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Should the drinking age be 18? Should the drinking age be 18?
Yes, the drinking age should be 18. Yes, the drinking age should be 18.
No, the drinking age should be 21. No, the drinking age should be 21.
The ideal drinking age depends on the jurisdiction. The ideal drinking age depends on the jurisdiction.
There should be no drinking age. There should be no drinking age.
Adults should have the right to decide to drink Adults should have the right to decide to drink
18 is the safest minimum age for drinking 18 is the safest minimum age for drinking
A minimum age of 18 normalizes responsible drinking A minimum age of 18 normalizes responsible drinking
Drinking alcohol is medically risky Drinking alcohol is medically risky
Younger people are too immature to drink Younger people are too immature to drink
A higher drinking age reduces drunk driving A higher drinking age reduces drunk driving
Cultural and religious beliefs vary widely about drinking Cultural and religious beliefs vary widely about drinking
Historically, there were no drinking age laws Historically, there were no drinking age laws
Young people drink regardless of the drinking age Young people drink regardless of the drinking age
Underage drinking is not a priority for law enforcement Underage drinking is not a priority for law enforcement
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Should the drinking age be 18?
Back to question

There should be no drinking age.

< (4 of 4)

Underage drinking is not a priority for law enforcement

Law enforcement agencies have better things to do than spend their time and resources handling underage drinkers.
Mark Wolfson James Toomey
< (3 of 3)

The Argument

Police generally have little interest in underage drinking because it is a low-impact crime that would be too demanding on time and resources to pursue aggressively. The prevalence of underage drinking has no significant statistical association with rates of suicide or criminal activity by young adults, and the legal penalties for underage drinking are usually minimal. Consequently, police officers lack both the motive and the means to make combating underage drinking a priority. In the United States, only an estimated 0.2% of incidents of underage drinking result in an arrest.

Counter arguments

Proponents

Premises

[P1] Prosecuting underage drinkers is not high priority for law enforcement. [P2] There is no need for a drinking age.

Rejecting the premises

References

This page was last edited on Friday, 7 Feb 2020 at 18:15 UTC

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