1. Although many believe that anyone under the age of 21 is prohibited from consuming alcohol in the United States, underage drinking is allowed in 29 states if done on private premises with parental consent, 30 states if for religious purposes, and 13 states if for educational purposes. [6][13]
   
   
2. Between 1970 to 1976, 30 states lowered their Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) from 21 to 18, 19, or 20. [11]
   
   
3. The enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 (56 KB)  [7] prompted states to raise their legal age for purchase or public possession of alcohol to 21 or risk losing millions in federal highway funds. 

1. Turning 18 entails receiving the rights and responsibilities of adulthood to vote, serve on juries, get married, sign contracts, join the military--which includes taking on the responsibilities of life and death--and be prosecuted as adults. Adults from the age of 18 should therefore also be trusted to make decisions about alcohol consumption. [10]
   
   
2. When adolescents are not taught to drink in moderation, they end up binge drinking when they do consume alcohol. It is better to teach youth to learn how to drink responsibly and hold them accountable for their actions as we do with driving. [16]
   
   
3. Although the United States increased the MLDA to 21, its rate of traffic fatalities in the 1980s decreased less than that of European countries whose legal drinking ages are lower than 21 (54 KB) , [4] proving that establishing an MLDA at 21 is not necessarily an effective way to reduce traffic fatalities.
   
   
4. Lowering the drinking age will make alcohol less of a taboo, take away the thrill that many young people get from breaking the law, and make alcohol consumption a more normalized activity done in moderation. [17]
   
   
5. Prohibiting teens from drinking in bars, restaurants, and public locations has the effect of forcing them to drink in unsupervised places such as fraternity houses or house parties. When teens get hurt from alcohol-related injuries or accidents, they are sometimes afraid of seeking medical help for fear of legal consequences. Lowering the drinking age will allow teens to drink alcohol in regulated environments with supervision. [9]
   
   
6. Keeping the drinking age at 21 sends the wrong message that alcohol consumption represents maturity, which leads teens to want to consume alcohol to appear mature. Lowering the drinking age would help dispel this misconception. [23]
   
   
7. National alcohol prohibition from 1920 to 1933 failed, which shows that strict regulation of drinking is counterproductive, unenforceable, and can lead to an increase in illegal and underground activities. [8]
   
   
8. Moving the MLDA to 21 has simply shifted the risk of fatal accidents from teens to young adults (86 KB) . [5]
   No matter what the MLDA is, anyone can suffer the adverse effects of alcohol if they do not drink responsibly.
   
   
9. Enforcing an MLDA of 21 is expensive and inefficient. Drinking is still a major problem among teens. It would be more effective to spend money on educating youth about alcohol than to spend it on enforcement of drinking laws for 18 to 20 year olds. [21][22]
   
   
10. Drinking in moderation is good for one's health, including people aged 18 to 20. [20]
    
    
11. Setting the MLDA at 21 is unconstitutional because it is discrimination against the particular age group of 18 to 20 year olds. [19]
    
    

1. States that previously lowered the drinking age to 18, such as Massachussets (4 MB) , [1] Michigan, and Maine (9 MB) , [2] experienced an increase in alcohol-related crashes among the 18 to 20 age group. 
   
   
2. Raising the MLDA back to 21 has decreased the percentage of fatal traffic accidents for those between 18 to 20 by 13% and has saved approximately 21,887 lives (195 KB) [3] from 1975-2002.
   
   
3. Because teens are simultaneously undergoing physical changes, peer pressure, and new situations and urges, allowing them to consume alcohol can make them more vulnerable to drug and substance abuse, unplanned and unprotected sex, depression, violence, and other social ills. [14][15]
   
   
4. Current MLDA laws set at 21 are working because the percentage of underage drinkers has decreased since 1984. [12]
   
   
5. When teens drink alcohol, they are more likely to binge drink than people above the age of 21, thus demonstrating that teens are more prone to alcohol abuse than older demographics and should not be allowed to consume alcohol. [14]
   
   
6. Since teens who drink alcohol have a higher chance of academic failure, allowing teens to drink will negatively affect more students' academic performance. [15]
   
   
7. Lower drinking ages to 16, 17, or 18 like the MLDA in some European countries is inappropriate for US standards because American teens generally start driving at earlier ages and drive more often than their European counterparts. American teens are thus much more likely to drive under the influence of alcohol if the drinking age were lowered in the US. [18]
   
   
8. The earlier a person begins alcohol use, the greater the chances are of that person becoming an alcoholic later in life, suffering negative physical withdrawal symptoms, and harming his/her brain during its development. [13]
   
   

All 50 US states have set their minimum drinking age to 21 although exceptions do exist on a state-by-state basis for consumption at home, under adult supervision, for medical necessity, and other reasons.

Proponents of lowering the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) from 21 argue that it has not stopped teen drinking, and has instead pushed underage binge drinking into private and less controlled environments, leading to more health and life-endangering behavior by teens.

Opponents of lowering the MLDA argue that teens have not yet reached an age where they can handle alcohol responsibly, and thus are more likely to harm or even kill themselves and others by drinking prior to 21. They contend that traffic fatalities decreased when the MLDA increased.

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Bar graph of current, binge, and heavy alcohol use among persons aged 12 to 20, by gender in 2007. Source: Figure 3.7 in "Results from the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings," www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH, Sep. 2008

The repeal of alcohol prohibition by the 21st Amendment on Dec. 5, 1933 allowed each state to set its own alcohol consumption laws. [11] At that time, most states established the MLDA for alcohol at 21 years of age, although two states set an MLDA of 21 for men and 18 for women: Illinois (1933-1961) and Oklahoma (1933-1976). The 1976 US Supreme Court case Craig v. Boren (1.58 MB)  ruled 7-2 that this age difference violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Following the July 1, 1971 passage of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18 years of age, 30 US states lowered their MLDA to 18, 19, or 20; by 1982, only 14 states still had an MLDA of 21. [11]

Reports in the 1970's showing that teenage car accidents increased in states where the MLDA had been lowered from 21 prompted Congress to pass the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 (56 KB) .

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Bar graph showing 77% of Americans opposed to lowering the drinking age to 18 nationwide, polled July 12-15, 2007. Source: "Most Americans Oppose Lowering Legal Drinking Age to 18 Nationwide," www.gallup.com, July 27, 2007

[7] Although the Act did not require a national MLDA of 21, it effectively mandated it by stipulating that some federal transportation funds would be witheld from states that failed to make 21 their minimum age for purchasing and publicly possessing alcohol. [7] Since 1984, all states that had previously lowered their MLDA from 21 have all raised their MLDA back to 21. South Dakota and Wyoming were the last states to do so in 1988. [24]

The consumption of alcohol by people under 21 is generally illegal across the United States, however, 41 states have set exceptions that allow underage consumption of alcohol in certain circumstances. For example, underage drinking is allowed in 29 states if done on private premises with parental consent, 30 states if for religious purposes, and 13 states if for educational purposes. [6]

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Proportion of 83 countries' MLDAs (if any) from ages 14 to 21. See source for the list of countries included and their drinking ages. Source: Cognac, "Legal Drinking Age In Different Countries," www.cognac.com, May 22, 2009

The discrepancy between the MLDA and the age of majority--and its many responsibilities and authorities--along with continued incidents of alcohol abuse reported on college campuses have fueled debate on whether or not setting the MLDA at 21 is fair, smart, and effective. [26]