When looking at the minimum legal drinking age in many nations, one can observe a trend towards a minimum legal drinking age ( MLDA) relatively young worldwide. As it stands, all 50 American states employ an MLDA of 21, making America one of only seven countries in the world to have an alcoholic drinking age set at 21; the oldest age set as the minimum legal age for drinking alcohol in the world. While many of our friends in Europe happily drink at 18, many here in America wonder why we don't use the same age requirement. Why has America set the age so high compared to everyone else? How much more dangerous could it be to drink at 18 compared to 21? The reason the MLDA in America is so high is not because America is ignorant or controlling by nature, but because setting the MLDA at 21 saves lives and encourages more responsible behavior. Returning the MLDA in America to 18 would do nothing but harm and endanger the health and well-being of the people of this nation, and that being the case, the MLDA should remain at 21. Among the arguments made by advocates of lowering the MLDA is the argument that lowering the drinking age would allow young people to drink in safer and more controlled environments such as bars and nightclubs. They say that with the MLDA set at 21, many young people drink in dangerous, unsupervised environments such as house parties or a friend's basement so as to minimize their chances of being caught and punished for breaking the law. However, lowering the MLDA would irresponsibly allow young people to drink in bars and nightclubs which are NOT safe drinking environments. According to studies conducted on the sale of alcohol from licensed establishments, 76% of bars have sold alcohol to people who are obviously intoxicated... middle of paper...that person is using illegal drugs (Kandel). By lowering the MLDA, we would allow children to start drinking at a younger age and thus likely increase the number of teenagers who use drugs. As a society it should be our duty to maintain a safe and healthy environment for everyone in the general public. Ultimately, our society is nothing more than the product of how we decide to govern ourselves to encourage success and well-being among those who inhabit our community. Since the minimum legal drinking age was raised to 21, our nation has been able to do just that by reducing the number of alcohol-related deaths, rates of alcohol consumption, and promoting a healthy and safe for all its inhabitants. By keeping the drinking age at 21 we are promoting the kind of community we should always strive to maintain; a safe