Minus Related Pages. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Washington, DC. Alcohol use by youth and adolescents: a pediatric concern External external icon. DeJong W, Blanchette J. Case closed: research evidence on the positive public health impact of the age 21 minimum legal drinking age in the United States External external icon. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Recommendations to reduce injuries to motor vehicle occupants: increasing child safety seat use, increasing safety belt use, and reducing alcohol-impaired driving Cdc-pdf External pdf icon external icon [PDF KB].
Am J Prev Med. Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility. Drunk Driving Fatalities. Arlington, Va. Vital Signs. Teen Drinking and Driving.
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I Accept Show Purposes. Was this page helpful? And yet this higher drinking age has not put us ahead of other developed countries in any measurable way. The US actually has worse traffic accident statistics than similar countries that set their drinking age at According to the World Health Organization, other high-income countries have a traffic fatality rate of 8.
In much of the US, the top law enforcement priority is stopping underage drinking. In Europe, the top law enforcement priority is catching speeders and drunk drivers on the roads: the ones who actively pose a threat. The US also has a higher prevalence of alcohol-related problems such as alcohol-use disorders, alcohol dependence, and harmful use of alcohol than many European countries—all of which have lower drinking ages and higher rates of alcohol consumption.
Clearly, the highest drinking age in the world does not have the dramatic benefits our society pretends it does. It is strange for a country that values individual liberty to be such an outlier, and yet to have so little to show for it. As a drug, alcohol is relatively safe for humans, compared to many newer prescription drugs that we routinely give to children. The effects of alcohol on the human body are well-known, with records reaching back thousands of years. However, the effects of newer prescription drugs such as Ritalin, antidepressants and cough medicines are typically either not fully known, or known to be just as bad as those of moderate amounts of alcohol, or worse.
The body also eliminates alcohol very quickly, at a rate of 1 standard drink per hour. Meanwhile, a standard dose of these newer drugs can have effects that last for hours or even days. Many newer drugs, such as antidepressants, have to be taken constantly, which makes them more habit-forming, and can cause withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking them. There is no medical reason why alcohol should be an over-the-counter drug for people over 21, but illegal for people younger than that.
All over-the-counter medications define an adult dose for ages 12 and up, not The simplest way to prove this is to look in your medicine cabinet. If the FDA recommends the same dose of Tylenol, Sudafed, or Zantac for an year-old as it does for a year-old, why do we have a law that suggests that only when people reach 21 are they physically capable of handling alcohol?
It is clearly not based on biology. Older adults are much more vulnerable. This could be evidence that young drinkers are in some ways less vulnerable to the risks of alcohol than older drinkers see Reason Young people are also unfairly singled out for drunk driving. Many more have licenses, but either choose not to drive or do not have opportunities to drive. This means that the drunk driving argument for the drinking age does not even apply to at least a quarter of the population.
Although teenagers drink their fair share of alcohol, they suffer disproportionately few deaths from alcohol poisoning. Although many factors likely have a hand in this, the simplest explanation is that young people are more physically resistant to large amounts of alcohol. This explanation is supported by research showing that tolerance tends to decrease with age. On top of this, even the psychological reasons why young people get drunk may be healthier than the reasons many older people get drunk.
People of all ages drink to fit in, to cope with anxiety, or to escape. However, young people have one motivation that few older people have: curiosity. But there is nothing wrong with curiosity or thrill seeking—especially compared to other motivations for getting drunk, such as low self-esteem. Middle-aged adults are in some ways uniquely vulnerable to the dangers of alcohol. For example, they are often adjusting to new forms of pressure in their careers, their families, or their health.
On top of these new risk factors, alcohol can no longer be an object of curiosity or experimentation for most middle-aged people.
Too often, alcohol has become familiar, routine, like a boring job or a loveless marriage. Sign in. Forgot your password? Create an account. Sign up. Password recovery. Recover your password. Friday, November 12, Powered by. Get help. Lower drinking age could mean safer consumption. By Kynslie Otte.
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