Eighteen Years Old, The Age Of Adulthood In The United

Eighteen years old, the age of adulthood in the United States, where one can legally participate in activities that one was unable to as a child. Well, almost everything. This unfortunately doesn’t include the right to decide whether to drink alcohol or not because the drinking age in the United States is twenty-one, not eighteen. The drinking age, as a matter of fact, used to be eighteen in some of the states back in the 1970s and prior to that. The new national drinking age limit was implemented in 1984. States had the option of choosing to follow this new law or keep their existing drinking age, but if the states did not abide by this new law, they would have ten percent of their highway funds annually condemned (â€Å"The 1984†). This was†¦show more content†¦Alcohol is said to be the fourth leading preventable cause of death, so there is obviously a number one leading cause. The number one leading cause of death in the United States is tobacco: â€Å"Ciga rette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths, resulting from secondhand smoke exposure† (â€Å"Smoking†). Tobacco is killing five times more Americans than alcohol is, but it is legal to buy cigarettes and smoke them at eighteen years old. Why is drinking alcohol seen as more harmful than smoking, when clearly the statistics are showing something different? Drinking alcohol and using tobacco can both be extremely unhealthy and destructive to the human body, but in different ways. Long-term overuse of alcohol can cause diseases such as liver cancer or heart disease. Another big concern with drinking is ingesting too much at one time and getting alcohol poisoning. Both examples are destructive to the human body, but drinking alcohol responsibly and moderately can provide some health benefits, if the drinking is kept to an average of only about one to two drinks per day (Mayo). Unlike drinking al cohol, smoking tobacco doesn’t have any health benefits. Smoking is undoubtedly detrimental to anyone’s health, increasing a person’s risk of getting heart disease and/or lung cancer. Lowering the drinking age would help a young drinker become more responsible andShow MoreRelatedEssay about Lower the Drinking Age To 18561 Words   |  3 Pages The drinking age in the United States is a contradiction. At the age of eighteen, one can drive a car, vote in an election, get married, serve in the military and buy tobacco products. In the United States you are legally an adult at eighteen. An eighteen-year-old, however, cannot purchase alcoholic beverages. The minimum drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one in the United States. Unbelievably, the United States citizens trust their sixteen-year-old children to drive three thousand poundRead MoreThe Drinking Age Of The United States Essay1599 Words   |  7 PagesBy the age of twenty-one, most people have at some point consumed an alcoholic beverage. For others, turning twenty-one might mean a whole new world of freedom. Young teens and adults drink for many reasons. Teens may drink because of peer pressure, others because of pure enjoyment, and many for of the thrill of breaking the law. Before the 1980’s, the legal drinking age was eighteen. This would only make sense because at this age a person is declared an adult. Many are in favor of keeping the drinkingRead MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Should Be Abolished1634 Words   |  7 Pagesin the United States all stem from one major root: the Prohibition Era of the 1920s. The Prohibition Era lasted almost thirteen years and banned the production, the distribution, and the sale of alcohol. In 1933, the Pr ohibition Act was repealed and states designated their own legal drinking age. In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age act was passed and raised the drinking age in the United States to twenty-one. This law caused uproar in states that had declared the minimum drinking age to be eighteenRead MoreThe Debate Of The Drinking Age959 Words   |  4 Pagesdrinking age has always been twenty-one in the United States, whenever it has been questioned on why twenty-one and not eighteen. The scientific answer has always been because the eighteen-year-old brain is not fully developed yet. See what I have a hard time understanding is why eighteen-year-olds are considered adults at the age of eighteen, but we can’t have a drink. At eighteen you are allowed to buy cigarettes, join the army, change your name. I just don’t understand why at eighteen you are consideredRead MoreFor Years, The Debate About Deciding A Minimum Legal Drinking1638 Words   |  7 PagesFor years, the debat e about deciding a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) has plagued the United States. The arguments can include that intoxicated driving accidents will increase if the MLDA was lowered or that the current MLDA is not decreasing drinking among young adults at all. The torn arguments between ages eighteen and twenty-one have not proven one age to be the right answer to the problem of deciding a drinking age, but if the MLDA was lowered to age eighteen, it would be the most beneficialRead MoreLowering The Drinking Age1336 Words   |  6 PagesStudies show that keeping the drinking age at twenty-one improves lives. When the United States raised the age limit to twenty-one in 1985, a shortage of drinking occurred at a whopping 40% by 1991. As a result, fewer students drop out of high school, less motor accidents occur, and suicides rates dropped significantly. However, lowering the drinking age to eighteen will bring serious consequences on young adults by reversing these statistics. Lowe ring the drinking age will cause significant health problemsRead MoreThe Issue Of Juvenile Crime Essay810 Words   |  4 Pagesjurisdiction age from age seventeen to eighteen is a great idea. I also believe that sexting is a crime for some. Juvenile crime is a huge issue in the United States, but how we punish those young adults is also very important. On September 18th, 2013 Deval Patrick, the Governor of Massachusetts, signed legislation that raises the age of juvenile jurisdiction from the age of seventeen to eighteen. There are many great reasons for this change. One reason for this change is because the age eighteen is theRead MoreThe Issue Of Juvenile Crime826 Words   |  4 Pagesjurisdiction age from age seventeen to eighteen is a great idea. I also believe that sexting is a crime for some. Juvenile crime is a huge issue in the United States, but how we punish them is also very important. On September 18th, 2013 Deval Patrick the Governor of Massachusetts signed a legislation that raises the age of juvenile jurisdiction from the age seventeen to eighteen. There are many great reasons for this change. One reason for this change is because the age eighteen is the mark ofRead MoreChanging the Minimun Legal Drinking Age in the United States1745 Words   |  7 PagesMinimum Legal Drinking Age in the United States Over the past twenty years the minimum legal drinking age has been twenty-one in all US states, but that has not stopped citizens of the United Sates from attempting to lower the age. Following the end of prohibition in the United Sates during the Great Depression, all states agreed on a set of twenty-one to be the legal drinking age. For almost forty years there was no change in the drinking age until a decrease in the age for voting occurred. ThisRead MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered955 Words   |  4 PagesIn the United States of America, the National Government requires the states to enforce a legal drinking age of twenty-one. Where as the world average drinking age is eighteen, and in some Countries it is even lower where it is possible to get a beer at sixteen years of age. Taking that into consideration, there is a great deal of controversy in the United States on what the legal age should be to purchase and consume an alcoholic beverage. The largest issue being that you are considered to be an