The National institute on alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that in 2013, 24.6 percent of people age eighteen or older say they engaged in “binge drinking” in the past month of when the survey is given, and in that same month, another 6.8 percent report that they engage in heavy drinking. The NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking [that] brings the blood alcohol concentration levels to 0.08 g/dL in about two hours [of drinking]”. They define “heavy drinking” as “5 or more alcoholic drinks on the same occasion on at least one day in the past 30 days.” The prevalence of heavy drinking and binge drinking with college students is substantial. In 2013, 39 percent of college student between the ages of eighteen and twenty one engaged in binge drinking, and 12.7 percent engaged in heavy drinking (“Alcohol Facts and Statistics”). Consequences of heavy alcohol consumption during the teenage years can result in the interference of normal adolescent brain development, and an increase in the risk of developing an alcohol use disorder (“Alcohol Facts and Statistics”). The reason for these alarming numbers is the lack of education on the subject of drinking with, not only young adults, but the Nation as a …show more content…
Scott Walter, an associate Professor of behavioral sciences at the University Of Texas School Of Public Health in Dallas, Texas, agrees on the lowering of the drinking age in the United States. In his article, “If the Drinking Age Were Lowered, What Then? A View From the Year 2020,” he creates a situation where the legal drinking age is lowered to eighteen, and alcohol consumption at the fictional college is allowed. Walters mentions certain educational programs at the college that will solve the current issues we have today, by relating those issues solved in a future reference. In the article, a “basic alcohol safety course” is mentioned, which teaches young adults the dangers of alcohol, and how