There is an ever growing problem among young people across the United States: the abuse of alcohol. Once a person turns eighteen, they gain the status of an adult and the responsibilities and privileges that go along with it. Nevertheless, these young adults lack one privilege that their slightly older counterparts have, the right to drink alcohol. In an attempt to attain this badge of adulthood, many lash out at the legal drinking age by binging. This is because drinking by these individuals is seen as a way of rebelling against authority.
             As a nation, we have tried prohibition legislation in the past for controlling drinking problems. But did these laws work? No, they did not; the government repealed these laws because they were unenforceable and because they caused other social problems. Today the United States is making the exact same mistake, except this time exclusively with young adults. Prohibition did not work then and prohibition for people under the age of twenty-one is not working now. The law cannot be effectively enforced, and the repercussions for breaking it are few and light. For the good of the country, the legal drinking age in the United States must be lowered.
             In the United States, people have legally declared adults at eighteen years of age. Unbelievably, this country's citizens trust their sixteen-year-old children to drive three thousand pound vehicles. The working young are required to pay taxes and contribute to the Social Security fund. Decision-making abilities of eighteen-year-olds are trusted in public elections, with the right to smoke, and with the choice of marriage without parental consent. Young men are required to enlist in the military and fight for their country should the need arise. However, the drinking age in the United States is a contradiction. The laws convey that until the age of twenty-one, young adults are still too immature to handle alcohol. How can the powers that control the ...