should the drinking age be lowered to 18 years old?

With the intent of reducing the rates of alcoholism and drunk driving among young people, the minimum drinking age was raised from 18 to 21 in the United States in the 1980s. Since then, some researchers have studied the effects of the Age-21 law, and have uncovered several reasons to lower the minimum drinking age back to 18.

The most basic argument in favor of lowering the drinking age to 18 is that 18 is the accepted and legal age of adulthood in the United States. An 18-year-old is afforded, among other things, ...