What is the significance of the number twenty-one? Is twenty-one the magical age when you are officially declared, "mature?" Why is it then, that when you turn eighteen, you are able to fight for your country? The drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen, because if you are old enough to die for your country and help make decisions for your country, than you are old enough, among many other things, to have a drink in your country. The drinking age should be eighteen, because eighteen is the age when most things are considered legal. At eighteen, you can fight for your country, vote in elections, legally get married, and smoke cigarettes.

When a soldier is forced to go to war, there is a chance that he might not come back. If you fight for your country, sometimes not even knowing why, you should be able to have a beer. If you can vote for a candidate in an election, than why can't you drink? Most people who vote are mature and smart enough to know whom he/she wants to vote for. If somebody is mature enough to vote, than they should be old enough to drink.

Some people aren't mature enough to get married, but they do. But, is it fair that a couple be married an

Another idea would be to issue a drinking license to teens between the ages of eighteen and twenty. The absolute drinking age could still be twenty-one, but the teens that wish to drink between these ages, must obtain a license in order to do so. It could be like a driver license in that you have to pass some sort of an exam, to earn their license. There could be a set fee for these classes and the money collected in these classes, could go to a fund and help people who are suffering from alcoholism and alcohol-related problems.

With the drinking age being at twenty-one, underage drinkers have to sneak around the law and their parents just to drink. This devious activity does not promote safe and responsible drinking practices. It gives the idea that you will have to sneak around the rest of your life and do things behind people's backs. Critics will argue that at eighteen, you are not "mature" enough to act on your own. It is impossible to judge maturity. Everybody matures at a different rate, both physically and mentally. Yet, in general, the United States gives us the idea that we are mature enough at eighteen to live on our own. This is the age where most teens come into adulthood.

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Other critics state that the lowering of the drinking age would produce nothing but trouble. They say that it would create a dramatic increase in the alcohol-related

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Approximate Word count = 968
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)