Who Made the Legal Drinking Age 21

Prior to 1984, some states had set the legal drinking age at 18, 19 or 20. In the 1960s, Congress and state legislatures came under increasing pressure to lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. This was largely due to the Vietnam War, in which many young men who were not allowed to vote (or drink legally) were conscripted into the war and therefore had no way of influencing the people they sent to risk their lives. «Old enough to fight, old enough to vote» was a slogan commonly used by proponents of lowering the voting age. The slogan dates back to World War II, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt lowered the military age to 18. With the lowering of the voting age to 18, the legal drinking age (MLDA) has also been lowered, as the ability to vote (and for men to be unwittingly conscripted into the military) should also allow for the legal consumption of alcoholic beverages. College campuses across the country continue to struggle with underage drinking problems, despite the national MLDA of 21. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has taken a particular interest in this topic and has compiled a list of recommendations that colleges should implement to combat underage drinking on campus. However, few schools have actually implemented these recommendations and, according to a recent study, most intervention programs currently in place on campus have proven ineffective.

Underage drinking on college campuses is almost impossible to prevent, as access to alcoholic beverages is extremely easy. [15] Despite these improvements, too many young people still drink. In 2012, 42% of Grade 12 students, 28% of Grade 10 students, and 11% of Grade 8 students reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days. In the same year, approximately 24% of Grade 12 students, 16% of Grade 10 students, and 5% of Grade 8 students reported excessive drinking in the past two weeks. The average minimum age for drinking varies around the world. It ranges from 13 in Burkina Faso to a total ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in Brunei. However, these changes were soon followed by studies showing an increase in road crash deaths due to the decrease in MLDA. In response to these findings, many states have raised the legal drinking age to 19 (and sometimes to 20 or 21). [5] In 1984, the National Minimum Legal Drinking Act, drafted by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and influenced by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), required all states to set their minimum purchasing age at 21. Any state that chooses not to comply with the law would withhold up to 10 percent of its federal highway funding. Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, which sets the legal purchasing age at 21. The drinking age has been raised to 21 due to federal funding for highways.

Wisconsin was the first U.S. state to adopt a minimum drinking age in 1839. It prevented the sale of wines or spirits to persons under the age of 18 without parental consent. The Court specifically distinguished South Dakota v. Dole, the case of the age of alcohol consumption, because only a small part of the road funds were at risk. There will certainly be future litigation if other federal programs are changed and all funding for the existing program is compromised. Several studies, including a 2011 review, have provided evidence against the idea that raising the drinking age to 21 actually saves lives in the long term. [17] [18] [19] [20] For example, Miron and Tetelbaum (2009) found that when federal and unforced states have been separated, any life-saving effect in forced states is statistically or virtually no longer significant, and even in states that voluntarily adopt, the effect does not appear to last beyond the first year or two.

They also note that age 21 appears to have little impact on adolescent alcohol use. [21] There is also evidence that road deaths only moved from the 18-20 age group to the 21-24 age group and were not prevented. [22] [23] [20] In addition, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and several other countries have experienced similar or faster declines in road fatalities than the United States since the early 1980s, although they have not increased the drinking age to 21. [24] In contrast, the Institute of Medicine has reviewed a large number of studies on the legal drinking age, including peer-reviewed academic journals,[25][26][27] and widely regarded the policy as a success[28] – so much so that they have advocated for similar restrictions on tobacco. For example, they cite a study by Kypri and colleagues that states: «No road safety policy, with the possible exception of motorcycle helmet laws, has more evidence of its effectiveness than minimum legal laws for alcohol consumption.» [29] Despite its name, this law did not prohibit the consumption of alcoholic beverages by persons under the age of 21, but only their purchase. However, Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia, have extended the law to a complete ban. The minimum age for buying and drinking alcohol is a state law, and most states still allow alcohol consumption by «minors» under certain circumstances.