- Question
Should the drinking age be 18?
The risks associated with drinking have led most countries to set a minimum legal age for the purchase or consumption of alcohol, but the specific drinking age varies from place to place. The most common drinking age around the world is 18, but the United States has a minimum legal drinking age of 21, and ages from 15 to 25 are used in other nations. Is 18 the ideal standard, or should the drinking age be 21? Should there be a minimum legal drinking age at all?
Yes, the drinking age should be 18.
Many legal, social, and cultural rights and responsibilities come into effect when a person turns 18, and it is in everyone's best interest that personal choices about drinking be a part of that transition into adulthood.
No, the drinking age should be 21.
Young adults are more vulnerable to the detrimental effects of alcohol and less equipped to make responsible choices about drinking. A higher drinking age prohibits people from drinking until they are mature enough to handle it.
The ideal drinking age depends on the jurisdiction.
This position holds that there is no single ideal drinking age, because it depends on the jurisdiction. It argues that different cultures, religions and societies hold widely divergent views on alcohol, so the appropriate minimum age is best set locally rather than by a universal standard.
There should be no drinking age.
This position holds that there should be no minimum drinking age at all. It argues that such laws do little to prevent underage drinking — police rarely prioritise it, young people drink regardless — and that minimum-age laws are a relatively recent invention many societies have done without.