Neil Hutson and Marcos Stoffel

The age of 18 is an age of responsibility. When a person reaches this age you acquire new privileges you weren’t able to have until then. Some of the things you can now do are legally gamble, smoke, purchase pornographic material, enter the military, and even vote for the next president. You can do basically anything you want except purchase or drink alcohol. Personally I think that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. People say that kids will go out of control if they are able to drink alcohol. To that I say, yes kids will, but at 18 you’re considered an adult you should be able to make your own choices. If you can go to a casino and end up broke, why can’t you purchase alcohol that will take a fraction of money out of your wallet that gambling would. In a sense gambling is almost more dangerous than drinking because a lot of lives are ruined when people gamble as well as when they consume alcohol. If you are responsible enough to go into a casino set a limit and walk out with some money in your pocket, who’s to say you won’t do the same when you consume alcohol.

Should the drinking age be changed to 18?  There are many things one can do once they turn 18.  One can vote, gamble, and go to war and die for their country; but one cannot order a beer at a bar.  I will focus on voting.  Once you turn 18 you can vote for the nation’s leader.  The nation trusts you to be responsible enough to make an educated and wise decision on who you think will do the best job of running the nation.  You can also vote for local elections and choose who you want to govern your state.  These decisions don’t only affect you; they affect everyone in your state and country.  However, when you
drink, if you’re as responsible as you are when you vote, it only affects you. If you can make decisions about who will lead your nation, why can’t you buy a beer at a bar?