Drinking has become one of the most debated issues among adults and some teenagers in the recent years in the United States as compared to the old days when the issue was mainly decided by adults. The matter has driven a majority of adults in believing that youngsters need to reach an age limit of twenty one to be considered as mature enough to join the drinking society of adults if they desire. However, some adults contradicts with the idea thinking that the age should be reduced to eighteen as teenagers tend to behave more mature at this age and it will reduce the abuse of alcohol among the youth. With the legal age being when teenagers reach an age that they are considered mature to start drinking in accordance with the law, most teenagers find themselves in tempting situations to drink before attaining the authorized age by law. This has inevitably led to the desire to lower the legal drinking age to reduce its abuse by the young generation.
According to Veronica Garcia, "Turning eighteen can symbolize the start of adult life, which is accompanied with a great deal of responsibility. Eighteen year olds are able to purchase cigarettes, register to vote, and even serve in the military" and also "Allowing eighteen year olds to drink is not a problem: abusive drinking is" (2002). She says once a person turns 18, they are considered as adults as they perform all duties adults can perform. Therefore they can be allowed to consume alcohol under controlled situations. In view of these responsibilities extended to them, and also considering what they give to the society, they are considered to be rightly adults to drink legally. She also says that when one is denied to do something; they find it even encouraging to do it. This makes it safer to allow the legal drinking age at eighteen. (Garcia).
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With Raul Luevano opposed to this by claiming that "The reason why the drinking age limit should remain the same is because it prevents alcoholism" and "Alcoholism has contributed too many of the crimes and accidents in America" (2002). He claims that alcoholism has led to the involvement in felony among teenagers below 18 and if restricted to 21, it will help reduce it. It should be noted that no matter the age of a person, if drinking is not controlled it may lead to a person committing crimes and many other violations in the United States. Therefore, educating the young generation about controlled drinking and the effects of obnoxious consumption may help curb the problem further. (Luevano).From the Cognac website, it is said that in the United States "Colleges and Universities often argue that the legal drinking age should be eighteen because outlawing alcohol consumption in colleges for those under 21 is making the problem worse. These colleges and universities say that allowing alcohol consumption legally might help cut down alcohol related deaths in colleges (2009)". They argue that the youth above 18 years but below 21 in colleges have a higher mortality rate due to alcoholism and allowing them to drink will help reduce this. Therefore, this supports the idea of reducing the legal age for consumption of alcohol to eighteen as it reduces death rates in not only schools but also in the society as a whole. (Administrator).
In the 'Department of Defense Regulation' of United States, the military personnel who are below twenty one but over eighteen consume alcohol under restricted surroundings. Hon. Karen Arnold-Burger said "We can't stop kids from drinking, so why don't we just lower the drinking age back to 18? Eighteen year-olds can vote, smoke, marry, drive, fly, pay taxes, take out loans, hold public office, serve on a jury and fight for their country, so what's the big deal? Let's stop spending all this tax money and law enforcement officer time fighting a loosing battle!" He said stopping kids from drinking is a bigger challenge to curb rather than letting them drink as they also performs the duty adults perform in normal lives claiming it will be economical. Further more, commanders in military installations can ignore drinking age limit for special situations by allowing people under 18 in the military to drink with supervision from commanders. This include non-routine forces occasion when a whole unit celebrates a military installation. (Verbeckmoes).In general, no matter how people argue, drinking should not be limited to persons over 21 but be reduced to18. This will help reduce a lot of problems in the American society and the rest of the cultures as a whole.