Legally, if you are not 21 you cannot purchase alcohol or consume it. “An individual 18 years of age or older may purchase a rifle or shotgun from a federally licensed dealer in any state” (NRA-ILA). It is acceptable for an individual 18 years of age or older to purchase cigarettes if they choose to do so. A 17-year-old individual may enlist and serve in the United States Army with the consent of a parent. Additionally, an 18-year-old individual may enroll without required consent and serve in the United States Army. These young adults who are just 18, 19, 20 years old are given extensive training, given a number of different weapons, and told to go protect and defend the United States of America. They are often sent to foreign countries and asked to fight and possibly die for their country. The question that needs to be answered is: should the legal drinking age be lowered for active members of the Armed Forces? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To start, let's talk about the change in the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 and the group largely responsible for it. During the 1980s the MADD group “Mothers Against Drunk Drivers” garnered much interest and support for their cause; to stop drunk drivers. This group was largely responsible for the political decision to change the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. The position held by MADD and its many supporters was that young adults under the age of 21 were simply not mature enough to consume alcoholic beverages. . This organization was also instrumental in the decision that reduced the legal blood alcohol limit from 0.10 to 0.08. Now, according to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, “driving while intoxicated (DWI) is defined as driving while intoxicated, and the state uses your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to determine whether you are too drunk to drive a motor vehicle. The standards used to determine this are if you are 21 years of age or older, 0.08% if you are a commercial driver: 0.04% and individuals under 21 years of age: any detectable amount” (Brown). Next, I will cover how other countries address the issue of the legal drinking age and how they have addressed “underage” alcohol consumption. In an article that was done, regarding the maturity of the young individual. “When seen in this light, the problem of drinking at a certain age becomes a question of maturity. These other counties also don't have as many driving accidents or DUI problems. All this because advertising for underage drinking has been eliminated. They also took away that mentality that getting drunk is the cool thing to do. These young adults are told that they will be sent to a hostile country and that they will put their education to good use, but they are not considered mature enough to drink any form of alcoholic beverage. With all the training these young adults receive, their level of maturity simply grows and grows and grows” (Benton). Our young men and women who join the Armed Forces at such a young age do so very often without the need of their parents. consent. These young adults say goodbye to their family, are given a gun, and are sent hundreds of thousands of miles away from home. They do it for a variety of different reasons, including: family, history, love of country, college, money, just to name a few. They do it without ever knowing it/.