This answers the legal question of why the drinking age is 21, but what was the underlying logic of the original policy? Did lawmakers simply pick 21 out of a hat because they wanted seniors to learn the nuances of bar culture before graduation? Almost. The concept of a person reaching the age of 21 dates back centuries in English common law; 21 was the age at which a person could, among other things, vote and become a knight. Given that a person was an official adult at the age of 21, it seemed reasonable that he could drink even then. In short, we ended up with a national minimum age of 21 due to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act 1984. This law essentially told states that they had to set a minimum drinking age of 21 or lose up to 10 percent of their federal funding for roads. Since this is a serious piece, states have become similar quite quickly. Interestingly, this law does not prohibit the consumption of alcohol per se; It only persuades states to prohibit the purchase and public ownership of persons under the age of 21. Exceptions include possession (and presumably consumption) of alcohol) for religious purposes, in the company of parents, spouses or guardians over the age of 21, for medical purposes, and in the course of lawful employment. For the most part, July 17 is a pretty anticlimactic day. (Unless you claim this date as your birthday, in which case, woo! Confetti keywords and banners.) Without knowing it, however, something happened in 1984 that affects many of us: the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed, which set the legal drinking age at 21.
Since then, arguments against the age of alcohol consumption have persisted. Some argue that the illegality of alcohol gives it a “taboo appeal” and actually increases rates of underage drinking. Others argue that if you can fight in war, you should be able to drink. Many activities have an age of initiation. A person has to wait until the age of 16 to start driving, until the age of 18 to marry without parental consent, until the age of 35 to become president, and so on. The age limit for alcohol is based on research showing that young people react differently to alcohol. Adolescents get drunk twice as fast as adults,9 but have a harder time knowing when to stop. Teenagers, of course, overdo it and are more often than adults. Raising the legal drinking age of 21 reduces road accidents,4-6 protects the brains of mature youth,12,14 and ensures overall safety. References 4. Fell, J.; Minimum Legal Drinking Age Policy Knowledge Asset, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Substance Abuse Policy Research Program website; March 2009.
Read More However, when the legal drinking age dropped nationwide in the `70s, alarm bells began ringing, notes licensed clinical psychologist Suzette Glasner-Edwards, PhD, associate professor at UCLA`s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. “Research conducted after this period strongly suggested that an increase in road accidents among young people was associated with this change in the legal drinking age,” she tells Teen Vogue. “As a result, citizen efforts have begun to push states to reinstate 21 as the legal minimum age.” While this age may seem a bit random (maybe even arbitrary), since you`re a legal adult at 18, Congress didn`t just choose the number of a hat. There is a long and rich history about alcohol in America and why the legal drinking age is set at 21. Prior to 1984, some states had set the legal drinking age at 18, 19 or 20. After prohibition, many states set a legal drinking age of 21. But that began to change after the voting age was lowered to 18. Many states have followed suit by lowering their drinking age, which has changed the landscape for the entire country. Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, which sets the legal purchasing age at 21. The Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) sets the legal age at which a person can purchase alcoholic beverages. The MLDA in the United States is 21 years. However, prior to the enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, the legal age at which alcohol could be purchased varied from state to state.1 History says no.
When U.S. states had a lower legal drinking age, the drinking problem was worse for minors.3 For example, before the legal drinking age of 21 was introduced by all states, underage drunk drivers were involved in more than twice as many fatal motor vehicle accidents as they are today.3 References 3. Has fallen, James. Excerpted from “Chapter 2: Federalism: Resolute, the Federal Government Should Restore the Freedom of Each State to Set Its Drinking Age.” in Ellis, Richard and Nelson, Michael (eds.) Debating Reform. CQPress Publishers, Fall 2009. In the 1980s, this unusual patchwork was seen as a problem by alcoholics, especially by activist organizations such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and RID (Remove Inwarmated Drivers). They advocated for an age of 21 to drink, and President Ronald Reagan supported the cause. Its mechanism to allow a national law? Threatens to suspend federal funding for highways for states that have not complied. At the end of prohibition in the 1930s, the legal drinking age was 21. This norm remained constant until 1971, when the minimum voting age was lowered to 18 and enthusiasm for lowering the legal drinking age also began to grow. Between 1970 and 1975, nearly half of the states lowered the drinking age to 18, 19 and 20. But the legal drinking age has not been set for medical reasons.
In 1984, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed, stipulating that federal funds for roads would be withheld by the United States. States that have failed to restore the legal drinking age to 21. By 1988, all states had introduced the minimum age. In fact, young people in Europe have higher rates of poisoning than in the United States, and less than a quarter had rates lower or equivalent to those in the United States. In addition, a higher percentage of young people in the majority of Europe report excessive drinking more often than in the United States. 1-2 Most European adolescents have higher rates of alcohol-related problems due to heavy drinking. Perhaps the best example of fact in relation to the myth is what happened in New Zealand. In 1999, New Zealand lowered the purchasing age from 20 to 18. Not only has the number of alcohol-related accidents increased, but young people have started drinking earlier, excessive alcohol consumption has increased, and in the 12 months following the lowering of the legal drinking age, there has been a 50% increase in the number of intoxicated patients aged 18 and 19 in the emergency department of Auckland Hospital.3 References 1. ESPAD Report 2003. Substance use among students in 35 European countries. Published in 2004.
Read excerpts here. 2. Johnston, L. D., O`Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2004). Monitoring the Future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2003 (NIH Publication No.
04-5506). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse. Read the overview here. 3. Kyrpi, Kypros, et al. “Minimum purchase age for alcohol and traffic accident injuries among 15- to 19-year-olds in New Zealand.” American Journal of Public Health, January 2006, Voi 96, No. 1. Along with Iceland, Japan and South Korea, the United States is one of the few developed countries to have a legal drinking age above 18, according to the World Health Organization. In some countries, such as Belgium and Germany, 16-year-olds are allowed to buy alcohol. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that annual road deaths have dropped by 16 percent as the legal drinking age has been lowered to 21, which equates to about 800 lives saved each year, according to the American Journal of Public Health.
