Should the drinking age be lowered in the U.S ? This is a question that seems to be asked by many people, yet nobody is willing to press the issue. There were times when the drinking age was only 18 in some states around the U.S.. However, currently in the U.S. and for the past decades the drinking age has been stuck at 21. Now first of all lets look at that age and really think about what makes the age of 21 so significant. What is so different about a 20 year old or a 21 year old ? and why choose such an odd number as 21 ? The truth is unlike some ages or periods in a young persons life, turning 21 brings nothing new other than of course being able to drink. There really is no difference between a 20 year old or a 22 year old like you might see in someone who is 16-17 compared to 18.

    At the age of 18 in the U.S. you become an adult. You gain access to your own freedom in every way shape and form except  drinking of course. You can quit school, you can buy porn and cigarettes, you can get a tattoo without consent, and you can join the Military and die for your country, but you can't drink alcohol. The message this sends me is that 18 year olds are mature enough to give their lives to their country and fight on the front lines, but neither smart enough nor mature enough to drink. That simply doesn't make sense to me, and I think a lot of people share these same feelings.

    I guess a question I would ask is what significant threat does a drunk 18 year old pose to society that a drunk 21 year old does not ? If you can find one than please share it with me. In fact, you would think that lowering the age might even save lives. Having talked with students from other countries that have lower drinking ages, most of them said that drinking was much less of a big deal in their countries. They also went on to say that they didn't even drink so much to get drunk but rather in a more mature manner to socialize and just have a good time. If the drinking age was lowered to 18 I think you would see a decrease in drunk driving as well. When people aren't forced to have their parties out in the middle of nowhere and aren't forced to run from the cops every time they raid the parties than they have a lot less reason to jump into a car and drive. Likewise, drinking would be less of a big deal when entering college which would lead to less accidents and fatalities from college students who let loose and go wild when they finally reach that stage of freedom.

    I think if you look at the facts, having a drinking age of 21 is too high and makes little or no sense at all. If the government still wants to regulate the drinking age a little bit, than maybe doing something like making beer and wine legal at 18 and hard liquor legal at 21 would make sense. Other countries use a system like that successfully. Either way, if you can fight in a war than you should certainly be mature enough to drink a beer.