Drug Alcohol And Its Effects - 2128 Words

An elderly man, Frank went to his doctor for a routine check up after having some complications with his heart. While at the doctor, he was encouraged that having an alcoholic beverage a day to lower his risk of heart disease. After much consideration about the doctors prescription Frank decides with his wife that it may be a good idea. Frank had never drank before in his life, and what this doctor suggests will be a huge factor in him. Frank became an alcoholic at the age of 72. This brings questions to mind such as if Frank had been educated about alcohol and its effects of it in over abundance, would this have changed his outcome? People become responsible by being properly taught, given responsibility, and then held accountable for†¦show more content†¦Most states after the prohibition set their legal drinking age to 21 which at the time was the age of majority at the time. Few states had a lower purchase age for alcohol. Thirty states followed these minority states in the early 1970 s; of which the majority lowered the MLDA to 18 years of age (Wagenaar A. C., 1993). Most states reasoning behind this lowering of this age of majority was because the legal voting age was changed from 21 to 18 in 1971. With continued moment through the years things altered each states though and reasoning and again a majority change the alcohol purchase age to 19 years of age. The bump in age was because of an increase of 18 year old deaths and alcohol related accidents (Wagenaar A. C., 1993). There were also direct correlations to the seat belt laws and these numbers. In 1984 congress passed a law requiring states to raise their legal ages of purchase to 21 by Oct of 1986 or loose funding for their federal highways. By mid-1988, all 50 states and the District of Columbia had raised their purchase ages to 21 (Wagenaar A. C., 1993). With the drinking age at 21 and higher than the legal age of majority, brings some tension for many Americans. Alcohol has been an issue for many ages, even in biblical times there were issues with alcohol and drunkenness. The United States current solution, that of negligence and head s in the sand, is not working. The laws that there are for the minimum legal drinking age or MLDA are not