As a nation, we have tried prohibition legislation twice in the past for controlling irresponsible drinking problems. This was during National Prohibition in the 1920’s and state prohibition during the 1850’s. These laws however, were found to be unenforceable and caused other social problems. Today, we are repeating history and making the same mistakes that occurred in the past. Prohibition did not work then, and prohibition for people under the age of 21 is not working now. The solution is to lower the drinking age to 18.
Historically, the drinking age was lowered to 18 during the Vietnam War, when the drunk driving rate increased. Instead of attacking drunk driving overall, we set up laws that targeted a demographic group, by raising the drinking age to 21. Research has shown a continuous decrease in drinking and driving, however this is the result of many factors: education concerning drunk driving, designated driver programs, increased seat belt and air bag usage,......
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Approximate Word Count: 511
Approximate Pages: 2 (260 words per double-spaced page) |