is all right for them to drink and drive, but they don’t understand the magnanimity of the problem. The legal threshold for blood alcohol content to be able to drive is 0.08 percent by volume. For an average weighted individual, even one glass of wine or a can of beer can lead to exceeding the legal limit. According to research studies conducted by an insurance company called First Eagle, about 40 percent of traffic deaths are due to drunk driving, and about 60 percent of all teenage traffic deaths are due to alcohol effects.
These statistics are scary. It could be one of us soon. Hazards caused by alcohol should be curbed to reduce the number of people who get addicted, rather than increasing the drinking age.
It is important to raise awareness among adolescents about the harms that drinking cause. Most of them do it to increase their coolness quotient, which is associated with peer pressure. A high drinking age is not a solution to the problem, education to the problems associated with alcohol is.
