Why 20s Is Not The Right Legal Age To Drink

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Saturday, February 26, 2011, 11:33

How do you celebrate a moment? How do you handle worries? How do you handle depression? The first honest answer by many would be alcohol and with time alcoholism has trickled down to teenagers as well. The age bar for teenage alcoholism is drinking by children between the age of 12-20. From the age of 21 in the US and 25 in India, one enters the legal age for drinking and also alcoholism. If the government is making 20s the right age for alcohol consumption, then why the attempt to eradicate alcoholism?

The worldwide data shows that most of the countries across the world has the legal drinking age starting from 20. 20 the age when most of us are still struggling to get out of teenage habits, health wise going through last phases of adolescence and mentality exposed to new things without caring for warnings. At that time is 20s as the legal age for drinking the right approach? The honest answer is 'no'.

Why 20s is not the right legal age for drinking?

1. Not The Right Age To Set Control – 20s as the legal age for drinking, is not right because at this age the maturity to set a control does not happen. For them it is a new achievement and any amount of it is not enough. For men specially habits like drinking and smoking is manhood, so control is left for girls to follow. The habit of drinking without control may set the base for alcoholism.

2. Harm Girls Reproduction System – Early age drinking is a disaster for girls and alcohol disrupts the puberty completely, which has a direct effect on the reproduction system of the girl. Girls reproductive system works on the right balance of hormones like testosterone and oestrogen. Alcoholism disrupts these hormones and also the reproduction system. Imbalance of these hormones also lead to mental imbalance.

3. Harms Brain Cells – This is true for any one in whatever age but for people who star drinking at an early age of 20s it is more enhanced as it is the time when they are already going through hormonal changes. Alcohol suppresses brain work by increasing the inhibitory nerve pathway. This function disrupts both cognition and memory of the person. 20s as a legal age of drinking is supports early disruption of brain cells.

4. Anti-social Activities – Early drinking gives rise to teenage inclusion in anti-social activities. One major side effect of early alcohol consumption is aggressiveness and depression. This gets a person anti-social as their thought and behaviour does not match the world around and this makes them vulnerable to anti-social elements.

Pointing down these four reasons of why 20s is not the right legal age for drinking and looking at the problems it can create, it is important to state that these problems also persists for anyone who is an alcoholic. Thus, is there any right age for drinking?