Drinking Age Lowered!

Emily king

Pr. 1

Drinking age lowered!

How old were you when you had your first drink of alcohol? Most people have their first drink of alcohol when they are under the age of eighteen. So why wait? At the age of eighteen you're allowed to smoke, serve for your country, you can vote, and so much more. It seems like you can do pretty much anything you put your mind to, but the one thing you can't do is buy or consume alcohol. If your old enough to take on so much responsibilities then you should be old enough to drink. What makes drinking so much different from everything else?

I remember being sixteen and couldn't wait to be able to vote and just being able to say "yup I can now vote". As I got older I really started thinking voting is much bigger then what it seems like. It looks really easy but the truth is it's really not. You have to research the person that is running for office, or you have to look into the topic that is being voted upon. When your eighteen you can serve for your country that is a huge responsibility. Every move could be your last. You go through endless training, being scarred for life. Those are two big life decisions. You have to be very responsible and have a good head on your shoulder in order to make the right chose. If you are able to do this why can't you be smart enough to drink? Drinking and voting/serving for your country isn't that much different, you have to put time in and time out to make a decision about who or what your voting upon and serving for your country you are going through a lot more than the average person does. Drinking involves knowing not to drink and drive or when you have had enough.

There are many health benefits from drinking good and bad. On the basis of its extensive review of research, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reported that moderate drinkers have the greatest longevity. It also found that moderate drinking is beneficial to heart health, resulting in a sharp decrease in heart disease risk (40%-60%). (Highlights of the NIAAA position paper on moderate alcohol consumption. Press release from the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, June 14, 2004.) There is also a down side of the drinking and health problems. When consumed to much alcohol at once there is a chance that you can get alcohol poisoning and it may kill you if you don't catch it in time.