Essay about Unbderage Drinking - 934 Words

Is Underage Drinking a Big Issue in the United States? Teenagers rarely think before they do many things. Many times teenagers go to big blowouts or little get together with their friends. Their first thought is not about death, their grades, or alcoholism; their main purpose is to get drunk fast and sober up before going home by their set curfews. Each year most teen deaths have been caused from underage drinking in the United States, which is a big topic that the government is trying to prevent from happening. The government has set the drinking age to 21 but how are teens getting there alcohol? Teens are using fake Id’s to get their alcohol or even asking adults to purchase it for them, because of this, underage drinking has become a†¦show more content†¦At parties, teenagers have an average of 5 or more beers in one night. In the United States teenage drinking has become a major problem, with about 3.3 million teens as problem drinkers. â€Å"1/4 of all 7th through 12th graders admit to drinking at least once a weekà ¢â‚¬ . About 40% of 12th graders said they had one episode of heavy drinking in the past two weeks (Bender50). Excessive drinking can lead to teenage alcoholism. People who begin drinking at the age of 15 are four-times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who start drinking at the age of 21. Most teens take their first drinks at the age of 13. Alcoholism begins by first tasting, then social drinking, next abusive drinking, and last becoming a problem drinker or alcoholic. Most teenagers do not know why they drink but most do anyway. Peer pressure has a lot to do with teen drinking because sometimes it’s hard to say no when your around friends. President Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act into law on July 17, 1984. The act strongly encourages states to have laws prohibiting the â€Å"purchase and public possession† of alcoholic beverages by anyone under 21 years of age by withholding a portion of federal-aid highway funds from state without such laws. Most U.S. states have the Age- 21 law, but in Louisiana you can be 19 to enter a bar. Because of this law,