Should the legal drinking age be lowered to eighteen?

There are strong opinions on either side of this debate. Of course, the young adults, under the age of twenty one, would like the law changed to allow them to participate in this adult activity. After all, eighteen is the legal age of consent, the legal age to enter a contract, the legal age to marry and the legal age to serve in our armed forces and die for our country. So, why are they not considered "mature" enough to have a drink of alcohol? It seems rather hypocritical to allow young adults most of their adult responsibilities, but not one particular activity. It seems if they are not mature enough to engage in the consumption of alcohol, they should not be considered adults under any of the other adult situations either. Therefore, the legal age should be raised across the board to twenty one for all adult activities.

The arguments have been raised pointing to the irresponsibility of underage drinking, yet one only has to peruse a local newspaper's police report to find a rather high number of "legal" drinkers being arrested for drunken driving. It seems quite rare to see the names and ages of underage drinkers listed in the local papers. Irresponsibility doesn't appear to be exclusive to adults under the age of twenty one.