Negative Effects On Raising The Drinking Age To 21 In The Vi

921 words - 4 pages

Buying and consuming alcohol legally varies from country to country. The legal drinking age here in the Virgin Islands is 18-years old. There have been countless amounts of debates on whether the drinking age in the Virgin Islands should be raised from eighteen to twenty-one. Those in favor of rising the drinking age believes there will be less alcohol related deaths and injuries from car accidents. On the other hand, I believe the drinking should not raised to twenty-one in the Virgin Islands because it deprives young adults of their rights, decreases revenue for the government and businesses, and causes a significant amount of illegal activities.
At the age of eighteen, a young man or woman gains most rights as an adult. A few rights of an eighteen year old varies from voting, being able to join the armed forces, serve in a jury, apply for a credit card, and much more. Turning twenty one brings only few rights that are not received at the age of eighteen-twenty. These rights consist of being able to adopt a child, allowed to get certain licenses, and to supervise a learner driver. (M. Yong) Raising the drinking age would make that right, one of the few that are not gained at age eighteen and would only infuriate eighteen-twenty year olds which would then lead to more problems and illegal activities. The drinking age is seen as a privilege rather than a right because having a low drinking age seems to have more of a positive effect rather than a negative one on the Virgin Islands.
However, Alcohol is a volatile flammable liquid that contains ethanol and is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, sprites, and other drinks. Turning 18 gives these young adults right to legally buy and consume alcoholic drinks and foods in public places. This right comes with responsibility and respect for the laws of drinking which everyone should know consists of knowledge of the actual substance, limits per cup, after effects, and dangers of consuming it. These laws in the Virgin Islands are very lenient and not heavily enforced by the VIPD. They should not be changed because locals respects the law and feel that foreigners are the ones who are taking it to the extreme and push it over the limit. Allowing locals to drink causes them to casual drink rather than stopping them because the more constricted the laws; the more abused alcohol becomes. Therefore constricting the law would only force underage drinkers to break the law and abuse alcohol. (Wagner)
Also, raising the drinking age in the US has showed us the major effect of revenue loss since 1984 under the legislation passed by congress. States like Florida lost over $16.1 million dollars in sale and alcohol...

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