In 1920 eighteenth amendment was passed which is generally referred to as prohibition. In essence it prohibited drinking or manufacturing alcoholic beverages. Supporters of prohibition thought that it would bring stop to social problems associated with alcohol consumption. Soon it became clear that prohibition was a failure, it achieved nothing, since drinking was still rampant. It created many other problems like the growth of organized crime, increased disrespect for law, unregulated and dangerous beverages, increased violence, the loss of tax revenue, corruption of law enforcement and other public officials, increases in binge drinking, and many other serious problems.. It was repealed in 1933. In 1984 MADD (Mothers Against Drinking and Driving) have succefully changed public opinion and raised the drinking age to 21. That is how we got here today.
             There are a lot of different opinions on what the drinking age should be however there are 2 radical opinions that push the legislators. The first is that there shouldn't be a drinking age. The other one is that alcohol as a whole should be outlawed. Those represent the radical left and right of the spectrum. The more common views are that drinking age should be lowered to 18 or it should stay at 21 and possibly raised.
             The conflict is the same old believe that remains rampant ever since prohibition. Alcohol is the cause of all the social problems. Which can be traced to ignorance, it is alcohol abuse not alcohol itself that cause a lot of social problems.
             Also another theme is added, young people are not mature, and therefore they can't be trusted with a substance such as alcohol. This brings in light another issue, as old as humans themselves. An aging population doesn't understand they young generation. To illustrate just how ancient is this problem let me quote a inscription found at grave of pharaoh that died in 3500 B.C. :
             "You...