MLDA

Legal Drinking Age in the U.S.

Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) legislation aims to reduce alcohol use among those under 21, to prevent traffic deaths, and to avoid other negative outcomes. The minimum drinking age is a controversial issue in the United States today, and many recent efforts have aimed to reduce or qualify the minimum legal age at which drinking may occur. If these attempts are successful, the minimum drinking age would be lowered and the effects would be disastrous. Alcohol consumption poses many dangers to young people, including increases in accidents, fatalities and alcohol abuse problems. Therefore, this paper presents an argument in favor of keeping the MLDA at 21.

Proponents of lowering the drinking age argue that young people under the age of 21 tend to drink in a more abuse manner than do those of legal age, as alcohol is seen as a "forbidden fruit."...
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