Should the legal drinking age be lowered to eighteen? Changing the legal drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen has become a hot topic over the years due to the effects it has on the body and the increasing number of deaths. The current drinking age, twenty-one, has not stopped minors from drinking; in fact, he encouraged it. It has pushed binge drinking into private, less supervised environments, leading to more health- and life-threatening behavior by adolescents. At the age of eighteen the government labels you an adult and adds the title of responsibility. Turning eighteen brings the rights of adulthood: voting, serving on juries, getting married, signing contracts, joining the military, and being prosecuted as adults. Therefore, eighteen-year-old adults should be trusted to make decisions. Many people argue that teenagers are not mature enough to handle alcohol at such an early age, but if the government labels them as adults at eighteen, treat them as such. If teenagers can vote, buy guns, buy cigarettes, register and die for this country at eighteen, why shouldn't they be allowed to consume alcohol? According to the Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia, “Alcohol is actually a depressant; it slows the mind by depressing the nervous system and often causes more extreme depression. Furthermore, statistics show that alcohol is one of the biggest killers, responsible for more deaths and illnesses than the total of those resulting from the use of all illegal drugs.” Alcohol consumption among college students continues to increase each year despite efforts to prevent it. College students will drink alcohol regardless of whether it is legal or illegal. Lowering the drinking age would allow them to be... middle of paper..., the increase in the murder rate in the late 1980s and early 1990s was driven entirely by an increase of youth homicides with firearms (Blumstein 2002). In summary, the government has imposed a double standard on what it means to be an adult. The drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen because individuals are just as responsible at eighteen as they would be at twenty-one. Now, I understand that eighteen is young, and many would argue that at eighteen, teenagers are only now seeing what the world has to offer, but twenty-one is also a young age. In my eyes, at both ages people are still considered children. I just think that if the government treats teenagers as adults at eighteen, then they should be treated as adults in every circumstance and situation, no matter what. Opportunities to become adults should present themselves at the same age, together.