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In all 50 States, anyone under the age of 21 is forbidden from purchasing or publicly possessing drinking alcohol. This does not mean it’s illegal to drink – anyone under 21 just can’t buy it, nor walk around with it. At the same time, some states even extend the law to prohibit consumption in most cases. But why is the US so stringent about the drinking age? Most Western countries minimum drinking age is 18, and very few use 21. (And if you want a no-drinking- age country nearby, check out Uruguay or Jamaica.) Specifically in the US, why is the drinking age 21, especially when it used to be 18?
Firstly, a bit of history: The Prohibition (1920 to 1933) was a downright failure, and therefore some sort of balance needed to be struck. Therefore, in 1933, the drinking age in most states was set to 21. However, the onset of the 26th Amendment – which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 – coupled with the Vietnam War draft, caused a public outcry for lowering the drinking age to 18. “Why can we vote, and die for our country, but not drink alcohol?” was the prevailing question, which got lawmakers to lower the drinking age to 18 in most states.
However, drunk driving became a growing problem, especially with “alcohol borders” – states whose drinking age was still 21, versus neighboring states whose drinking age was 18. College-age kids would drive from the former to the latter, drink up, and then crowd back into their cars to get back to their home state. Accidents, and unfortunately, fatalities, ensued.
Public lobbying, in large part by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), brought the issue federal status again in 1984, when Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age, setting the minimum at 21 years old. The Act took hold because it punished any state whose drinking age was lower than 21 by withholding 10% of its highway budget allotment. Given the cash involved, states rushed to up their drinking age to 21.
Does the drinking age make for a safer society? It’s hard to know with statistics. Reading various sources, one can find reports showing, on the one hand, that drunk driving fatalities declined after 1984, but on the other hand, so did driving fatalities in general. So was it the lack of alcohol in the system of the driver, or was it the overall higher use of seatbelts? Pinpointed studies are often difficult to arrange, and can be questionable for making general statements.
All told, whether or not the older drinking age makes our country safer is up for debate. Nonetheless, the drinking age is law. Businesses are penalized for selling to those underage, and therefore need to take precautions against accidentally selling illegally. Therefore, the drinking age becomes an issue of security for a business, often making a bouncer a no-brainer. Consider the security aspects of the drinking age specific to your business or private affair, and call ISSM for a consultation accordingly.
