Secondhand Citizens: An Argument For Lower Drinking Age

             The legal drinking age has been a much debated topic since the repealing of the total prohibition of alcohol by the 21st amendment in 1933. (Palicz) The laws regarding this age limit have fluctuated over the years. The age limit was lowered in most states when the youth of the Vietnam and baby boomer generations protested that if they could die in a foreign war they should be given the privilege of drinking alcohol. This age limit lasted until the passing of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 by congress, in an effort to reduce the occurrence of drunk driving accidents. The act required all states to raise the drinking age to 21 within two years, or loose part of their annual highway funding. (Palicz) Eventually, the drinking age was raised in all 50 states to where it currently is, at 21.
             The drinking age should be lowered back to 18. There are many people who argue against this age reduction happening. In the article "Talking Points/Arguments: Answering the critics of Age-21", Jim Hall, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, attempts to justify the current drinking age limit. Hall's article on the drinking age has misleading facts, faulty logic, and bad analogies that make it ineffective and easily refuted.
             Making his first point, Hall says, "Lowering the drinking age will make alcohol more available to an even younger population, replacing "forbidden fruit" with "low-hanging fruit." The practices and behaviors of 18 year-olds are particularly influential on 15 - 17 year-olds." These statements are untrue. If 15-17 year-olds are already able to get alcohol, then lowering the age limit won't make it any easier to get. If their 22-year old cousin still buys it for them or the store down the street still doesn't card them, then they will still be able to get alcohol. As far as 18 year-olds being influential on 15-17 year-olds, anyone, from parents to a teacher who is an...

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Secondhand Citizens: An Argument For Lower Drinking Age. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 19:45, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/89161.html