Drinking Age in the United States of America: Analysis and Recommendations

Drinking Age in the United States of America: Analysis and Recommendations
Author's Name
The Institutional Affiliation
Course Number and Name
Instructor Name
Assignment Due Date
Alcohol consumption requires one to be over 21 while voting and driving are legalized at 18. According to neuroscientific research, most of the brain's wiring is finished lying down by the time a person reaches the age of 25. In addition, this is the peak time for the pleasure-controlling region of the brain (Dawood, 2021). Consistent with these findings, CNN coverage emphasizes young people's propensity for risk-taking and impulsivity. Therefore, the legal drinking age in the United States appears to be grounded in facts rather than ideology.
Based on studies of maturing brains, the United States set its drinking age at 21, higher than that of countries like the United Kingdom and Australia, where it is only 18 (Ahammer et al., 2022). In some cases, there is no minimum age requirement. Teen binge drinking could be lower in Europe, but the continent suffers more from the adverse effects of alcohol, according to CNN (LaMotte, 2023). Thus, the US has a tough time with alcohol-related crimes, particularly drunk driving, despite its stricter age limit. However, there are statistically fewer alcohol-related traffic deaths involving young drivers in these countries than those with a lower legal drinking age.