What is the Legal Drinking Age in the United States and Why?
It as President Reagan who signed this law into effective in 1984, and many credit Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) with being the most influential proponent for the act. Whether that is true or not, one thing is clear, the act was signed into law after much support from many special interests groups, of which MADD was definitely one.
Drinking has long been a government issue, though many do not understand why. In 1919, prohibition effectively prohibited everyone from drinking, regardless of age, and made it criminal to manufacture, sell, possess or consume alcoholic beverages. By 1933, prohibition was repealed, and alcoholic beverages were once again legal to possess and consume, but this prompted many states, cities, and municipalities to create legislation to control drinking.
A fairly consistent state regulation was to set a legal drinking age requirement. Many states were pretty consistent for liquor at setting the age at 21, but most of those did allow people who were 18 or older to purchase or consume the lower alcohol content products such as beer and wine.
Then enter the Vietnam Era, where soldiers as young as 18 years of age were asked to die for their country, but could not drink in their country, and many did not agree that a person who is considered legally an adult should not be allowed to make any and all adult choices, including whether or not to consume alcoholic beverages.
Many states did change legislation during the Vietnam Era to allow 18 year olds to drink, and most military bases, even in states with 21 minimum drinking ages, would allow people in active military, while on base, to consume alcoholic beverages at 18.
Eventually, however, the baby boomers all grew up, and what was good for them was no longer good for their children, and the very people who fought against the legal drinking age at 21 now were fighting for it. So by the end of the 1970s and the early part of the 1980s, legislation about the minimum drinking age become a primary focus of our government. There were many studies, many ad campaigns, and a lot of research about the effects of alcohol on younger brains.
It was determined by several studies that a youth's brain is not fully developed until about 21 years of age, and that because of that, alcohol affects youth's brains differently than it does an adults. That magic number '21' kept coming up all over again, and eventually, the Act was passed requiring states to increase the legal drinking age to 21 or risk losing a percentage of funding for their highways. The Act gave them two years to do so. Some states did; some states didn't - but currently, all states have enacted some type of minimum drinking age legislation, with certain exceptions being allowed by at least 31 states for parents providing it, entering establishments (for example, in Texas, you must be 21 to drink, but many bars allow you to enter the establishment if you are 18, you just are not allowed to drink while there), and other exceptions. Of course, the 21 year old drinking age minimum requirement does make exceptions for religious ceremony and medical purposes too.
Also, the federal law does allow for additional exceptions for possession for things such as employment. An 18 year old can work at a liquor store or bar or restaurant and serve alcohol, which allows them to possess it for this purpose, but they cannot consume it.
Some states are more specific about the prohibitions than others, and some municipalities actually have no legislation specifically related to drinking age. There is a lot of confusion over what is and is not allowed, and it varies so much by state, that it's probably better to just be safe and not drink or possess alcohol if you are under 21 years of age, no matter what state you reside in.
However, the United States still has the highest legal drinking age of all other countries. Spain, Russia, Mexico, Ireland, England, and Australia all list 18 as the legal age, and Italy, Greece, Germany, Portugal and a few others allow their citizens to drink beer as young as 16. A few countries actually have no legal drinking age at all.
According to the Journal of American Public Health, as of January 2006, there are five states with pending legislation to lower the minimum drinking age in their state.
Published by Michy Lynn - Featured Contributor in Health & Wellness
Michy is an author & freelance writer, with a penchant for fiction, creative nonfiction and topics that pique her passion: alternative medicine, animals & pets, love & relationships, and her all-time favorit... View profile
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- Lower the Legal Drinking Age in America
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- The US has the highest legal drinking age of any country.
- Some countries don't even have legal drinking ages.
- States can have drinking ages lower than 21, but if they do, they lose federal highway funding.
49 Comments
Post a CommentThe drinking age in the United states of America should be lowered to 18
Excellent article! And it has certainly spurred on a good deal of erudite discussion, hasn't it?
i live in canada i'm in my thirtys look like in my mid 20 but i get ask id all the time. the age is 18 or 19. one of the bars got caught selling alchol to minors they got away with it just tell me why
I heard India has a drinking age of 25
My brother just passed away from cirrhosis, he started drinking at the age of 13 he had a hard and sad life. he was 45 when he died. what alcohol does to the body is sadning. The brain isn't developed all the way yet.....you young one's have a long life ahead of you...dont be in such a hurray to rush things....learn the facts
This is a ridiculous law! The main reason most states keep the drinking age at 21 is because they will lose money for highways. Could you imagine getting charged with "Consuming alcohol being a minor" when your 18 years old, how embarrassing! Our forefathers would spit in the face of the U.S. for making the 18 year olds actually wait until they were 21. Its our rights/responsibility. This may sound bad but another main reason why it is 21 is supposedly because it saves lives and is more healthy for the individual if they wait, WHO CARES! IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY/RIGHT TO CONSUME ALCOHOL! IF A PERSON KILLS SOMEONE, THEY PAY THE PRICE AND GO TO JAIL, THATS WHY PRISONS WERE MADE! I personally think that alcohol should be lowered to age 19 or completely banned, because this is in my opinion is what the U.S. is doing for all 18-20 year olds.
for all you people tryin to blame drunk driving on teens or sayin that if they change the law there will be more drunk driving you should think about what you say because it doesnt matter what your age is it matters what kind of person they are you can be any age over 16 and be a drunk driver if your stupied enough to do it ive seen many many people over the age of 21 drink and drive and by the way for those that say 18 year olds will buy beer and crap for people under the age get a clue that happens already with 21 year olds teens find ways to get what they want so the law should be changed to 18 because thats when your considered an adultend of story
If you look at all the accidents that you are referring to, the drinking and driving... the majority are not MINOR, UNDERAGE drinkers. If you can choose to smoke and ruin your lungs, MAE, you should be able to make the choice to mess up your lievr... also, if the legal age was 18 but they added the exception that you had to be out of H.S i dont see a problem. The people that get into trouble are the people rebelling... not everyone does that, some people actually get a D.D and some people only have a drink or two when they go out, dont act like just because the age changes its going to make everyone into a binge drinker!
I'm beginning to think they only make the drinking age 21 for cities to make money off of MIP's. Think about how much money cities, especially college towns would lose if the drinking age was lowered to 18. This is not a matter of safety, its a matter of cities making money off of those pointless MIP's. What do y'all think? Post a comment about this please.
hey johnny - add the number of people killed because of drinking and driving, people killed because of drunken fights or drunken abusers or any conflict fueled by alchohol - to the pancreas and liver casualties and see what you come up with!