18 vs. 21

I just turned 21 a few months ago and I will admit that it was not my first time drinking, but I was more than excited for that day.  Being able to legally drink is a big relief and opens so many doors for fun like getting in at bars, clubs, drinking at concerts and sports games, and of course Vegas.  Las Vegas is all about the party scene and if you aren’t 21 yet, then you won’t have much fun in Sin City.  I went to Vegas for my 21^st birthday because that is the place to be to have an amazing time in a city that is a 24/7 celebration, and it was well worth the 21 year wait.

Now that I’m 21 I’ve started to realize why this age is the legal drinking age.  Before I turned 21 I thought it was ridiculous that the drinking age wasn’t 18.  The US is one of the few countries with the drinking age of 21.  I thought, why can’t we be 18 and drink when every country in Europe can?  A lot of those countries have an even lower drinking age or none at all. 

(lawblog,legalmatch.com)

There are always going to be pros and cons to every argument and the legal age to drink in the United States is no exception.  There are some people who argue that 18 year olds are illegally drinking already and since they can’t drink in public where it is safer then they are forced to drink at college parties where it can be very dangerous.  Those in favor of changing the age to 18 also argue that teens are appealed to drinking because it is against the law and rebellious to do.  If the drinking age were lower, then teens would be less likely to drink irresponsibly and be safer.  The other side of the coin is to leave the drinking age at 21 because 18 year olds are immature and cannot handle the responsibility of drinking.  Research also suggests that there are less car crashes due to drunk driving when the legal age is 21, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. 

No matter what the argument, though, legislature will not budge any time soon on this country’s drinking age.  They want the support of voters and don’t want uproar when they support teen drinking.  Teenagers are going to drink no matter what the legal age and they will have to continue waiting until they are 21, so they can enjoy the exciting experiences that being legal has to offer, like going to Vegas.