America has a drinking problem. Although the legal drinking age is 21, 28% of teenagers aged 12 to 20 have had more than just a sip of alcohol, according to SADD. Advocates of lowering the drinking age to 18 are wrongly suggesting that if the minimum drinking age is lowered to eighteen there will be a reduction in underage drinking.
   Furthermore, they claim that not only will there be fewer teens drinking, but also teens will feel less inclined to begin drinking. Those calling for changing the law to allow 18 year olds to drink cite the example of countries with lower or no drinking ages that reportedly have fewer drinking problems.
   Countries that have a lower or no drinking age also have cultures where responsible drinking is instilled in people at an early age. So drinking is not as appealing as it is to young Americans, who grow up seeing alcohol as a tempting forbidden fruit.
   In theory, a lower drinking age can solve some drinking problems, but if you look at the drinking problem today in America, anyone can see that this is simply not true in practice. Lowering the minimum drinking age will just cause more problems.
   One of the main problems that alcohol causes is drunk driving. Even though there are many messages out there telling young people not to drink and drive, it still happens. Automobile accidents are the number-one killer of teens, and most of the causes of deadly accidents involve alcohol.
   Safety reports have concluded that the older a person is, the less likely they are to make a mistake such as drinking and driving. Generally, most 18 year olds can not be counted on to make the right decision when it comes to drinking and driving. Keeping the legal age for drinking at 21 years old can only help insure that there will be fewer drunk drivers and, consequently, fewer accidents.
   Another argument that those who want to lower the drinking age make is that because teens have to wait until they are 21 to legally drink, they find ways to drink illegally Their point is that this prolonged wait is the reason that underage drinking occurs. This may be true, but what will lowering the drinking age do?
   All of a sudden, hordes of 18 to 20 year olds will join the 21 year olds and the problems will just be worse.
   The problem that lowering the minimum drinking age poses is that so many teens will suddenly have the ability to legally drink. And they most likely will drink a lot and drive under the influence.
   For the safety of Americans and especially for the saftey of teens, the drinking age needs to stay at 21.