The Drinking Age

The legal drinking age was risen in the mid 1980s from 18 to 21. The main purpose of the new law was to help keep the highways safe and reduce alcohol related deaths. Underage kids, however, are still finding ways to drink unsupervised, which is more dangerous than if they were supervised. This issue has turned into a national debate.

Once a person turns 18, he or she has the responsibilities of adulthood; to vote, join the military, and to be prosecuted as an adult. It makes sense that when a person has received these rights, they should also be allowed to consume alcohol. Just because it is illegal for teenagers to drink alcohol in public does not mean that they will not drink alcohol at all, it only pushes them to drink in unsupervised areas such as fraternities, basements, and behind locked dorm rooms. Most of these kids try to drink a lot in a short amount of time to become more drunk at a faster rate, this causes many problems.  When one underage kid has had too much to drink and is in need of immediate medical help, others who are there may hesitate to contact for help because they are afraid of being caught and getting in trouble with the law for having alcohol; however, if it was legal for 18 year olds to drink in public, they would not have to question whether or not they should get help. Instead of being in secretive places, they would be out drinking in public where police officers, managers, and health workers are there to supervise.

When kids are told they cannot have or do something, they will want to rebel against it because they are curious and want to know what it is that they are missing out on, which can become a thrill to them. Whenever teenagers are given a chance to consume alcohol, they will take it. They tend to drink more because they are not sure as to when the next time they will have the opportunity to drink again will be.

The main reason the drinking age was risen in the first place was to reduce highway deaths. Even though this has helped decrease deadly road accidents, alcohol related deaths that are not associated with the highways have increased. Their needs to be improvements with the law about drinking and driving because whatever the legal age of drinking is, there will always be car accidents due to drunk driving. Though deaths related to alcohol consumption without being related to highways can be reduced by lowering the drinking age. Kids would have a better understanding of how to drink in moderation and would not have to be in a dangerous, unsupervised place to drink.

The Increase of Meat Production

                Each Year meat production increases and the amount of meat people consume will continue to grow. This causes many detrimental health issues and it also has a negative effect on the environment. People, like me, often question whether organic meat actually has more beneficial health qualities compared to meat produced on a factory farm. While there may not yet be exact answers about the nutritional differences, it is important to recognize the methods of production between organic and non organic meat, which is shown in this article.

            The more animals’ one industrial farm contains the more money the owners will receive; however, this leads to an excessive amount of manure which will only help contaminate the environment. The mass amounts of animal waste can pollute certain areas with E. coli and other serious chemicals and gases, “producing 40 percent of the world’s largest methane and 65 percent of the world’s nitrous oxide.” The large herd of animals and the unhealthy, crowded conditions to where they are staying, will lead to certain diseases transferring amongst the livestock. Some diseases such as the sine influenza, avian influenza, foot-and-mouth disease, and mad cow disease, can infect humans as well. Organic farms are not as concerned about the amount of animals they have compared to factory farms. Organic farms contain just enough livestock to where the amount of manure there is, will fertilize the soil. They are also given much time outside, instead of being kept in a dirty, packed barn.

            While the farmers are trying to prevent the animals from getting any diseases, they inject the livestock with antibiotics. To make them bigger, they inject growth hormones. The antibiotics and hormones can cause health risks to the consumers and “seventy- five percent of the antibiotics used on livestock are not absorbed by the animals and are excreted in waste,” which can harm the environment.

            People, who frequently eat processed meat, place themselves at a greater risk of becoming obese and diabetic. However, it is ok to eat meat moderately, “meat is a good source of protein and important vitamins and nutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamins B3, B6, and B12.” Though eating too much can cause greater health issues.

            From the facts given in this article, it is important that people are aware of the amount of meat they consume, and how that meat is produced. The author isn’t necessarily telling us we need to be eating organic meat, but instead, he has given us valuable reasons as of why organic meat is a better choice than non organic meat. “Grass-fed beef contains less fat and more nutrients than its factory-farmed counterpart and reduces the risk of disease and exposure to toxic chemicals.” Throughout this article the author has made clear and credible reasons to why industrial farms may potentially be harmful to the human body and the planet.