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.
Only seven countries are as old as the United States, which begs the question: Why is ours so high? This is a major concern among public health officials, as late adolescence is one of the most important stages of cognitive development. The brain undergoes significant restructuring and specialization during this period, including the elimination of unnecessary neural connections and the refinement of connections between frontal-subcortical brain regions. Research shows that drinking alcohol, especially through excessive alcohol consumption, before the brain fully matures, can permanently damage the brain and hinder cognitive development. 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. 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. In the years following the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, alcohol consumption fell by 19 per cent among 18- to 20-year-olds and by 14 per cent among 21- to 25-year-olds. This was particularly interesting because research has shown that most minors report that alcohol is “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain. When it comes to alcohol, even small behavioral checks seem important, Glasner-Edwards says. “If it takes more effort, it saves the person some time to think about how important it is for them to drink at that time or to consider the possible negative consequences of alcohol consumption,” she explains.
“It seems that these barriers are significant for young people to benefit from these minimum age laws.” 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 passage of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, the legal age at which alcohol could be purchased varied from state to state.1 Teen alcohol use kills 4,300 people each year, more than all illicit drugs combined. References Sacks JJ, Gonzales KR, Bouchery EE, Tomedi LE, Brewer RD. 2010 National and state costs of excessive alcohol consumption. Am J Prev Med 2015; 49(5):E73 to E79. Read more When the “forbidden fruit” is no longer banned, young people simply drink more. In states where the drinking age was 18, young people drank more than in states where the minimum drinking age was 21. As adults, in their early twenties, they continued to drink more.4 References 4. Maisto, S.A. and Rachal, J.V.
(1980). Evidence of the link between adolescent drinking practices, related behaviours and the Drinking Age Act: A review of data from a national sample. In H. Wechsler (ed.), Minimum drinking age laws: An evaluation (pp. 155-176). Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath & Co. Read More Since then: High school alcohol consumption has dropped significantly, from 66% to 42% (see chart). Over the same period, binge drinking among high school graduates, that is, five or more drinks occasionally, decreased from 37% to 24%. 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 review of the United States The General Accounting Office, conducted in 1988, found that raising the drinking age reduced alcohol consumption among adolescents, driving after drinking alcohol, and alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents among adolescents. 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.
