Imagine spending over $250 on a beer. Currently, Wisconsin law reprimands underage drinking offenses with multiple fines and penalties. For any offence, penalties range from fines, suspension of driving priveleges, participation in supervised work programs, or a combination thereof. The first offence costs between $250 and $500. If a second offence is within a twelve month period, fines of up to $300-$500, a third offence raises the bill to $500-$750, and $750-$1,000 is the price tag of fourth and subsequent offences. In all fifty states, it is illegal to purchase or consume alcoholic beverages if you are under the age of twenty-one. Many people agree with this legal restriction and some would even say that it should be raised. However, the legal drinking age sometimes causes more problems that it prevents. First, it is necessary to question this law. Why is twenty-one the “magical” age that makes one intelligent and mature enough to consume alcohol? This seemingly random number is associated with adulthood, as if the day a person turns twenty-one they know everything and are mature. At the age of eighteen, people are considered adults. It is legal for them to fly planes, vote, marry, pay taxes, take out loans, smoke a cigarette and risk their lives in the armed forces. Yet, it is still illegal to drink. At sixteen, people are allowed to drive cars, which cause far more fatalities than alcohol. This in a whole, suggests that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen.Many parents of today's teenagers were legally allowed to drink at eighteen. Today's teenagers face more responsibility and are treated more like adults than their parents were. This makes the twenty-one restriction seem out of date. People under twenty-one are becoming more responsible. Statistics show that young people are more responsible then any other age group because of greater education about alcohol. According to MADD, the age group between sixte...
