Why 21? The concept that a person becomes a full adult at age 21 dates back centuries in English common law, the age at which a person could, among other things, vote and become a knight. Since a person was an official adult at age 21, it seemed to make sense that they could drink then, too.
For part of the 20th century, the drinking age was 18, after then-President Franklin Roosevelt approved lowering the minimum age for the military draft from 21 to 18 during World War II. When the Vietnam-era draft rolled around, though, people objected that if 18-year-old men were mature enough to fight, they were old enough to vote. In 1971, the states ratified the Twenty-sixth Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18. Legislators applied the same logic to drinking, and the states began reducing the drinking age as well.
Critics of the change decried rises in alcohol-related traffic fatalities among 18- to 20-year-old drivers, especially in areas where “blood borders” were created between states that allowed 18-year-olds to drink and those that didn’t. Teenagers from the more restrictive state would drive into one where they could buy booze, drink, and then drive home, which created a perfect storm for traffic fatalities.
Organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) began agitating for a uniform national drinking age of 21 to help eliminate these blood borders and keep alcohol out of the hands of supposedly less-mature 18-year-olds. As a result, President Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, which told states to set a minimum drinking age of 21 or lose up to 10 percent of their federal highway funding. Most states complied quickly. However, the law doesn’t actually prohibit drinking; it only outlaws the purchase and public possession by people under 21. Exceptions include possession (and presumably drinking) for religious practices, while in the company of parents, spouses, or guardians who are over 21, medical uses, and during the course of legal employment.
MADD’s “Why 21?” website touts a National Traffic Highway Administration finding that the raised drinking age policy saves around 900 lives a year. Traffic reports show a 62 percent decrease in alcohol fatalities among teen drivers since 1982, and raw numbers show that drunk-driving fatalities have definitely dropped since the early 1980s: Despite an 88 percent increase in the number of miles driven, 2007 saw over 8,000 fewer total alcohol-related traffic fatalities than 1982.
Critics point out, however, that non-alcohol traffic fatalities have also declined relative to the number of miles driven over the same time period, which could be attributed to any number of causes. And drinking and driving for the whole population might be down as the result of increased education on its consequences, harsher penalties, improved enforcement, or increased stigmatization of drunk driving. (YahooNews)
FAQs
Teens get drunk twice as fast as adults,9 but have more trouble knowing when to stop. Teens naturally overdo it and binge more often than adults. Enforcing the legal drinking age of 21 reduces traffic crashes,4-6 protects young people's maturing brains,12,14 and keeps young people safer overall.
Why 21 should be the drinking age? ›
The age 21 MLDA saves lives and improves health.
There is also evidence that the age 21 MLDA protects drinkers from alcohol and other drug dependence, adverse birth outcomes, and suicide and homicide.
Why is the age 21 instead of 20? ›
The concept that a person becomes a full adult at age 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. Since a person was an official adult at age 21, it seemed to make sense that they could drink then, too.
Why is alcohol not illegal? ›
Part of the reason for alcohol's legality is because usage dates back thousands of years, and because alcohol has become heavily associated with ceremony across cultures and centuries. Alcohol was once illegal in the United States. Prohibition, as the time period was known, lasted from 1920 to 1933.
Why did the drinking age change from 21 to 18? ›
From 1969 to 1976, some 30 states lowered their purchase ages, generally to 18. This was primarily because the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1971 with the passing into law of the 26th amendment. Many states started to lower their minimum drinking age in response, most of this occurring in 1972 or 1973.
Why is the drinking age 21 only in America? ›
1984-2014: National drinking age raised to 21: In response to the drunk driving epidemic of the 1970s, President Ronald Reagan passed the Minimum Drinking Age Act in July 1984, a law that mandated states increase the drinking age to 21.
Why is the drinking age 21 and not 22? ›
By the 1980s, this unusual patchwork of drinking ages started to be seen as a problem, especially by activist organizations like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and RID (Remove Intoxicated Drivers). They lobbied for a 21-year-old minimum legal drinking age, and President Ronald Reagan supported the cause.
Who raised the drinking age to 21? ›
§ 158) was passed by the United States Congress and was later signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on July 17, 1984. The act would punish any state that allowed persons under 21 years to purchase alcoholic beverages by reducing its annual federal highway apportionment by 10 percent.
Why isn't the drinking age 18? ›
In 1984, however, Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which forced states to return to 21 or lose some federal funding, in response to a substantial rise in car crashes and drunk driving incidents for young people in states that reduced their legal drinking ages.
Why is 21 not the age of adulthood? ›
After the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, the age of majority was lowered to 18 in most states. In most US states, one may obtain a driver's license, consent to sexual activity, and gain full-time employment at age 16 even though the current age of majority is 18 in most states.
Nationwide Prohibition lasted from 1920 until 1933. The Eighteenth Amendment—which illegalized the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol—was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1917. In 1919 the amendment was ratified by the three-quarters of the nation's states required to make it constitutional.
Is alcohol a drug True or false? ›
Alcohol is a depressant drug. Despite the initial feeling of energy it gives, alcohol affects judgment and inhibitions while slowing reaction times.
Has alcohol ever been illegal? ›
On January 17, 1920, 100 years ago, America officially went dry. Prohibition, embodied in the US Constitution's 18th Amendment, banned the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol. Yet it remained legal to drink, and alcohol was widely available throughout Prohibition, which ended in 1933.
What is Japan's drinking age? ›
In Japan, the legal adult age is 20. Japanese law prohibits individuals under the age of 20 to drink alcohol or smoke. Regardless of age, you must not force anyone to drink or smoke as it may cause serious health and social consequences.
Is 21 the age of adulthood? ›
In most U.S. states, children are considered adults at the age of 18. However, the legal age of adulthood should be reevaluated and changed to 21. Although being 18 does grant important privileges such as voting and joining the military, these privileges should not be introduced until age 21.
Why the legal age should be 18? ›
Second, 18 is the age of majority for other important activities such as voting, military service, and serving on juries, thus making it a natural focal point (though notably many states set different minimum ages for a variety of other activities such as driving, consenting to sexual activity, gambling, and purchasing ...
Why is the minimum drinking age 21 instead of 18 like it used to be in Texas? ›
The drinking age was raised back to 21 over federal highway funding. In 1984, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act passed, which stated federal highway funds would be withheld from U.S. states that failed to set the minimum legal drinking age back at 21.
How many lives has the 21 age limit for drinking saved? ›
To reduce alcohol-related fatal crashes among youth, all states have adopted a minimum legal drinking age of 21. NHTSA estimates that minimum-drinking-age laws have saved 31,959 lives from 1975 to 2017.
Why is drinking especially damaging to an underage individual? ›
Alcohol impairs one's decision-making capacity. As a result, young people who drink are more likely to engage in risk-taking behavior that can result in illness, injury, and death.
