Along with Iceland, Japan and South Korea, the United States is one of the few developed countries to have a legal drinking age above 18, according to the World Health Organization. In some countries, such as Belgium and Germany, 16-year-olds are allowed to buy alcohol. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that annual road deaths have dropped by 16 percent as the legal drinking age has been lowered to 21, which equates to about 800 lives saved each year, according to the American Journal of Public Health. Interestingly, it also seems to affect class attendance if alcohol is kept further away from young people. Compared to states that had a legal drinking age of 18, students were 13 times more likely to stay in school when the legal drinking age in the state was 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.” It`s important to make sure your restaurant or bar complies with alcohol laws. This can help you avoid penalties or fines and perhaps prevent someone who isn`t old enough to drink from making a bad choice. After all, some of life`s best things are worth the wait.

Today, there are those who say that the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18, arguing that if you can serve, fight and die for your country, you should be able to buy a beer. On the other hand, there are those on the other side of the debate who say so should be increased to 25, the point at which the adult brain reaches full development. Whatever your opinion on the subject, it is important to see how we got here. Why has the law changed? What does this mean for us today? The repeal of the ban by the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on 5. December 1933 allowed each state to establish its own laws on alcohol consumption. At the time, most states set the legal drinking age (MLDA) at 21. Consuming alcohol while the brain is still developing can also increase the risk of alcohol dependence. A 2011 study of 600 Finnish twins by researchers at Indiana University found that people who drank regularly as teenagers were more likely to develop alcohol dependence later in life. The study asked twins about their drinking habits at age 18 and again at age 25. The study of the twins is particularly noteworthy because the twins had the same environmental and genetic background, factors that could influence their alcohol behavior. Filed Under: Laws labeled with: legal drinking age, legal drinking age in the United States, When was the legal drinking age changed to 21? In the United States, there have been proposals to change the legal drinking age.

They haven`t gone far with lawmakers, making it unlikely that the minimum drinking age will change anytime soon. From the founding of America until the early 20th century, there were no restrictions on the purchase or consumption of alcohol. In those early days of the country, young people at a younger age were treated like adults. On average, they left home much earlier, worked, got married and had children much earlier than they do today. As a result, there have never been more than 10 states restricting the purchase of alcohol, while the vast majority of states were under no legal drinking age. Wisconsin was the first U.S. state to adopt a minimum drinking age in 1839. It prevented the sale of wines or spirits to persons under the age of 18 without parental consent. The minimum age to consume alcohol in Mexico is 18 and alcohol is permanently available in many places. 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. In Canada, there is no federal law setting a minimum age for drinking.

Each province and territory can set its own legal drinking age.