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To lawmakers, educators, parents, health professionals, and citizens:

We are calling for a serious national conversation about raising the legal age of adulthood and drinking age from 18 and 21 to 25. This proposal is not about taking freedom away from younger people. It is about protecting them during one of the most vulnerable stages of life. Modern neuroscience shows that the human brain continues developing well into a person’s mid-20s, especially the parts responsible for judgment, impulse control, emotional regulation, long-term planning, and resistance to pressure or manipulation. While many 18-year-olds are intelligent and capable, science increasingly suggests that most people at that age are still developing mentally and emotionally in ways that can heavily affect decision-making. At 18, people are often expected to make life-changing choices involving relationships, finances, contracts, work, education, and independence, even though they may still be highly vulnerable to coercion, peer pressure, emotional influence, and exploitation. Raising the age of legal adulthood to 25 would recognize the reality that maturity does not suddenly appear on a person’s 18th birthday. This issue also matters because society often treats teenagers as adults when it is convenient, while still acknowledging in many other situations that they are young and inexperienced. Many people feel uncomfortable with how quickly society normalizes the idea that someone can go from being considered a child to being fully available for adult industries (aka pornography), adult relationships, or adult responsibilities overnight. Changing it to 25 would create stronger protections for younger people and reduce opportunities for exploitation by older adults who may take advantage of inexperience or emotional immaturity. The same concern applies to alcohol. The drinking age in the United States was raised from 18 to 21 in 1984 because lawmakers recognized that younger drinking was contributing to preventable deaths, accidents, addiction, and unsafe behavior. That decision saved lives. Well, not always. Today, we should continue that progress by considering whether 25 is a more scientifically and socially responsible age. Alcohol affects the developing brain in serious ways. Research has linked heavy drinking in younger adults to impaired memory, increased risk-taking, addiction vulnerability, poor mental health outcomes, and reduced decision-making ability. If the brain is still developing through the early and mid-20s, then allowing unrestricted alcohol consumption before that development is complete may be causing long-term harm.

Supporters of raising the adulthood and drinking age to 25 believe it could help:

Reduce alcohol-related accidents and deaths

Lower addiction rates

Protect young adults from exploitation and manipulation

Encourage healthier emotional development

Reduce impulsive crime and reckless behavior

Strengthen long-term decision-making

Improve educational and career outcomes

Create healthier relationship standards

Give younger people more time to mature before facing full adult pressures. Critics may argue that if someone can work, pay taxes, or serve in the military at 18, they should automatically receive every adult privilege. However, rights and responsibilities do not always need to begin at the exact same age. Society already sets different ages for different activities because risk and maturity vary. Driving, gambling, drinking, renting cars, and holding certain jobs already have different age requirements. Adjusting adulthood laws would simply continue that principle using updated scientific understanding. This proposal is not meant to insult young people or claim they are incapable. Many people under 25 are responsible, hardworking, and compassionate. The purpose is not punishment — it is protection. Younger adulthood is a critical developmental stage, and laws should reflect what science and experience tell us about that stage. We must stop pretending that turning 18 magically transforms a teenager into a fully mature adult overnight. Real maturity develops gradually. The law should evolve alongside modern understanding of psychology, neuroscience, and public health.

We therefore urge legislators to:

Begin national hearings and research into raising the legal age of adulthood to 25

Reevaluate the legal drinking age based on modern brain-development science

Strengthen protections for younger adults against exploitation and coercion

Expand education about brain development and emotional maturity

Encourage policies that prioritize long-term health and safety over outdated social expectations

A society should not only ask what people are legally allowed to do. It should also ask whether its laws genuinely protect people during the most vulnerable stages of life. If science, safety, and human wellbeing matter, then it is time to seriously consider whether 25 — not 18 or 21 — is the age at which full adulthood should legally begin.