The National Drinking Age Act - 933 Words

At the age of 18, any individual who is a legal citizen of the United States of America has the option to vote, marry the love of their life, enter law abiding contracts with banks, see R rated movies without the presence of an adult, serve in any branch of the military, and buy tobacco products. These are important choices given to those entering adulthood, but one choice not given to those who are legally considered adults is drinking. 30 years ago this July, the National Drinking Age Act was passed. This act required that those who are in the United States must wait till the age of 21 to consume alcohol legally. According to Camile Pagila, this is â€Å"absurd†, â€Å"unjust†, and â€Å"a violation of civil liberties.† Although those words could be used to describe forcing adults to wait till they are 21 to drink, in â€Å"Keeping Legal Drinking Age at 21 Saves 900 Lives Yearly: Study,† Bahar Gholipour shows that these laws that keep the drinking age at 21, save lives and protect young adults from the dangers that come from drinking. In â€Å"The Drinking Age Is Past Its Prime,† Camille Paglia claims the age-21 rule sets the U.S. back from all other advance nations and pushes youth to pills and other bad choices. It all started with the Mothers Against Drunk Driving. These ladies pushed limitations on drinking until they gave the United States 14 years of Prohibition. Making alcohol illegal was not the answer, in fact, it cause the beginning of booze smuggling which according to Paglia, â€Å"laidShow MoreRelatedThe National Drinking Age Act926 Words   |  4 Pagesthe age of 18, every individual who is a legal citizen of the United States of America has the option to vote, marry the love of their life, enter law abiding contracts with banks, watch R rated movies without the presence of an adult, serve in every branch of the military, and buy tobacco products. These remain key choices given to those entering adulthood, bu t one choice not given to those who are legally considered adults is drinking. 30 years ago this July, the National Drinking Age Act passedRead MoreProhibition Of The National Minimum Drinking Age Act1376 Words   |  6 Pages1993, the drinking age was set at twenty one but was later lowered to eighteen because of the passage of the 26th amendment which lowered the voting age to eighteen. In order to combat drunk driving, The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed and stated that states must raise their drinking age to twenty one or lose 10% of their funds to pay for their highways. The organization MADD (Mother’s Against Drunk Driving) was the group who put pressure on congress to pass The National Minimum DrinkingRead MoreThe National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 Is Not Working738 Words   |  3 Pagesworking. The NMDA, National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, which states that people under the age of 21 can’t consume or purchase alcohol, has only serv ed to heighten the problem that is currently being faced. The only realistic way to make real progress while reversing the negative effect the NMDA act has had and is having is to abolish the NMDA act and introduce a new act that establishes different phases to introduce alcohol to minors. In essence, the purpose of the NMDA act was to decrease theRead MoreAlcohol And Substance Abuse And The National Minimum Drinking Age Act2083 Words   |  9 Pagesstarted to arise. One being the legal age to start drinking alcohol. The national minimum drinking age act was signed on July 17th, 1984 to the law, with the drinking age at minimum being 21 (Archer M.D.). An adult is any person who’s reached the age of maturity as directed by law (Archer M.D.). Legally, being 18 years old in the U.S. is considered to be the adult age, but the consumption of alcohol has always been withheld from the young adults of today, until the age of 21. When you’re 18 year old, youRead MoreNational Minimum Drinking Age Act Essay719 Words   |  3 PagesIn 1984 the United States Government approved the National Minimum Drinking Age Act that required that â€Å"the States prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving State highway funds.† Even though this bill was nowhere near the magnitude of the prohibition act that was passed less than a century before it, the act still damaged the relationship between individuals, firms, and the United States government. Although theRead MoreThe National Minimum Drinking Age Act Of 19841084 Words   |  5 Pagesresponsibilities consuming alcohol at the average age of 18. However, unlike most countries in the world the United States has determined to establish their drinking age to be set at 21 years of age. This antiquated position is unjust to many young American adults. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 should be revised and reconstituted to the legal age of 18. To provide a more suitable America that is secure and reasonable for all young adults. The drinking age needs to be lowered so that it can reduceRead MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Should Be Abolished1634 Words   |  7 PagesLegality and Liquor: A Balancing Act Laws surrounding alcohol use and consumption in the United States all stem from one major root: the Prohibition Era of the 1920s. The Prohibition Era lasted almost thirteen years and banned the production, the distribution, and the sale of alcohol. In 1933, the Prohibition Act was repealed and states designated their own legal drinking age. In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age act was passed and raised the drinking age in the United States to twenty-one.Read MoreThe Minimum Drinking Age Act1692 Words   |  7 Pagessigned the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. This act stated that all states must raise their minimum drinking age to 21. Individuals under the age of 21 would now be prohibited from purchasing or being in public possession of any alcoholic beverage. Though not every state was keen on this idea, they all jumped to raise the minimum drinking age due to the government threat that they would lose up to 10% of their federal highway funding if they ignored the request. H owever, since the National MinimumRead MoreMinimum Legal Drinking Age Should Remain at the Age of 21 Essay1310 Words   |  6 PagesWithout a doubt, the United States has been facing serious national problems with underage drinking. Depending on personal ideologies, some people might not agree that the current minimum drinking age of twenty-one is based on scientific facts rather then ideology of prohibitionism. For example, since 1975 over seventeen thousand lives have been saved since the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) was changed to age twenty-one (Balkin 167). This shows that even over a short amount of time, a higherRead MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Act1179 Words   |  5 Pagesof the Legal Drinking Age A highly controversial topic that continues to rise is the debate of the legal drinking age and whether it should lower from twenty-one, or remain. On July 17, 1984, Ronald Reagan was in office when the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed, prohibiting anyone under the age of twenty-one from publicly possessing and purchasing alcohol. After the Act was passed in 1984, the states that failed to abide by Ronald Reagan’s National Minimum Drinking Age Act were withheld