A Different Sort of Segregation position paper on legalizing drinking

By law, anyone 18 years and older will be tried as an adult in court, is allowed to vote, and is required to pay taxes. On one's 18th birthday the law no longer views him as a child yet he is restricted from many places of social activity. Bars and many dance clubs are strictly for those 21 and over due to the legal drinking age in America, so many legal adults are not permitted entry. Clearly a discrepancy exists between an 18 year old adult and a 21 year old adult; however, since they are viewed by law as equals shouldn't they have the same privileges? Obviously certain laws that regulate activities by age are necessary. Voting, alcohol, and driving should not be available to people of any age because of the amount of responsibility these activities require. However the segregation between younger and olde

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Furthermore the temptation to undermine the law through underage drinking would be greatly decreased. However, what it has also done is reduce the rights of citizens between the ages of 18 and 21. (Shamed, Legal Drinking) The law aimed to lower the number of drunk driving accidents, which it has done, but only by a small margin.

If more young adults were drinking in public places as opposed to dorm rooms the possibility of excessive drinking would be lowered. The right to drink one's self into a drunken state still falls under the personal rights category; however, this basic freedom is restricted by the implementation of the 1984 law. The legal drinking age needs to be lowered to fit the remainder of the country's standards of adulthood. If these bored adults were allowed to participate in more activities there would be less people idling on the streets. Instead of being able to have complete control over one's life when they reach the legal age of adulthood, citizens are forced to wait an additional three years for an equal level of freedom.

Americans hold personal freedom to be an undeniable right.

Up until 1984 the legal drinking age was 18, however Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) spurred a campaign to raise the age limit to 21. The number of people present and the way in which bars and clubs are run provide the structured environment necessary to promote safer drinking.

The adult population between the ages of 18 and 21 has been oppressed by the injustice of age based segregation for over a decade, and it is time for something to be done. The need to throw private drinking parties would no longer be prevalent because the accessibility of alcohol would no longer be in question. They succeeded with the passage of the National Minimum Purchase Age Act in 1984.

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Approximate Word count = 739
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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