Daugherty 1

Aislin Daugherty

Mrs. Philips

AP Language and Composition – Period 2

6 April 2022

“Bottoms Up” – or Down?

In research conducted in a 2007 Gallup poll, 77% of Americans opposed lowering the

minimum legal drinking age to eighteen. In recent years, however, modern public opinion has

shifted, and many believe that eighteen-year-olds are responsible enough to legally consume

alcohol. This controversial subject has raised questions since the passing of the National

Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984 and remains a persistent issue today ("Frequently Asked

Questions: Minimum Legal Drinking Age/Age 21"). The United States’ minimum legal drinking

age (MLDA) should not be lowered because MLDA-21 lowers the percentage of alcohol-related

crashes, decreases possible alcohol dependence and addiction, and reduces the irreparable

damage caused by alcohol on the developing brain.

On the contrary, those who favor lowering the minimum legal drinking age commonly

argue that lowering the legal drinking age is beneficial or does not impact health as much as their

opponents believe. One argument raised by critics of MLDA-21 is that the legal drinking age is

not the only factor that plays into alcohol-related crashes in the United States. In fact, older

drinkers may be more likely to drive intoxicated because they believe they can handle their

alcohol better than 18 to 20-year-olds can. The opposition also claims that lowering the drinking

age can lower the percentage of adults with alcoholism, as they learn to drink responsibly at a

younger age. Those arguing for lowering the drinking age also include that the brain is not fully
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developed until age 25, so the three-year difference between ages 18 and 21 does not make a

large impact on the overall development of the brain. 

Nevertheless, keeping the minimum legal drinking age at twenty-one limits the number

of alcohol-related fatalities that could otherwise be prevented. First, alcohol-related fatalities,

specifically car accidents, have significantly decreased since the passing of MLDA-21. After the

end of the Prohibition Era in 1933, a majority of the United States set the MLDA at age 21.

However, when the legal voting age was adjusted to 18 in 1971, the drinking age soon followed.

Coinciding with a lower MLDA was a higher percentage of alcohol-related traffic deaths. In July

of 2019, scientific researcher from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of

Chicago James C. Fell conducted a study on ways to reduce alcohol-impaired driving. Fell has

spent over twenty years meticulously studying traffic safety and alcohol policies, and in his

research, he found the direct relationship between the raised MLDA and the decreasing

percentage of traffic fatalities. In 1973, two years after twenty-nine states lowered their legal

drinking age, 36% of drivers in the United States were reported driving intoxicated (Toomey, et

al. 213-214). Then in 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed the National Uniform Drinking Age

21 Bill into law, and by 1988, all U.S. states had adopted this law. Consequently, the percentage

of drunk drivers subsided. In 1996, reports showed that one out of six drivers had high blood

alcohol content (BAC) levels, and in only eighteen years, that number decreased by double (Fell

164-165). Additionally, excessive alcohol use contributes largely to the growing death rate

caused by cancer and other diseases. According to the Center for Disease Control and

Prevention, alcohol use is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. There is an

average of 225 alcohol-related deaths every day, totaling to about 93,300 deaths annually from

2011 to 2015. Nearly 55% of these deaths were caused by chronic illnesses, and 18,000 of them
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were from alcoholic liver disease (Esser, et al. 981-983). In January of 2020, researchers at the

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Maryland conducted a study

exploring alcohol-related mortality from 1999 to 2017. They also found that liver disease caused

the highest death rate amongst drinkers, totaling to 30.7% of 72,600 deaths per year (White, et

al.). Excessive alcohol abuse triggers higher fatality rates, and a higher MLDA could prevent

death more effectively.

Furthermore, MLDA-21 reduces alcohol dependence, binging, and addiction in adults

since they did not start drinking until they were older. To begin, a lower drinking age would

make younger people more prone to alcohol dependence. Alcohol dependence occurs when the

brain needs an intake of alcohol for its systems to function normally, as a result of associating

drinking with positive feelings. Thus, the lack of alcohol can produce feelings of insecurity, self-

loathing, boredom, or physical and mental pain. Alcohol-dependent people indulge to relieve

themselves of those feelings, which creates a cycle that consumes their life (Ark Behavioral

Health Editorial Team). People who are dependent experience vulnerability as alcohol takes

precedence over their physical, mental, and emotional being (Keller). A CDC study found that

from 2006 to 2010 and 2011 to 2015, deaths from alcohol dependence increased by 14.2%. So,

the earlier teenagers start drinking, the higher the risk of alcohol dependence. Moreover, drinking

as a minor increases the chance of binge drinking. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and

Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking as a repetitious sequence of drinking that increases

BAC levels to 0.08 or higher, which typically transpires in women after four drinks and in men

after five drinks (“Alcohol Facts and Statistics"). In 2019, an NIAAA study reported that 4.2

million people from ages twelve to twenty reported binge drinking during one month of 2019.

The consequences of binge drinking are grave and include blackouts, overdoses, unwanted
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pregnancy, and a myriad of chronic illnesses. Of the 95,000 alcohol-related deaths that occurred

in the United States from the years of 2011 to 2015, 46% of them were linked to binge drinking

(“Understanding Binge Drinking”). Since the prevalence of binging increased in both men and

women as the MLDA decreased, upholding MLDA-21 can help prevent binging in teenagers

(Patrick, et al.). Finally, the MLDA of twenty-one reduces the risk of alcohol addiction and the

abuse it can provoke. Alcohol addiction, although under the same realm of Alcohol Use

Disorders, differs from alcohol dependence. Registered nurse and medical journalist Amy Keller

defines alcohol addiction as “a disease characterized by a compulsion to drink and an inability to

control one’s alcohol intake.” Alcohol addiction is just as much physical as it is mental; it causes

relapses which trigger behavioral processes in the body and brain to not function properly

without the influence of alcohol (Franjic 1-6). Addiction can be hereditary and expedited if

minors are around parents and peers that are avid drinkers. The development of Alcohol Use

Disorders can also be accelerated if the user begins drinking at a young age (Mosel). Due to the

detrimental and fatal effects caused by alcohol dependence, binging, and addiction, the minimum

legal drinking age should not be lowered in order to reduce the risk of Alcohol Use Disorders. 

Most importantly, lowering the legal drinking age is harmful to the body, as alcohol can

do irreparable damage to the brain before it is fully developed. For example, the use of alcohol

before the corpus callosum is fully developed can cause permanent damage to the growing brain.

The corpus callosum connects the left and right cerebral cortexes and is constituted of

approximately two hundred million myelinated nerve fibers. It grows well into the third decade

of life and is responsible for transferring auditory, visual, and sensory information to both

cerebral cortexes. Studies have shown that notable differences in the structure of the corpus

callosum have appeared in adolescents who partake in heavy drinking. Alcohol intake leads to a
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decrease in grey matter volume, leading to complications in myelination (Nutt, et al.).

Myelination enables signals and impulses to travel throughout the body, so its disruption can

expose the brain to injury and various deficiencies. Marchiafava-Bignami Disease, which

involves acute demyelination and necrosis of the corpus callosum, is often observed in alcoholics

(Goldstein, et al.). Likewise, the brain’s lobes have many purposes, and ingesting alcohol at a

young age can cause their functions to aberrate from their original roles. In 2021, an experiment

tested patients with alcohol dependency for brain deficits associated with excessive alcohol use.

An averaged 89% of patients were reported with deficits in reason, attention, and problem-

solving, directly attributed to disruptions to the frontal lobe. Most strikingly, however, is that

100% of patients were reported with visual speed processing deficits, showing that the occipital

lobe is most immensely affected by alcohol use (S, et al. 1-6). Brain lobe development continues

into teenage years, and the abuse of alcohol as an adolescent can lead to difficulties in full

development of the brain ("Frequently Asked Questions: Minimum Legal Drinking Age/Age

21”). Furthermore, alcohol’s impact on the functions of the cerebellum negatively affects brain

processes. The cerebellum, which contains 80% of the brain’s neurons, is the part of the brain

that controls voluntary movement and balance. When BAC levels reach 0.17, the cerebellum

loses its ability to coordinate movement, maintain posture, and control balance (Bapat). Studies

have shown that excessive drinking, especially in adolescents, lowers cerebellar volume,

affecting the function of the entire body (Fisher). If the cerebellum is impaired due to alcohol

abuse, the body begins to shut down and all motor abilities diminish. Ultimately, the effect that

premature alcohol use has on the Central Nervous System (CNS) is irreversible and leads to

long-term effects on the body. The CNS contains the whole brain and spinal cord and is

responsible for receiving, processing, and responding to sensory information (Thau, et al.). When
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alcohol enters the brain, the balance of neurotransmitters that keep the body stable is disturbed,

and the body undergoes behavioral and physical changes. As the brain becomes accustomed to

alcohol and the euphoria it creates, the brain seeks to compensate for that feeling, and long-term

chemical changes occur, leading to long-term effects on the body (Keller). These effects include

seizures, reduced energy levels, mental health disorders, cancer, and brain disorders like

Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, causing severe brain damage ("How Does Alcohol Affect the

Brain and Central Nervous System"). The adolescent brain experiences structural and functional

changes that make it more susceptible to long-term impairments, and deterioration of the CNS

results in brain shrinkage and overall damage to the whole body ("Frequently Asked Questions:

Minimum Legal Drinking Age/Age 21"). Alcohol produces irreversible damage to the brain,

especially the developing adolescent brain, that can best be avoided by keeping MLDA-21.

Ultimately, MLDA-21 should be kept because it decreases the number of alcohol-related

crashes, prevents Alcohol Use Disorders, and reduces damage caused by alcohol on the growing

brain. If the legal drinking age is lowered, future generations are more prone to becoming reliant

on alcohol, affecting society as a whole. Though MLDA-21 has been defined for more than three

decades, this pressing topic continues to grip communities throughout the United States, leaving

an effect on teenagers and adults alike. Are there more benefits to decreasing the minimum legal

drinking age, or are the 77% of Americans against lowering it justified in their reasoning?
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Works Cited

"Alcohol Facts and Statistics." National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Mar. 2022,

www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-facts-and-statistics.

Ark Behavioral Health Editorial Team. "Understanding Alcohol Dependence." Ark Behavioral

Health, 30 Aug. 2021, www.arkbh.com/alcohol/dependence/.

Bapat, Mona. "The Effects of Alcohol on the Brain and How You Can Repair Them."

AlcoholicsAnonymous.com, 3 May 2021,

www.alcoholicsanonymous.com/alcoholism/effects-of-alcohol-on-the-brain/.

Esser, Marissa, et al. "Deaths and Years of Potential Life Lost from Excessive Alcohol Use -

United States, 2011-2015." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 69, No. 30,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 31 Jul. 2021,

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Fisher, Tal. "Everything You Need to Know About How Alcohol Affects Your Body." Microsoft

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