Lowering the drinking age to 18 has been a topic of controversy for many years. There are reasonable arguments, however, that support both keeping the drinking age at 21 and changing it to 18.
It is critical to note that the human brain is not fully developed until age 25; therefore, lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 is absurd because people in this age group do not fully understand the long-term effects of alcohol consumption.
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According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, people who have been drinking large amounts of alcohol for long periods of time run the risk of developing serious and persistent changes in the brain, and starting during the teenage years is certainly an early beginning to a horrible habit.
Dr. Mary-Louise Risher, of Duke University, spoke of some of the long-term effects of alcohol consumption during teen years. She said, "It's important for young people to know that when they drink heavily during this period of development, there could be changes occurring that have a lasting impact on memory and other cognitive functions."
According to the Daily Mail, binge-drinking as a teenager causes long-lasting changes to the regions of the brain that control learning and memory. Other studies show that exposure to alcohol during adolescence before full brain development can cause abnormalities in human behavior, such as slowing down emotional maturity.
The damage that is done to the brain during this delicate time of development is irreparable, which further proves the point that teenagers should wait until they are at least 21 to drink, which is still a generous age to begin drinking due to the delicate nature of the brain.
By consuming alcohol during teen years, the body is ultimately at risk for not developing and maturing properly, which is reason in itself to not lower the drinking age.
In addition to causing damage to the brain, drinking to excess does severe damage to the liver, such as damaging cells. According to the American Liver Foundation, a person can experience this damage if more alcohol is consumed than the liver can process.
Many people are not aware that the liver can only process up to one unit of alcohol per hour. By exceeding this limit, the amount of alcohol in the blood can stop the body from functioning properly.
Another valid argument against lowering the drinking age is the maturity level of 18-year-olds. It is a fact that a human does not reach full maturity until approximately age 25, so an 18-year-old is not quite mature enough to understand the risks of drinking or handle a state of intoxication.
By lowering the drinking age to 18, teenagers will be at risk for long-term health issues. If society agrees to make this change, we have failed our country’s youth and given them the green light to poison their bodies.
