Dear Young Adults,

Are you 18 years old and angered because it is not illegal to drink at the age of 18? If so this
paper will tell you why Minimum legal drinking age(MLDA) should not be lowered, also why
you will continue to be angry about not being able to drink legally at age 18. My claim in this
paper is that the MLDA should not be lowered because most young adults at the age of 18 are
not responsible enough to handle the alcohol without harm to themselves or others.

Drinking alcohol is already dangerous and has its medical effects on its own, and with young
adults who are still somewhat irresponsible, it could then lead to a lot of fatalities. For example
some ways it can affect the human body are that it can interfere with young adult’s brain frontal
lobes, essential for functions such as emotional regulation, planning, and organization. Also it
can lead to addiction and with addiction it can cause depression, memory loss, violence, and
chances of suicide are greater. As shown with that evidence you can see how dangerous alcohol
can be to your health, and with young adults consuming it they won’t know how to control their
alcohol consumption (Alcohol use by Youth and Adolescence).

Lowering MLDA 21 to 18 will irresponsibly allow a greater segment of the population to drink
alcohol in bars and nightclubs, which are not safe environments. The next piece of advice I got
shows that “76% of bars have sold alcohol to people who are obviously intoxicated and way over
their limit” (Illegal Alcohol Sales to Obviously Intoxicated Patrons at Licensed Establishments).
Since young adults can’t really control their alcohol consumption, and with bartenders still trying
to make their money and selling them more alcoholic beverages when they’re clearly intoxicated,
who knows what could happened to those people. It can lead to drunk driving and a fatal car
crash or they just become a danger to themselves. Although it has been said that making it illegal
to drink at the age of 18 only causes them to go and drink unsupervised and illegally, there is
now a lower death rate of traffic fatalities now that the MLDA is 21 and not 18. Even with them
drinking unsupervised, not very underage person who wants to drink will commit that crime,
some might just choose to just give up the habit, and those who choose to do it illegally will face
a penalty because I again still believe that at the age of 18 we’re still not responsible or mature
enough to control out alcohol consumption. Once in awhile you might have a friend that might
look out for you and tell you to slow down your drinking, but we can't depend on that slight
chance so there is another reason to leave the MLDA at 21.

As you grow up, you mature and gain more privileges and with more privileges comes more
responsibility. With drinking alcohol being a privilege my evidence states that people tend to be
more mature at the age of 21 than 18. (Journal Of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs). This evidence
is valid and makes a good point because with more mature drinkers it leads to less accidents or
harm of any kind. Now the people who think the MLDA should be lowered say that “If 18-year-
olds can join the military service, they ought to be allowed to legally drink alcoholic beverages
before they turn 21”(helenair.com). Now that is a great point considering that they are both
harmful maybe the military being a bit more dangerous, I still don't believe it should be lowered.
Especially because 77% of people nationwide oppose the lowering of the MLDA, the majority is
against it and that is what we should stick by.
Now that you have read my argument I believe you should think before you decide to drink
underage, because you're causing harm against yourself, and if you don’t control how much
alcohol you consume maybe you will harm other people. This matter is a big deal because not
only does underage drinking kill an estimated 5000 people each year but in order to stop it we
need 18-year-olds to step out against underage drinking.

Work Cited

• Abuse, Committee On Substance. "Policy Statement-Alcohol Use by Youth and

Adolescents: A Pediatric Concern." Pediatrics. American Academy of Pediatrics, 06 Apr.
2010. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.
• Toomey, Traci L., Alexander C. Wagenaar, Darin J. Erickson, Linda A. Fletcher, William
Patrek, and Kathleen M. Lenk. "Illegal Alcohol Sales to Obviously Intoxicated Patrons at
Licensed Establishments." Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Blackwell
Publishing Ltd, 13 Apr. 2006. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.
• "Footnotes & Sources - Minimum Legal Drinking Age - ProCon.org." Should the
Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age? N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.
• CHARLES S. JOHNSON, IR State Bureau - 07/27/08. "Platform Plank: Dems Want to
Lower Drinking Age to 18." Helena Independent Record. N.p., 27 July 2008. Web. 30
Mar. 2017.