Lowering the Drinking Age: Weighing Moral, Ethical, Safety Concerns

Everyone should be able to go to social organizations for the community or school. Sometimes not everyone can attend though because of alcohol being served. Teens enjoy going to see their favourite bands play when they come near by. Some are held in bars which limit the people who can go. Lowering the drinking age to 18 would open up safer and monitored drinking locations for those teens. The Sask. Party should recognize that a lot of good can come out of lowering it rather then all the drinking and driving aspects of it.

It is moral and ethical to consider lowering the drinking age. This is not an argument of, ‘Should 18-year-olds be drinking?’ This is an argument of, ‘Should 18-year-olds be drinking legally?’ That is the fundamentally difference. One of the highest rates of impaired driving is among younger adults because they don’t think of the consequences. Even the best crafted law can only be applied after it’s been broken.

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If the drinking age does go through that does not mean there will be any less accidents or anymore accidents, people are going to drink and drive whether they can legally drink or not.

It is immoral and unethical to consider lowering the drinking age. Saskatchewan already has one of the highest impaired driving rates in the country. There is understandable concern about a potential increase in impaired driving. Politicians have wrestled with the appropriate drinking age for decades. With the drinking age possibly going down is raises worry with drinking and driving.

This is not an argument of, ‘Should 18-year-olds be drinking?’ This is an argument of, ‘Should 18-year-olds be drinking legally?’ That is the fundamentally difference. Nathan Sgrazzutti spoke in favour of lowering the drinking age because it would improve student safety and increase the number of major events students could attend. Generally, first year students are 18 and excluded from attending many student union-organization events because they typically include alcohol. Should students be able to drink in an establishment where there are bounces to protect them and bartenders to cut them off when they’ve had too much or drink at home where they can get blackout drunk with no one around to pass out in their own vomit which is dangerous. It would be better for 18-year-olds to drink at a safe place and be able to attend more school functions that may have not of been able to before.

One of the highest rates of impaired driving is among younger adults because they don’t think of the consequences. If the drinking age gets lowered the main purpose would be to ensure that people who are drinking - no matter the age - find a safe ride home. “Our focus - regardless of the legal drinking age - is make sure people aren’t drinking and driving,” said Rebecca Schultz, SGI’s manager of media relations. If today’s youth want to drink, they are going to find a way to get alcohol, check out Facebook and you will see plenty of teenagers posing in groups holding up their Red Solo cups. Teens and young adults are going to drink no matter what making sure they have a safe ride is something that does matter though.

Politicians have wrestled with the appropriate drinking age for decades. Eighteen-year-olds who can’t legally drink need to only cross an imaginary line to enter a jurisdiction where it is legal for them to drink. Lowering the drinking age will likely reduce underage drinking rates since the novelty and thrill of drinking when it’s prohibited will wear off. At 18 one is considered an adult, able to vote, purchase tobacco and lottery tickets but not alcohol. If at 18 you are considered an adult you should be able to drink in all provinces not just some when all you have to do is go on a trip to go and drink legally.

Saskatchewan already has one of the highest impaired driving rates in the country. Drinking and driving is most common among young people ages 18-25. According to SGI, there were 1 284 alcohol-related collisions in 2011, 59 of those involved where 18 and 66 where 19. SGI says alcohol is the No. 1 contributing factors to fatal collisions in the province. If alcohol is a big deal in fatal collisions we should start thinking about raising it not lowering the drinking age.

There is understandable concern about a potential increase in impaired driving. After a record low of 46 deaths in 2005, 2006 and 2007 alcohol related fatalities have since risen. Over last Christmas and New Year, three people died and 64 were injured in alcohol related collisions. Statistics show that impaired driving charged had jumped nearly three-fold on year after the drinking age slipped to 18 years ago. If impaired driving causes so many deaths we should stricken the laws and leave the drinking age.

Politicians have wrestled with the appropriate drinking age for decades. Until 1969, when it was lowered to 19, the legal drinking age in Saskatchewan was 21. 36 years ago when a majority of the Saskatchewan MLA’s in a free vote opted a to nudge up the age to which people could legally drink in the province to 19 from 18. Many of the same arguments bubble up again except this time its about lowering it from 19 to 18. Every province should have the same drinking age and stick with it instead of always changing them.

What if my child could legally drink at eighteen? Making sure they had a safe ride home even if it meant calling to ask for one would be a main priority. I know they are going to drink anyways whether it is legal for them to do it or not. I would feel better knowing that they are at a bar where there are people to monitor them then at a party where people do not care. If my child is going to drink I would sooner it be legal for them to do so they are not sneaking around where no one knows where they are.

What if every was able to legally drink? If everyone was able to drink places would be ciaos and full of alcoholics. You would need to stricken the drinking and driving laws to prevent collisions. It would create more jobs as the demand for alcohol would be higher. If everyone drank life would take a turn for the worse but there is also no harm in lowering it one year.

With all these points the Saskatchewan Party will have to take a long hard look towards lowering the drinking age to 18. The Sask. Party government should look into how other provinces try to prevent impaired driving collisions. Drinking and driving is going to occur no matter what the legal drinking age is. Teens are finding ways to drink now and will continue to find ways if the drinking age stays the same. No one really knows the appropriate drinking age or will they ever know if nothing ever changes. Sometimes change can be for the better and people are mature enough to deal with it and other times it turns out bad but you can’t find out what will really happen by looking at statistics and predicting what is going to happen.