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Lowering The Drinking Age

It is legal for eighteen year-olds to die for their country,
it is legal for eighteen year-olds to marry, and it is legal for
eighteen year-olds to vote. Why then isn't it legal for eighteen
year-olds to drink? I don't think that is right, and I believe
that the drinking age in the United States should be lowered from
twenty one years of age, to eighteen.

For the most part, the drinking age does not deter young
people from drinking. Studies have shown that lowering the legal
age slightly increases the frequency that people drink, but not
the number of people who drink; people who do not drink before
the legal age is lowered do not drink afterward. (Wechsler 142) What it does do, however, is push young people to find places to
drink where they won't be caught. Often this means drinking out
in the woods at a hunting camp, or drinking around a bonfire in
the middle of a field. I think it would make more sence for them
to be able to drink supervised, in a bar or club, where there is
less danger for injury.

Another reason I think that the drinking age should be
lowered is because it pushes young people to find alternatives to
drinking. Often these alternatives are recreational drugs and
narcotics. Many of these drugs are more addictive than alcohol,
and most of these drugs are more dangerous. I think most adults
would rather have their young people drink a glass of beer than
shoot up. Many people think that the drinking age should stay at
twenty one. These people believe that people under the age of
twenty one are not mature enough to handle the responsibility
that comes with drinking. The answer to that is that there are
many examples of immature adults in all age groups. I agree that
there are some eighteen and nineteen year-olds that are barely
mature enough to cross the street by...

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