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“I don’t think that it should be lowered. With the age where it is now, there is no doubt that 21-year-olds are supplying 18-year-olds with alcohol,” said Western Connecticut State University student Keith Goldstein. “However, if the drinking age is changed to 18, the 18-year-olds would be supplying the 15-year-olds with alcohol, which would surely damage the youth’s brain function.”
Mothers Against Drunk Driving explains on its website at www.madd.org the effects of alcohol on the teen brain. The human brain continues to grow in a the early 20s, and drinking alcohol during that time can damage short- and long-term growth. Teens are also more likely to suffer from: blackouts, memory loss, and alcohol poisoning.
According to MADD, in the late '60s and early '70s, 29 states lowered the drinking age to align with military enlistment. Drunken driving crashes and alcohol-related fatalities then increased significantly in these states.
Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act on July 17, 1984, raising the drinking age to 21 across the country.
But if a teen can enlist in the military, purchase lottery tickets, and exercise their voting rights, why can't they enjoy a drink?
“I believe it's pointless to try and keep the age at 21, because children of this day and age, are tempted by the forbidden fruit," says Prospect resident and IT specialist Nicholas Zappone.
"This is because when children are told they can’t have something, they are 20 times more likely to try and deceive to find other ways to obtain alcohol."
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