What are the arguments against the 21 year-old drinking age?
• Any benefits of the 21 year-old drinking age have come to be more than offset by unintended and largely negative consequences. • The 21 year-old drinking age is an abridgement of the age of majority. • The 21 year-old drinking age marginalizes the role of parents in the process of teaching and encouraging responsible decisions about alcohol use. • Under the 21 year-old drinking age, fewer young people are drinking, but those who do choose to are drinking more. This alarming rise in the rates of binge drinking on campuses and in communities around the nation has caused a major, national public health problem. • The 21 year-old drinking age breeds disrespect for law and ethical compromises. Back to top What are the short- and long-term term effects of alcohol consumption? The immediate effects of alcohol include: depression of the central nervous system (i.e., heart and respiratory rates); decrease in motor skill control; decrease of recall and retrieval memory; decrease in inhibition;
