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The Dangers of Lowering the Legal Drinking Age
The legal drinking age has been 21 in the United States since the 1980’s. Many people
believe it should be lowered but that would be much too dangerous. The legal drinking age
should not be lowered because it could cause increase in teen pregnancy, crime and alcohol
related deaths in youth.
Lowering the legal drinking age would result in a rise in teen pregnancy. A paper written
by the National Bureau of Economic Research states that there is a “positive relationship
between substance use and risky adolescent sexual behavior, including early initiation of sexual
intercourse, multiple sexual partners, and engaging in intercourse without contraception”, and
lowering the legal drinking age would only cause this to worsen (Fertig and Watson, 4). Not only
will lowering the legal drinking age increase this risky sexual behavior but it will also cause
