Beginning of Essay
The drinking age in the United States is a contradiction. At the age of eighteen, one can drive a car, vote in an election, get married, serve in the military and buy tobacco products. In the United States you are legally an adult at eighteen. An eighteen-year-old ....

Middle of Essay
.... a bias involving the drinking law. In almost every aspect other than the drinking age, these freshmen are considered adults. However, they are told by the law they are not responsible enough to handle alcohol. Elizabeth Whelan declares, "Banning drinking by young people makes it a badge of adulthood -- a tantalizing forbidden fruit" (84). This badge of adulthood is quickly attained by college freshman, who lash out at the drinking age, with binge drinking. The abuse of alcohol by young people can likely be prevented, certainly not in all cases but in many. In most European countries moderate drinking is common by teenagers. These teens have been t ....