Opinion  

Drinking - It’s at 21 for a Reason 

 

Sumnima Rai 

Social Sciences, Ideology, Popular Culture 

 
What do you do when you are messaged at 1 in the morning and told that your daughter passed out from alcohol
overdose?

Aho Ackles, mother of fifteen-year-old Ryleigh Ackles was told that she would be going to a sleepover. At one
in the morning, Aho received a message saying that Ryleigh had passed out from alcohol poisoning.

Ryleigh was taken to the hospital, unresponsive for 14 hours after passing out. She was later found with a BAC
level of .28 from drinking six rounds of Ciroc vodka.

“Everybody thinks this would never happen to my child. Ryleigh's a good girl," her mother said. However, this
just shows how much of a problem underage drinking has become.

There are already so many incidents involving alcohol intoxication, and when many argue to lower the legal
drinking age, they don’t think about the dangers and consequences that are carried along with it.

 
 
 

By lowering the drinking age, more people at the ages of 18 to 21 are susceptible to illicit drugs, found by a
study from the Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs that had proven the correlation between a drinker’s age
and their participation in illegal drugs.

"Underage drinking can lead to injuries, fatal car accidents, risky sexual behavior, and there's also a potential
risk to the developing brain," says Dr. Vivian Faden, director of the Office of Science Policy and
Communications at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Faden couldn’t be any more right. According to the MADD, in 2010, the highest drunk driving rates were found
amongst ages 21-25 (23.4%) and 18-20 (15.1%) while rates of older drivers were much less. If the MLDA was
lowered, drunk driving rates for younger drivers could spike up.

Yet, many still argue that the MLDA should be dropped down to 18 as that’s the age of adulthood in the U.S.

Dr. Westley Clark, director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center states,
"statistics show children who start drinking at a younger age have more problems later on. We also know that,
particularly for males under 21, they are still developing what we call 'executive function' - meaning, how they
make decisions and how they deal with risk. At 21, the brain is simply more mature and the ability to control
impulses is much stronger."

And this makes complete sense, as many rights in the U.S. are for citizens of 21 or older, such as legally
purchasing a handgun, gambling in a casino or adopting a child. Neither can they rent a car until 25 or run for
President until age 35, due to the responsibility required as well as the mentality needed; so, why should
drinking be any different?

So, if this drinking age keeps adolescents unaffected by alcohol uses and creates a safer environment in general,
what’s the point of lowering the drinking age?

 
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