Debate Tournament: Affirmative Case Should the drinking age be lowered to 18

years old
1A
Introduction:
I am 20 years old. I can fight for my country in war; die in the name of liberty; but, I
cannot legally drink alcohol. Why? Because the Federal Government in conjunction with
certain lobbying groups has arbitrarily decided what is best for me and the rest of the
young adult population who has not yet reached the age of 21. Today we argue that the
current drinking age has proven to be ineffective and detrimental and should be lowered
to 18.
1. The current drinking age has driven drinking into dangerous settings with dangerous
drinking habits, not lowered underage drinking.
According S. Georgia Nugent in the New York Times, published February 10, 2015:
When it is legal for an 18-year-old to drive, marry or serve in the military but illegal for
him or her to drink a beer, the illogic of the situation is patent. As a result, the
overwhelming response of young people has been, not compliance, but contempt for the
law. By outlawing moderate use of alcohol in appropriate social contexts and with adult
oversight, we have driven more drinking underground, where it has taken the very
dangerous form of pre-gaming. The under-age drinker, no longer permitted the
occasional beer during a dance party, is now more likely to chug high-octane alcohol in
dangerous quantities before heading off to that party. As a result, alcohol use has
become more, not less, dangerous.
Something that is common amongst underage drinking before going to a party, is preloading, or pre-gaming. This happens because those who are underage want to drink as
much as they can, so they do not have to carry any alcohol in public in fear of getting
caught. This causes underage drinking to be consumed at a fast pace, and also causes
the underage drinkers to engage themselves in settings where they can hide from law
enforcement, thus resulting drinking to dangerous settings.

2. Prohibition for those under 21 has not worked in the past, does not work in the
present, and will not work in the future.

According to Dr. Ruth Clifford in the Vermont Quarterly, published in the winter of 1999:
Although the legal purchase age is twenty-one years, a majority of college students
under this age consume alcohol certainly not a surprise to anyone. When they have
the opportunity to drink, they do so in an irresponsible manner because drinking by
these youth is seen as an enticing forbidden fruit, a badge of rebellion against
authority and a symbol of adulthood. As a nation we have tried prohibition legislation
twice in the past for controlling irresponsible drinking problems, during National
Prohibition in the 1920s and state prohibition during the 1850s. Because they were
unenforceable and because the backlash towards them caused other social problems,
these laws were finally repealed. Prohibition did not work then and prohibition for young
people under the age of twenty-one is not working now. The flaunting of the current laws
is readily seen among our nations university students. For example, 22% of all students
under twenty-one compared to 18% over twenty-one years of age are heavy drinkers.
Among drinkers only, 32% of under age compared to 24% of legal age are heavy
drinkers.
As represented in the data, banning alcohol has never been a good solution. The fact
that alcohol is something 18 year olds cannot partake in legally, it becomes more
attractive for them to try. When they try alcohol without any moderated experience with
the influences of this depressant, the consumption and behaviors can become risky, and
dangerous. Therefore, telling them no they cannot partake in this, only makes them want
to partake in it more, and this causes more negative affects.
3. 18 year olds are considered adults in the legal system, accepting the consequences
of their actions, yet are not allowed to drink alcohol.
According to Joe Carr in the Colorado Daily, published May 10th, 2009:
The legal consequences of underage drinking defy logic. Eighteen-year-olds are
considered adult enough to make decisions that have consequences that last the rest of
their lives but not adult enough to drink a beer. Yet a citation for underage drinking
goes on a persons adult, not juvenile, record. Despite establishing 21 as the magic
drinking age, underage drinking occurs. This law is not only unfair, its flat-out
dangerous.
The consequences for 18 year olds when getting caught with alcohol consumption is
unfair to the terms of what they are held to as an 18 year old, which is an adult. They are
treated as adolescents by telling them cannot drink, but if they are caught with alcohol
they are treated with the consequences of being identified as an adult. If they are going
to have to face the consequences of an adult, they should be allowed to drink legally as
well.