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Diego Flores
Professor Hymes
English 113A
November 15, 2015
Lowering the Drinking Age
Over the years there has been a debate about whether to lower the drinking age from
twenty-one to eighteen.It is very disturbing how a teenager at eighteen can join the military and
sacrifice their own life for the United States but cant have an alcoholic beverage. The United
States should lower the drinking age to eighteen, because these young adults are capable of
voting for the next leader they deem fit for the position of president. Once a person turns
eighteen they are legally an adult, and as such, they are mature enough to make decisions of such
an important caliber.
Once people turn eighteen, by federal definition they are legal, consenting adults. Being
eighteen means young adults no longer require parental approval; they are granted new
freedoms, but also new responsibilities. It is irrational that at eighteen years old, young adults
can be prosecuted to the full extent of the law but they have to wait until twenty-one years to
legally buy alcohol. It is unfair that they can be sentenced to life in jail because they are legally
an adult and have been told that they are old enough to know if they did something wrong. Aside
from the injustice of not being able to purchase alcohol in the United States. At eighteen, people
can legally sign up to anything, for example the military.
The minimum age to sign up for any type of military service in the United States is
eighteen. At the age of eighteen, one can decide whether to sacrifice his or her life for our
country, but unable to purchase an alcoholic beverage. At the age of eighteen most students in

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high school have to decide on what they are going to do with their lives after graduating. Most
go to college, but others decide not to continue with school and there are a few that join the
army. People are forced to decide what profession they want to have right away after graduating
high school. Yet again, they are forced to wait until the age of twenty one if they want to drink. If
a person under twenty one wants to drink they will find a way to purchase alcohol, although it
may be by stealing it or having a friend buy it for them. If the person is raised to believe that
alcohol is a forbidden fruit this may cause them to never drink.
In college, most students can get access to drinks through various ways. They can either
go to a party where alcohol is being served or they can ask their senior friends to purchase it for
them. If they are allowed to buy drinks then of course they will have more control of how much
they drink. During this age people tend to rebel against the law and decide to disobey. The
government prohibits people at eighteen through twenty to buy alcohol because at the age of
twenty-one it is believed that you have a higher tolerance.
Alcohol tolerance depends on each individual body and personallity. Someone who is six
feet tall can obviously drink more and have control of themselves rather than someone who is
five feet. Age is not part in this situation, so why make illegal for ages eighteen-twenty to
purchase alcohol. Additionally, people shouldnt be judge of how mature someone is by age. By
allowing the people under twenty one but over eighteen to drink can help reduce the deaths
related to alcohol. Some colleges such as Duke, Ohio State, and Dartmouth actually support this.
There are more than one-hundred colleges actually supporting to lower the drinking age.
Universities say that the current laws encourage binge drinking on campus.
If the law changes for the people that are eighteen to drink, they will be monitored by the
bartenders as if they were twenty one year old. Even if they go out and drink, police officers will

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still be on the lookout for people driving under the influence. For those who are eighteen and
have licenses, you might worry that they will drink and drive, but the government wouldnt give
someone a license if they didnt know the consequences that this might have. Police have even
started to do checkpoints to see if they have been drinking. People who are over twenty one still
drink knowing that they are at risk of getting stopped by the police.
Once young people turn eighteen they are adults. They are old enough to vote, and decide
who they think is right to fit the position of a political leader. Of course they will want to vote for
someone they think is fit for the position because it can affect their lives. There are other things
that can be done once a person turns eighteen. At this age a person can get married and move out
without notifying your parents or getting their consent. He or she are allowed to do everything at
this age aside from purchasing alcohol. If the law is broken, such as robbing a bank or murdering
someone, by someone who is over eighteen but under twenty one they are still going to get the
same sentence as someone who did the same crime that is over twenty one.
At eighteen people can decide whether or not you want get a tattoo. People have the
option to decide whether or not they want artwork permanent on their skin but cant have a drink
that wont stay in your body more than 48 hours. Aside from tattoos guns can be legally
purchased at eighteen.
Once again what else can be done at eighteen. To own a gun the minimum is eighteen
without parental supervision such as rifles and shotguns. The United States allows someone who
is eighteen to own a gun which basically says that they are old enough to know how to properly
use one but prohibits for people under twenty one to buy alcoholic drinks. If someone is old
enough to purchase a gun but isnt old enough to purchase alcohol. It doesnt make sense, its
hypocritical. Asides from owning a gun at the age of eighteen you can legally buy a house.

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Legally they can move out of their parents house without asking permission. As well they can get
married at eighteen but cant have a drink at their own wedding.
At the very end when you turn eighteen you can gamble, marry, vote, join the military, to
get a tattoo, moveout, own a house, and own a gun and many other things but cant decide
whether or not they can have a drink therefor why drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. A
person who is eighteen is said to be old enough to do all the things above except one and that is
purchase alcohol which really seems unfair. That is why the United States should change the law
and lower the drinking age to eighteen.

Work Cited
Guest Blogger. 15 Reasons why Drinking age should be 18.Cognac.com. 1 January 2013.Web.
15 Nov. 2015

Justin Pope,College presidents want lower drinking age. 2008.Web. 15 Nov.2015