I need some points on why canada should raise the drinking age to 21? for an essay?

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kate

Perhaps you could divide the essay up in to three sections, each consisting of a different argument for raising the drinking age. You can elaborate on each section with facts, statistics and examples.

Here are my ideas for raising the drinking age, categorised in to three sections:

section 1 - social arguments

* Binge drinking is common amongst under 21's. The highest prevalence binge drinking in 2000 was forages 18 to 25, peaking at 21. (SAMHSA, 2000).
* the social need to drink is largely perpetuated by modern media (tv, magazines etc) which glorify young drinking. If we were to more tightly regulate the media industry, the perceived need for young people to drink would be less.
* young people are not as well informed about the effects of alcohol as older people.
* Students who attended schools with high rates of heavy drinking experienced a greater number of secondhand effects, including disruption of sleep or studies; property damage; and verbal, physical, or sexual violence. (Weschsler et al, 2002)
* The median age at which children begin drinking is 13. Young people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21. (CADCA, 1996)
* High school binge drinking is a major predictor of binge drinking in college. (Weschsler et al, 2002)

section 2 - political arguments

* many campaigns focus on promoting responsible drinking. It is intuitive to increase the drinking age so that consumers may exercise learned maturity and responsibility.
* research has shown that young drinkers are more likely to drink drive than older drinkers. (NHTSA, 2001)
* Each year, college students spend approximately $5.5 billion on alcohol- more than they spend on soft drinks, milk, juice, tea, coffee and books combined. (Drug Strategies, 1999).
* A College Alcohol Survey of four colleges indicated that binge-drinking levels are associated with ease of access to alcohol, price, special promotions, and outlet density in college communities. (Weschsler et al, 2002)
* The total cost attributable to the consequences of underage drinking was more than $58 billion per year in 1998 dollars. (Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 1999)

section 3 - biological arguments

* up till age 25, the human brain is still largely developing. Alcohol is known to destroy brain cells and hence is more dangerous to young people than older people
* young people are at a greater risk of developing alcohol dependency
* Adolescents who drink heavily, however, may experience some adverse effects on the liver, bone, growth, and endocrine development
* In general, the existing evidence suggests that adolescents rarely exhibit the more severe chronic disorders associated with alcohol dependence such as liver cirrhosis, hepatitis, gastritis, and pancreatitis

That's it! Hope I helped.

Make sure you reference all your facts. You can use the sources I have provided. The third link below on the biological effects is an especially good one. Also check out your government's policies on drinking. They are all accessible online.

Good luck!

*ajidamoon* the Eh team

It would keep american teens in their own country, to drink and act like imbeciles..............

UnBreakKat<3

Less drunk accidents.
More mature people would most likely be under control of the alchohol.

But in the end does it matter?
Most people get alchohol no matter what the age if they really want it.

Elle B

- young kids wouldn't be losing their life to alcohol.
- there would be less deaths (car accidents, drunk killings?)
- it would be more likely for kids to stay in school, and succeed.

AC3112

Keeps binge drinking down.
Less crime rate.
Less damage due to alcohol.
Quieter neighborhood as you wouldn't have teenagers going round causing havoc.

Just a few, theres probably more than that.

craith22

stops alcoholism,which is known to be more prevelant with people who start drinking at an early age.better grades and therefore more going into 3rd level education.you could then talk about the knock on affects ie.good for canadas economy because of a more skilled workforce.reduces any drinking culture there is.reduces teenage pregnancies.which in turn lead to drop outs and again less going to 3rd level.use that kind of thing as your main point.its much harder to argue for it but if you just think rationally about the worst case scenarios of a younger drinking age the points you can write about will be obvious.hope i was some help

Dz Nutz

I love to drink, but...

If alcohol were just discovered today it could probably be ruled an illegal drug.

Why? Bad effects include addiction, vomitting, nausea, violence, aggression, arguments, unconciousness, withdrawl/hangover and can lead to severe injury and death.

It can lead to recklessness, endangerment and pregnancy through carelessness.

Search the stats on alcohol related deaths and injuries.
Paramedic and police services, in the UK, are heavily flooded with alcohol related cases.

Google "uk drinking ambulance service"
and "uk drinking police service"
something in "uk binge drinking"

Economy looses out on lots of days through drink related problems.
I used UK cos drinking has always been 18 here and alcohol related problems always make the news.

G'luck.

dontpanic_109711

Reduce number of people who could possibly drink and drive.

The people will be more mature, and able to drink more responsibly.

When you`re younger, you could be saving money for higher education, but when you`re 21, you`re probably already there.

Alcohol could be a gateway drug to other things like marijuana. The younger you are when you get involved in that, the more likely you are to continue to use it and develop a problem. But, when your 21, you are already older, therefore less likely to develop a problem.

I know that your using this for an essay and don`t care if people are against it haha.

Good luck on the paper! :)

chubby cheeks

i think they should increase the age because @ age 21 your mature enough 2 make your own choices

Mug R

So most of our soldiers abroad are seen as responsible enough to fight in a war and kill people in the name of Canada but not responsible enough to drink a beer. I feel sorry for you having to write such a silly essay.

<:)))><

Why they SHOULD? Well... I have to say I am against that...

If you are old enough to fight and die for your country in the military, you should be allowed to get hammered before you go...

But in all fairness... There are two sides to every coin so I will give you a few pro-21 points even though I am 100% against the raise in age...

Ethan M

They shouldn't.

Tyler

They shouldn't because then everyone who isn't 21 will get crazy with it instead of drinking moderately if it were still 18

kitch

i dont think so

Just Bored

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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