Drinking Age to 18

Remember when you were 18, finally becoming the adult that your parents expected you to be. Remember the good times with friends, staying out late, having a few drinks now and then. Wasn't it great?

Now, as an adult, you have children of your own. They're growing up to be like you; staying out late with friends and having the best time of their lives. But they're not having as much fun as you used to because they're too young to drink alcohol. Think about this, boys at the age of 18 are being registered for the draft right after they graduate high school or even before they graduate. If boys are being drafted, why not have the drinking age at 18?

In 2005, underage drinkers consumed 15 percent of all alcohol sold in the United States, totaling $19.8 billion in sales and providing profits of $3.6 billion to the alcohol industry. Underage drinking has cost the United States $60.3 billion due to medical care and loss of work. The U.S. had to pay $21.1 billion each year or $2,094 per year for each youth in the nation. Now, state laws have made it illegal to purchase alcohol under the age of 21, which has led to a 11.2 percent drop in alcohol-fueled traffic accident deaths among youth.

Adults that drink have a tendency to smoke while drinking but haven't you noticed that smoking is actually worse than drinking? More alcoholics die from tobacco related illness than die from alcohol related problems.

People who drink and smoke are at higher risks of certain types of cancer, mostly mouth and throat. Cancer in the mouth and throat for men is a higher percent than women (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism).

My mom smokes but she only has a few drinks once in awhile. She says, "Having a drink once in awhile is ok but never, ever smoke. The drinking age was 18 when I was 18. The way someone handles alcohol and is responsible is up to the person, no matter what one's age is. If at 18 we can go to war and fight for our country, then when you're 18 you should be able to drink."

When a teen turns 18, he/she is reaching adulthood and should have the right to make their own decisions about alcohol. If we do drink responsibly, would adults regret what they're saying about teens and alcohol?

Parents are mostly worried about their daughters and sons doing something stupid, like being killed or not drinking responsibly. Some parents care that their teen drinks and sometimes it's under their supervision. Then there are parents that don't care and trust that their children won't do anything stupid.

Being 18 and you're allowed to drink, people worry that high schoolers would be buying alcohol for children that are younger than them but if they are responsible drinkers than they wouldn't be giving alcohol to younger teens.

If the age does change at some point, then teens would be responsible for what they decide to do. I can understand that they might give alcohol to people who may be younger than 18 but the person that has alcohol should be using his/her brain to not give them alcohol.

I think that at 18 if we can go to war and fight for our country then we should be able to drink. Teaching young adults to drink responsibly before they turn 21 would enhance public health. So, give us teens a chance to show you that we are responsible.