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Essay / Alcohol Law: Raising the Minimum Drinking Age
Alcohol drinkers often don't see the effects of alcohol until it develops into addiction. During the Vietnam War, government officials lowered the legal drinking age when people questioned why they could die for their country at 18 without drinking alcohol. This change did not last long as people began to see an increase in the effects on people's health and an increase in car accidents. Raising the drinking age can give young people more time to become aware of the dangers of alcohol before consuming it. Science has proven that if young people consume alcohol, it affects their bodies and thought processes. People who consume alcohol daily often don't see the consequences of drinking until it's too late. There are many consequences, including illnesses, effects on children and parents, accidents and other problems. Raising the drinking age to twenty-five will minimize the widespread effects on the body, the effects on adolescents, and the dangers of drunk driving. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The first reason government officials should raise the drinking age from twenty-one to twenty-five is due to the widespread effects on the body. Alcohol affects the brain in several different ways. Impaired vision, memory, difficulty walking, and slurred speech are examples of the effects of alcohol (NIAA). The effects on the brain prevent the drinker from walking, speaking and seeing properly. Another effect is that alcohol can cause new brain cells to grow. An increased amount of brain cells can form in the brain, putting the alcoholic at risk of disease. Government officials who maintain or even lower the drinking age can have serious consequences for adolescents by offering them the choice to drink alcohol at a young age. Besides the brain, alcohol greatly affects the cardiovascular system. Monico says: “In 2016, alcohol-related CV diseases caused approximately 593,000 deaths worldwide. Excessive alcohol consumption is linked to high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, difficulty pumping blood around the body, blood clots, stroke, cardiomyopathy, or heart attack. . High blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, and stroke are just some of the symptoms that can develop within the cardiovascular system after excessive alcohol consumption. These heart and brain symptoms are a number of examples of the effects of alcohol on the body. Both the cardiovascular system and the brain are greatly affected by alcohol consumption. If government officials could pass a law raising the minimum age for drinking alcohol to twenty-five, the rates of drinkers experiencing widespread bodily effects would decrease. If government officials lowered the minimum drinking age to a lower age rather than raising it, teenagers would be more likely to drink alcohol at a young age and develop these widespread effects on the body. In "Calculating Lives Saved by Minimum Drinking Age Laws," Kindleberger explains when states lowered the drinking age: Between 1970 and 1975, 29 states lowered their drinking ages by consumptionof alcohol at 18, 19 or 20 years old. By 1983, security concerns had led many of these states to backtrack. In 1984, the Uniform Legal Age Act reduced federal transportation funding to states that did not prohibit the "public purchase and possession" of alcohol by people under 21. All states eventually restored the legal age for purchasing and public possession of alcohol to 21. Under Fifty Twenty-nine states ago the legal drinking age was lowered from 21 to 18, 19, or 20. This law did not last long after accident rates on highways increased and the widespread effects of alcohol on adolescent bodies increased. Eventually, states reinstated the law setting the age of 21 for consumption of any form of alcohol. As there have been fewer accidents since the legal drinking age was raised to 21, the number could become even lower by raising the minimum drinking age to 25. The second reason government officials should raise the minimum drinking age is the effect of alcohol on adolescents. Kindleberger states: "Each year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) publishes an estimate of lives saved by such bans, more generically called the minimum legal drinking age. of alcohol” (MLDA)”. This quote explains that alcohol bans have saved many young lives since the legal drinking age law is twenty-one. Some argue for lowering the drinking age, but the results of previous drinking age experience do not support this argument. If states lowered the drinking age to eighteen, teenagers would tend to drink excessively because they are not making wise choices at a young age, leading to many harmful effects. Isaac Cooper says: “In recent years, researchers have lost light on the age at which young adults reach physical maturity – and it's not 18. It's not 21 either. A few studies on the effects of alcohol or drugs on adolescents and young adults have found that physical maturity, particularly that of the brain and nervous system, has no effect. will not occur until a person reaches 25 years of age.” A person's brain and nervous system do not fully develop until the age of twenty-five. This means that their maturity level is not fully developed by the age of 21, leading them to make poor drinking decisions due to the low minimum age law. Besides destroying both the body and relationships, there is a third reason why government officials should raise the minimum age for drinking alcohol. is because of the dangers associated with drinking and driving. There are many victims of alcohol-related car accidents, including drivers, passengers, and those who are struck by the person driving under the influence. Every year, families face the death of a loved one due to the effects of alcohol on the ability to drive. An anonymous author under the pseudonym Buddy T states: "Although traffic deaths are lower than they were at the turn of the century, alcohol-related crashes kill about 10,000 people a year in the United States. -United, alcohol being a factor in one of the cases. three deaths due to motor vehicles.” Every year, ten thousand people lose their lives because a drinker was driving under the influence. The effects of alcohol impair a person's driving abilities...