Dear Mr. President,

Today i was given the opportunity to write you a short essay based on what i believe is an important topic in today's economy. One of the most arguable conversations a group of people can have is the age of which an individual can legally drink. In my state, Michigan, it is 21 to buy. However, there are certain laws or religious beliefs that can play a factor into that, allowing for individuals to possibly consume alcohol when needed through certain events. Therefore, if the teenagers that could be participating in underage drinking are not of age, there are many penalties that can affect their lives for a really long time, if not end it. When a teenager consumes alcohol underage, they risk the chance of the alcohol actually damaging their brain and not allowing for full development. This can make it so you do not achieve your full potential as a person. After a survey taking heavy drinkers and force them to be sober for three weeks, they scored 10% lower than an average person that does not drink at all. This shows the true downfall of drinking. Another riskful trait of drinking as a teenager is death. Out of all teenager deaths that are related to driving while impaired accidents, 4,976 of them result in deaths of the victims. One of the greatest influences on teenage drinking is their friends or family. When an individual has an older friend who is of age, then normally they will have that friend purchase the alcohol for them, making it an easy gateway to illegal activities. These are just a few reasons at which alcohol can harm the human body, or just affect a person's life if they are caught with illegal substances. IF caught with these substances normally an individual is charged with a MIP or minor in possession, which can be easily paid off as a ticket, and some saturday service. These are just a few reasons to why i FIRMLY believe the drinking age should stay at the age of 21 years old, not just in Michigan but in the whole United States.

Sincerely,

Tristan Leiter