The Drinking Age Should be changed to 18 Language Essay

The Drinking Age Should be changed to 18
Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Course:
Instructor:
Date:
The Drinking Age Should be changed to 18
The legal drinking age (MLDA) in the U.S. is currently 21 years, following the enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. Initially, the MLDA varied from one state to another and was generally lower than 21 years. It follows that the act was passed into law to reduce the number of accidents caused by young drivers under the influence of alcohol. Accordingly, the law resulted in the decline of drinking from 59% to 40% among 18-20-year-olds between 1985 and 1991, respectively (Serdula et al., 2004). Moreover, the increase in the MLDA to 21 led to a median decline of 16% in motor vehicle accidents across states in the country (Shults et al., 2001).
On the contrary, it is fair to say that over the years, much of the success in reducing road carnage can be attributed to stricter traffic rules such as the requirement to use seatbelts and the prohibition of driving under the influence (DUI). Additionally, the current MLDA of 21 has not stopped drinking among people under the age of 21. In the foregoing, young people tend to drink in secrecy, and this is riskier since they are unsupervised and are likely to show no discretion or moderation. According to a survey by SAMHSA (2018), 7.1 million persons aged between 12-20 years reported having engaged excessive drinking a month before they were interviewed. Further, the same survey revealed that binge drinking (5 or more drinks for boys and four or more drinks for girls) was practiced at least once a month among 4.3 million young people in the U.S.
Under strict MDLA laws, the problem of alcoholism among young people is not solved, instead, they are motivated to dodge the law and drink as much as they can within short periods such as college parties lasting for some minutes to a few hours. Such practices are not only detrimental to their health but also likely to undo gains made in reducing the car-r...