Annotated Bibliography paper 3
1. Baldauf, Sarah. "Setting The Bar At 18." U.S. News & World Report 142.14 (2007): 28.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.
Thesis: Baldauf interviewed John McCardell who believes that, “Decriminalizing
drinking by kids 18 and older, will bring their alcohol consumption out from hiding to
where parents and adults can monitor it and teach responsibility without conflict”.
Explanation: McCardell was a former President of Middlebury College, who then
decided to create the group Choose Responsibility. This group fights to lower the
drinking age because McCardell believes this will solve the drinking problem. He plans
to lower the age to 20, 19, or 18, and issue people of this age a drinking license, after
completing an alcohol awareness course. McCardell wants to find a permanent solution
to the drinking problem.
2. "Drinking While Young." State Legislatures 34.6 (2008): 11. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.
Thesis: “Our current drinking age forces young people to drink in private, so binge
drinking of serious alcohol is on the rise and can be deadly. Lower the drinking age, and
kids will choose to drink low-alcohol beer openly--and safely”.
Explanation: The author argues that teenagers drink because it is a “Forbidden Fruit”.
Once teens turn 18, they are considered an adult. This means they can vote, go to war,
own a gun, and even get married. However, they still can’t drink. Teenagers feel they
have the right to drink because they are adults, so they drink, and they drink a lot because
they can’t always do it.
3. Hanson, David. Controversies in the Addictions Field. Dubuque: Ruth C. Engs, 1990.
Web.
Thesis: Hanson argues that “Because drinking tends to be highly valued among
collegians, because it is now illegal for those under 21 to purchase alcohol, reactance
motivation would be stimulated among such students, leading more of them to drink”.
Explanation: Hanson asserts that the legal drinking age of 21 should be lowered. He
collects evidence from various studies to show us that people under age used alcohol
more when it was harder to obtain than when it is not. He shows us that there are little
differences between drinking patterns between young people who can and cannot drink
legally. He also claims that those who begin drinking at an earlier age in the safety of
their home with their parents do not develop drinking problems as adults. This is because
they learn to control their drinking.
4. Toomey, Traci L., Toben F. Nelson, and Kathleen M. Lenk. "The Age-21 Minimum
Legal Drinking Age: A Case Study Linking Past and Current Debates." Addiction 104.12
(2009): 1958-1965. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.
Thesis: “We discuss first the historical movements to establishing an age-21 MLDA
across the country. We then place the current movement to reduce the MLDA to age 18
within that context and provide a summary of the similarities and dissimilarities between
the historical and current debates”.
Explanation: Toomey, Nelson and Lenk bring to the surface facts on the drinking age and
its history. They show us how lowering the drinking age affected minors with various
statistics on deaths car accidents. They also acknowledge organizations fighting to lower
the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA). These organizations give valid points and
guidelines on lowering the MLDA and how this should be done.
5. Wasley, Paula. "Taking On 21." Chronicle Of Higher Education 53.31 (2007): 32.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.
Thesis: Wasley admires John McCardell when he believes that “lowering the drinking
age to 18 would significantly reduce the harmful effects of alcohol consumption among
students”.
Explanation: John McCardellis the founder of the organization, Choose Responsibility.
McCardell argues that a drinking age of 21 is not lowering the amount of fatalities in
drunken accidents. He asserts it is the fact that seatbelt laws are being enforced as well as
safer car technology. McCardell has been fighting for 12 years against the drinking age of
21. He thinks it makes underage drinkers drink more heavily because they don’t know
when the next time they will drink is, so they drink to get drunk. When they do this, they
are at serious risk of fatalities.
6. Wechsler, Henry, and Toben F. Nelson. "Will Increasing Alcohol Availability By
Lowering The Minimum Legal Drinking Age Decrease Drinking And Related
Consequences Among Youths?." American Journal Of Public Health 100.6 (2010): 986992. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.
Thesis: Henry and Nelson are responding to Amethyst Initiative, a group of college
presidents who are campaigning to lower the drinking age, by stating evidence against
them. “The weight of the scientific evidence, evaluated by many experts and government
agencies, demonstrates that the minimum legal drinking age of 21 years is effective
public policy for reducing underage drinking and preventing the negative consequences
that can result from underage drinking”.
Explanation: The Amethyst Initiative believes lowering the drinking age will decrease the
amount of college students who binge drink. They believe college students binge drink
because alcohol doesn’t come around easily so they drink as much as they can when it is
available so lowering the drinking age will remove that problem. Henry and Nelson
believe if the drinking age is lowered, college students will drink and drive more often
because they will drink more.