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The document argues that the US should lower its legal drinking age from 21 to 18 to match most European countries. It presents four main arguments: 1) 18-year-olds are considered legal adults and can engage in adult activities like military service, so they should be allowed to drink; 2) Lowering the age could decrease unsafe underage drinking by reducing the forbidden appeal of alcohol; 3) It would benefit the economy as underage drinkers' purchases would become legal and taxed; 4) The current law fosters disrespect for law as underage drinking is widely disobeyed and rarely punished.

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66 views

Brief 1

The document argues that the US should lower its legal drinking age from 21 to 18 to match most European countries. It presents four main arguments: 1) 18-year-olds are considered legal adults and can engage in adult activities like military service, so they should be allowed to drink; 2) Lowering the age could decrease unsafe underage drinking by reducing the forbidden appeal of alcohol; 3) It would benefit the economy as underage drinkers' purchases would become legal and taxed; 4) The current law fosters disrespect for law as underage drinking is widely disobeyed and rarely punished.

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Ben Capobianco

Communication 252
Professor Sietman
Brief 1
CPO 576
Resolved: In the pattern of European countries, the US should adopt a
lower drinking age.
Background
Currently, the drinking age in the United States is 21 years of age,
whereas, European countries almost exclusively have a minimum legal
drinking age of 18. One big reason that advocates of the higher MLDA
in the US cite is traffic deaths related to drinking and driving. However,
currently, 21-24 year olds have the highest percentage of traffic deaths
related to drinking. The death toll does not relate to age, it relates
strictly to driving as a newly legal drinker. Furthermore, despite the
increase in MLDA in 1984, the traffic accidents related to drinking
decreased less in the US than they did in Europe, which maintained the
18 MLDA (Daniloff).
Another important thing to understand about the status quo is that
underage drinking accounts for 17.5% of the consumer spending for
alcohol in the U.S.
In accordance with the fact that over 72% of twelth graders admitted
to underage alcohol consumption, and estimated 2 of every one
thousand occasions of illegal alcohol consumption result in arrest.
(Friese & Grube)
Furthermore, The Uniform Drinking Act compelled states to set the legal drinking age
at 21 by withholding ten percent of highway funding from states that kept the minimum
legal drinking age at 18. It is inherently coercive by the Federal Governemnt.
Argument 1: 18 year olds are considered adults by law, therefore they should be
allowed to drink.
A. 18 year old individuals are allowed to join the military and die for their country
B. 18 year olds are allowed to purchase and smoke cigarettes and other tobacco
based products .
a. Smoking is a major cause of lung cancer deaths around the world.
C. 18 year olds can, and are in fact, expected to serve on juries, participating in
important decisions of peoples lives.
D. It is hypocritical of the United States to allow, and even require 18 year olds to act
as adults in these ways, yet not allow them to drink alcohol.

Argument 2: Allowing 18-20 year olds to drink would decrease unsafe and
dangerous activities related to drinking.
A. 18 to 20 year olds view alcohol as a forbidden fruit
a. because they cant have it, they want it more.
b. Alcohol is stigmatized and mysticized in the US. People go binge
drinking, and abuse the substance irresponsibly because it was such a
taboo that they are finally allowed to have (Frantz)
c. Currently, 18-20 year olds are getting alcohol illegally, which is an
inherently dangerous activity in and of itself.
d. They are consuming it illegally, which is inherently dangerous
e. They are consuming it recklessly because it is such a taboo and they want
to take advantage of it when they can get it
f. Instead of drinking at parties and in dangerous allies, kids would be
drinking responsibly in established bars and restaurants.
B. According to a study, 22% of all students under 21 compared to 18% over 21
years of age are heavy drinkers. Among drinkers only, 32% of under age
compared to 24% of legal ager are heavy drinkers.
C. Since 1982, two years prior to the Uniform Drinking Age Act establishing an
MLDA of 21, a decline of drunk driving fatalities occurred across all age groups
and demographic categories, and therefore cannot be reliably attributed to MLDA
21.
D. In 2009, the 21- to 24-year-old age group had the highest percentage of drivers in
fatal crashes with blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) levels of .08 or higher 35
percent. Any increase in traffic accidents or fatalities in 18- to 20-year-olds would
be offset by a decrease for those 21 and older.

Argument 3: Reducing the minimum legal drinking age is good for the economy
A. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, underage
drinking accounts for 17.5% ($22.5 billion) of consumer spending for alcohol in
the United States. In 2006,
B. The entireties of these purchases are not taxed, and are essentially blackmarket.
C. Purchasing these products legally would increase tax revenue and infuse cash into
the economy
Argument 4: Disobedience of the law fosters disrespect for other areas of US law.
A. An estimated two of every 1,000 occasions of illegal drinking by youth under 21
results in an arrest. Police are inclined to ignore or under-enforce MLDA 21.
a. This trivializes law enforcement in the minds of the youth
b. This perpetuates disrespect for the law.
c. This encourages other illicit activities like the use of fake identifications

Works Cited
Daniloff, C. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/today/2010/drinking-18-vs-21/
Friese, B., & Grube, J. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.udetc.org/documents/YouthDrinkingRatesandProblems.pdf
Frantz, Jeff. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1077563832.html
Jernigan, D. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dcare/pdfs/Jernigan.pdf
Hughes, E. Drinking problems: Europe vs united states [Web log message]. Retrieved
from http://backyardsociologyfall2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/drinking-problemseurope-vs-united.html

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