Mike police conducted raids of 5-10 differentestablishments

Mike police conducted raids of 5-10 differentestablishments

Mike BilyeuIn the United States, the legal drinking age for all 50 States and theDistrict of Columbia is 21 years of age. The drinking age is 21 because thepowers that control our government decided that when one becomes 21, one ismagically transformed into a responsible person capable of handling the burdenthat comes with the right to consume alcohol. The drinking age is too high inthis country. Why enact laws to prohibit an act that will be ignored by many ofour peers?The opposition may say that the higher drinking age discourage teenagersand young adults from consuming alcohol.

They say the laws that force merchantsto refuse to sell alcohol to persons under 21 years of age will help stem the”problem” of underage consumption. They believe this will make it virtuallyimpossible for people under 21 to obtain alcohol. The opposition also believesthat the laws against underage consumption of alcoholic beverages will dissuadeyoung people from drinking alcohol.The laws that prohibit merchants from selling alcohol to persons under21 are hard to enforce. Even if they are enforced by the authorities, theestablishment that breaks that law is rarely punished severely. For example, inBelmont County in Ohio, the police conducted raids of 5-10 differentestablishments in 1993 that had liquor licenses and reportedly to sell alcoholicbeverages to minors.

It was proven that each business in question had indeedbeen guilty of the charges. What would one suspect happen to the business?Wouldn’t one expect for them to lose their liquor license? On the contrary,these businesses were given probation without so much as a fine.Also, even if the person under 21 cannot go buy the alcohol himselfbecause he is refused by a merchant, he can find an adult and give them themoney needed to purchase the alcohol and have them purchase it for them.

Thisis especially active around college campuses, where it seems to be an acceptedpractice for seniors, who are generally over 21, to go and purchase the alcoholfor the underage drinker. If a person did not want to go through the hassle ofasking an older person, they could go someone skilled in the art of making fakeID’s. This is a burgeoning business among the different campuses I visited.Spending two weeks at Ohio State, one had the offer of three different authenticlooking Ohio driver’s licenses. So, as one can see it is quite easy for anunderage drinker to obtain alcohol.One may think that the penalties for underage drinking would be severewhile in fact they are quite light unless one is unfortunate enough to bearrested for DUI. The penalty for being convicted of underage consumption isgenerally a slap on the wrist for offenders.

They usually are required to paycourt costs and attend an alcohol rehabilitation counseling session.Finally, why can other countries condone the act of consuming alcohol asa young person when it is such an “immoral” act in the United States? In manyother countries it is a widely accepted practice to drink a glass of wine orother alcoholic beverage with their meal. In this way, they learn moderation.If people in the United States learned moderation at a young age, then theywould be less apt to binge drink (drink just to become drunk).

This wouldresult in far fewer deaths from alcohol related causes since more people wouldknow how to imbibe without excess.Obviously then the law is not working. Why keep a law that cannot beenforced? If the repercussions from the act of breaking the law are few andlight, Why retain the law at all? The legal drinking age in the United Statesmust be lowered now. If young people in other countries can handle theresponsibility of drinking, why can’t it be the same for our country? Category: Social Issues