About Lowering the Minimum Legal Drinking Age

Adolescents and the MLDA

Adolescents look forward to the day when they will be able to consume alcohol. Young people in certain countries can lawfully consume their first alcoholic beverage at the age of 18. In the United States, however, an individual must be 21 to lawfully purchase and consume any alcoholic beverage. Why the number 21? Has the minimum drinking limit been reduced in the past? What were the results? Is it true that teenage brains are affected by alcohol consumption? Is the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) regulation unsuccessful when there are so many underage drinkers? What are the dangers of underage drinking, and how can it be avoided? What are the various points of view on the topic of underage drinking? These are the issues I hope to answer in this article.

Reason for the Policy

The US Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was enacted to “protect young people from adverse drinking experiences such as heavy episodic drinking” or HED (Cheng and Anthony 2). Such policy was enacted to prevent young drinkers from getting into car accidents, drowning and other alcohol-related incidents. In 1933, the drinking age of 21 was enacted in most states. This was lowered to 18 in 1960-70s. Alcohol-related accidents increase tremendously in the mid-70s and car accidents involving persons aged 16-20 were alcohol-related. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “the youth who start drinking before age 15 years are six times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse later in life than those who begin drinking at or after age 21 years” (CDC). As Cheng and Anthony discover in their research, underage drinking is more likely to eventually grow into addiction (41). Young people who “postpone drinking onsets until the 21st birthday are at modestly excess HED risk, compared to peers who start consuming in their teens”, whereas same research has proved that “21st birthday drinking virgins consume too much alcohol as part of the ritual celebration of this transition into adult privileges” (Cheng and Anthony 46). Long-term consequences, in this case, such as growing addiction may not be as dangerous as short-terms such as drunken driving, homicides, suicides, rapes, and fatal intoxication.

Effect on the Brain

Studies on the effect of alcoholic substances have been carried out. One of these is by Marissa Silveri, Harvard Medical School. She noted that MRI imaging showed how fast brain development was in the emerging adulthood stages. At 21, the brain is in the process of completing its maturation process. Thus, its development is vulnerable to effects from foreign substances.

The period of “vulnerability of the brain” continues through the emerging adulthood years (18-22). The brain continues to develop its “cognitive processing and intellectual functioning” (Silveri 3). Full maturation takes place at age 22. Exposure to these effects can be detrimental (Silveri 4), lowering brain development and increasing the risk of developing AUD. The researcher explains that the younger the person drinks, the more tolerant he/she becomes to alcohol. Such case may result in more cravings which may eventually result in addiction.

Lack of Adult Supervision

The period of emerging vulnerability of the brain coincide with the college years of young adults. This is the time when attraction to alcohol is at its highest. There are school events, sorority parties, graduation dinners, after-school hang-outs become the perfect place to get involved in this illegal activity; they do so in private parties or sneak in alcohol to their dormitories and fraternity houses. Lack of adult supervision is the issue raised by parents who are for the lowering of the MLDA. When 18-year old adolescents drink alcohol during social gatherings, they do so under the watchful eye of their companions and school chaperones. In this way, an adult is able to regulate the intake considering the immediate effects of alcohol on the person. In this manner, the adolescents learn limitations and would take alcoholic beverages according to one’s capacity only. The current MLDA does not give the parents the opportunity to teach their children responsible drinking habits while these kids are still in the home.

Unsupervised drinking leads to disastrous events, such as rape in campuses. Although illegal drinking is still expected to take place in campuses, even if the MLDA is lowered, there is a possibility that incidents brought about by unsupervised drinking can be minimized. Teenagers can drink in a normal environment, where they would be supervised by their parents and the entire community to ensure responsible drinking (Tucker). Teenagers who become intoxicated are assured their support system is within reach. Parents or chaperones can also limit the amount of alcohol given to underage drinkers.

Conclusion

Alcohol consumption is one of the activities that adolescents anticipate when they come of age. In the US, the legal age for drinking alcohol is at 21, years after attaining legal rights to vote and drive, which does not raise conscious consumption. Underage drinking has strong effects. Aside from potential disastrous social consequences, alcohol consumption has also been proven to have lowering-development impact on the teenager brain.

There are advocates of lowering the MLDA to supervise the drinking of young adults and guide them to become responsible drinkers. Those who are against the lowering of the legal age for drinking points to the adverse effects of early drinking on the adolescents brain. As one of the steps to be considered in the further researches, I would recommend raising awareness on the outcomes of unconscious consumption which might be fulfilled through ‘quick pediatric consult’ by school counselors and ‘brief interventions’ by parents. The dangers of underage drinking are real; it destroys families and causes public health problems. It is a personal issue for every citizen, and only joint efforts are able to predict the undoable.

Works Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI). Atlanta, GA: CDC, 2016.

Cheng, Hui G. and James C. Anthony. “Does our legal minimum drinking age modulate risk of first heavy drinking episode soon after drinking onset? Epidemiological evidence for the United States, 2006-2014.” Peer J. (2016). Doi: 10.7717/peerj.2153

Silveri, Marissa M. “Adolescent Brain Development and Underage Drinking in the United States: Identifying Risks of Alcohol Use in College Populations.” Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 20(4), 2012:189-200.

Tucker, Jeffrey A., “The Drinking Age Should Be Lowered, Fast”. Newsweek. N.p., 2017. Web.

7 Apr. 2017.