Will the Legal Drinking Age Change

After prohibition, nearly all states introduced a legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21. However, between 1970 and 1975, 29 states lowered the MLDA to 18, 19 or 20, mostly in response to the change in voting age. Studies conducted at the time showed that motor vehicle accidents among young people increased as states lowered their MLDA. In addition, the “blood boundaries” between states with different MLDAs came to public attention after high-profile accidents in which underage teens drove to a neighboring state with a lower MLDA, drank legally, and crashed on their way home. Stakeholders called on states to increase their MLDA to 21. Some did so in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but others did not. To promote a national drinking age, Congress enacted the National MLDA. A 1988 review by the U.S. General Accounting Office found that raising the drinking age reduced alcohol consumption among adolescents, driving after drinking among adolescents, and alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents among adolescents. This means that an overwhelming majority of under-21s drink alcohol anyway. There is no point in ruining someone`s life by drinking minors when responsible drinking habits can be encouraged from the age of 18. Adolescents may choose not to drink or drink less frequently because social acceptance is lower or the risks are increased by parental or judicial authorities.

Older teens and adults are less likely to provide liquor to minors, and licensed liquor stores are less likely to sell to minors because they think it`s illegal, morally wrong, or because they might be caught. [18] Not to mention the positive impact on revenues of small restaurants and bars that have suffered from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The government will also be able to levy taxes on the sale of these beverages and generate additional funds for essential services. The United States is one of only 12 countries in the world to have a legal drinking age of 21 and is the only Western country to have such a restriction. An overwhelming 116 countries have a legal drinking age of 18 or 19. The decline in alcohol and driving problems is the result of many factors, not just the increase in the purchasing age or the decrease in per capita consumption. These include education on drunk driving, designated driving programs, increased use of seat belts and airbags, safer cars, lower speed limits, free taxi services at drinking establishments, etc. The legal drinking age should be lowered to around 18 or 19 and young adults should be allowed to drink in controlled environments such as restaurants, taverns, pubs and official school and university events. In these situations, responsible consumption could be taught through model and educational programs. One would expect mature and reasonable consumption behaviour.

This opinion is based on research I have been involved in for over thirty years on college-aged teenagers and the history of alcohol consumption in the United States and other cultures. However, people cannot legally drink alcoholic beverages until the age of 21. It is high time for the United States to change this retrograde thinking. In most European countries, the minimum age to consume alcohol is 18, while some countries even allow legal consumption at the age of 16. People who do not think that the drinking age should be increased and possibly lowered feel this way for a number of reasons. Some believe it is a form of ageism, which actually encourages underage drinking and can put lives at risk because underage drinkers are concerned about reporting emergencies. The general lack of progress in reducing student alcohol use and related problems at the national level is of concern to many college officials.44 Since November 2009, the presidents and chancellors of 135 colleges and universities have signed the Amethyst Initiative (www.amethystinitiative.org), which calls for a public debate on lowering the legal drinking age to 18.46 suggest that the current legal drinking age of 21-year-old alcohol does not help prevent young people from drinking alcohol and experiencing the negative consequences of drinking. The Amethyst Initiative suggests that the observed decline in alcohol consumption, road deaths and related harms since the legal drinking age of 21 is due to other factors, such as: Improved vehicle safety and not changing the legal drinking age. In addition, they argue that alcohol consumption among young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 is driven by the legal drinking age, from bars — where it`s more closely monitored — to less safe private parties. Some university presidents have expressed concern that these hazardous drinking environments have contributed to an increase in deaths from alcohol poisoning among adolescents and young adults. They also argue that young adults aged 18 to 20 drink more responsibly in Western European countries where the legal drinking age is lower.

136 college and university presidents signed a pledge that the drinking age of 21 “doesn`t work,” citing excessive drinking, fake ID cards and the fact that adults between the ages of 18 and 20 can vote, serve on juries and enlist in the military. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), three million deaths (5.3% of all deaths) are attributable to harmful alcohol use each year. The WHO also reports that 13.5% of all deaths among people aged 20 to 39 are due to alcohol. Private dormitories and off-campus bars are the most frequently reported locations for underage student alcohol abuse.8,58 However, licensed facilities are not the safe and controlled places for alcohol consumption claimed by the Amethyst Initiative. Despite state restrictions on the purchase and consumption of alcohol for those under 21, many college communities have local ordinances that allow people between the ages of 18 and 20 to access bars. Underage patrons are often able to consume a lot of alcohol and beverages in off-campus bars, and excessive alcohol consumption is associated with disruptive and aggressive behaviour and physical altercations in these areas.58,59 Studies conducted in licensed facilities in several communities have shown that high levels of purchase attempts by underage and neglected drunk customers are successful.60–63 However, whether the establishment`s staff is trained and Illegal sales of alcohol to these guests are reduced.60,62 There is a strong correlation between drunk driving and juvenile driving. Data shows that since the age of alcohol was raised to 21, the number of alcohol-related car accidents has decreased significantly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that raising the drinking age to 21 saved 31,959 lives between 1975 and 2017. What`s more, some research has shown that people between the ages of 21 and 25 are the age group most likely to drive after drinking alcohol.

A U.S. District Court ruled on September 22. December 1978 that MLDA 21 is “reasonably related to a government goal of reducing motor vehicle accidents” and that MLDA 21 resists constitutional challenge on three important legal issues: (1) alcohol consumption is not a constitutionally guaranteed “fundamental right,” (2) age is not inherently a criterion for “suspect” discrimination (as opposed to race or ethnicity, for example), and (3) the use of drinking age for the prevention of motorway accidents has a “rational basis” in the available scientific evidence. [29] Since our current prohibition laws do not work, the need for alternative approaches must be tested from the experience of other older cultures that do not have these problems. Groups such as Italians, Greeks, Chinese, and Jews, who have few drinking problems, tend to share some common traits. Alcohol is not considered a poison or a magic force, there is little to no social pressure to drink, irresponsible behavior is never tolerated, teenagers learn at home from their parents and other adults how to manage alcohol responsibly, there is a social consensus about what constitutes responsible drinking. Given that the 21-year-old liquor law is not working and is counterproductive, it is incumbent upon us as a nation to amend our current prohibition law and teach responsible drinking techniques to those who have chosen to consume alcoholic beverages. Many rights in the United States are granted to citizens who are 21 years of age or older. A person cannot legally buy a handgun, gamble at a casino (in most states), or adopt a child until age 21, rent a car at age 25 (for most businesses), or run for president until age 35. Alcohol consumption should be limited in the same way because of responsibility to oneself and others. [24] The legal drinking age was perhaps the most studied alcohol control policy.12,46,48,49 Differences in laws between and within states over time have allowed researchers to study the effects of these policies and draw reliable conclusions.