In "The Perils of Prohibition", Elizabeth M. Whelan argues that the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18. Dr. Whelan, president of the American Council for Science and Health Consortium supports this assertion, stating that "current laws are unrealistic and restrict responsible young adolescents to being allowed to drink at the age of 18." She says that in today's society, teenagers are much more sophisticated than before. Dr. Whelan explains that adolescents have more responsibilities today than in the past. She also disputes that not allowing teenagers to drink creates an atmosphere in which excessive drinking has become a health problem. Dr. Whelan, the mother of a daughter who will soon go to college, says police should be much tougher on alcoholics and drunk drivers of all ages. Dr. Whelan says schools should start educating children about safe drinking, just like we do about safe sex and abstinence. Whelan's arguments seem to appeal to many people, to some extent exclusively to young people who want to be able to drink. There are thousands of responsible young teens who know the consequences of binge drinking and choose not to drink until they are 21 and feeling perfectly fine. On the other hand, Dr. Whelan's daughter, Christine, says she and her friends feel excluded from the rest of the 21-year-olds who can have a drink at a bar. Despite the fact that Christine and her friends are capable of accomplishing any task that a 21-year-old completes. They can't have a drink because they're 18. However, it's not about what teens think about not being able to have a drink legally, but rather what's good for young teens. For this...... middle of paper ...... alcohol in detail, just like we do with protected sex. We can then give our children time to develop mentally and let them make their own informed decisions about drinking. Whether they are 18 or 19, as a society we should not allow America to be highly vulnerable to chronic disease. Works Cited Whelan, Elizabeth. “The Perils of Prohibition: Why We Should Lower the Drinking Age to 18.” » News week. May 25, 1995. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Internet. [April 7, 2014].Bettina Friese and Joel W. Grube, “Youth Alcohol Use Rates and Problems: Comparing European Countries and the United States,” Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 2010 .WEB. April 18, 2014Hemingway. Liz. Stop drinking and start living. Free publication, 2013. Print. April 19, 2014Editorial, “Colleges and Binge Drinking,” The New York Times. September 17, 2008: A26. Print.