Lowering drinking age would create health, safety risks

Unfortunately, those in favor of lowering the drinking age may not be aware that alcohol use costs lives. The Prevention Partnership Coalition, a Sandusky County Health Department subsidiary, was created to raise community awareness of the seriousness of the underage drinking. The Coalition’s stance is that the younger people are when they take that first drink, the more likely they are drink and drink heavily as they become adults.

Mothers Against Drunk Drivers has compiled powerful evidence regarding the consequences of lowering the drinking age. Consider this:
• As one of the most studied public health laws in history, research shows that the 21 law causes those under 21 to drink less and to continue to drink less throughout their 20s.
• About 5,000 people under age 21 die each year due to underage drinking. This does not include sexual assaults, violence and injuries.
• The Centers for Disease Control has looked at 49 peer-reviewed studies of places that changed their drinking age and found conclusively that a 21 minimum drinking age decreases fatalities by 16 percent.
• All underage drinking is unsafe drinking. Research shows that the brain continues to develop into the early 20s. The part that controls reasoning and cognitive ability takes the longest to mature; thus, underage drinking, affects memory and reasoning. Alcohol use in adolescence also decreases executive functioning, memory, spatial operations, and attention among adolescents.

The Prevention Partnership Coalition strongly urges the public to stay well informed about the consequences of underage drinking and its deadly effects.