Drinking Age should not be Lowered to 18

Drinking Age should not be lowered to 18

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring some relevant facts and figures relating to legal drinking age in United States. Legal drinking age can be defined as a minimum age at which the person is allowed to consume alcohol, or other drinks including alcohol. In United States, the minimum age is 21 years, but in this country there is a longstanding controversy, as young people of 18 can join the army and fight in a war but cannot drink alcohol, similarly there is another controversy that if an eighteen year old person can cast a vote, then why isn't he or she has the freedom to drink (Watkins, 2012). In this paper, the author will conduct an in depth analysis on the debate of lowering drinking age to 18.

Discussion

Before debating on the issue of lowering drinking age to 18, let us first evaluate some important factors associated with consuming alcohol. Alcohol, also known as ethyl alcohol (the same that we find in the fuel for fondue) is the result of chemical reactions of yeast on a starch or sugar. Alcohol does not really have any nutrient apart from sugar. These drinks are not digested like food, but they are absorbed between 90 and 95% in less than an hour from the intestines and stomach. The remainder is eliminated through the skin (perspiration), kidneys and lungs. Any beverage that contains ethanol is considered an alcoholic beverage. The drinks covered by this group are many, some of them are: wines, beers, liquors, brandies, whiskeys, among others. Eating a small amount of alcohol does not harm people, however, is not advised to start in the habit of drinking such beverages (Watkins, 2012).

The negative consequences of alcohol consumption are many and range from depression and lack of coordination, poor absorption of nutrients to cirrhosis, heart problems and problems in other parts of the body. Following are some of the drawbacks of consuming alcohol (Korsmeyer, 2009):

Irritability

Aggressiveness

Mood swing

Unusual behavior

Extravagance

Physical and psychological dependence

Liver problems (liver), cirrhosis, jaundice (jaundice), hepatitis

Cancers

Cardiovascular disease

Hypertension

Dementia

Poisoning

Interactions with many drugs such as antidepressants

Weight gain

Frequent alcohol consumption has no health benefits for the teenager, on the contrary - the consequences of frequent consumption of health are reflected in different ways. Alcohol abuse increases the risk of developing diabetes, cirrhosis, hypertension, may even lead to stroke. Excessive alcohol consumption affects cognitive dysfunction, and contributes to the formation of multiple injuries (Kiesbyem, 2008).

Alcohol abuse can also increase the risk of various varieties of cancer, such as cancer of the mouth, larynx, esophagus, breast and liver cancer, gastrointestinal, and colorectal cancer. Long-term alcohol abuse can even lead to changes in the brain. The brain can be reduced, decreasing the brain cells. Changes in the brain caused by alcohol abuse causes a decrease in mental ability, learning difficulties, memory problems. This is not all, as a result of changes to overall well-being, there are problems with sleep and ...