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In the U.S., even though 18-year-olds are legally adults, they must wait an additional three years before they can legally drink alcohol. Was the age of 21 selected randomly, perhaps to give college seniors more time to experience bar life? Not quite.
The idea that adulthood begins at age 21 has roots in English common law, where this age was considered the threshold for important milestones like voting and becoming a knight. Since 21 marked official adulthood, it seemed natural that it would also be the age to drink. However, 21 wasn’t always the designated age to drink.
When— and why— was the drinking age set to 18?
Believe it or not, Franklin Roosevelt indirectly played a part in sparking this change. During World War II, FDR approved reducing the minimum draft age from 21 to 18. However, when the Vietnam draft came, people began to feel that it was unfair for 18-year-old men to be old enough to fight but not to vote. This led to the passing of the 26th Amendment in 1971, which lowered the voting age to 18. Lawmakers then started applying this same logic to alcohol, and as a result, the drinking age began to drop across the country.
Opponents of this shift pointed to an increase in alcohol-related traffic fatalities among drivers aged 18 to 20 in states where the drinking age had been lowered. The decentralization of the drinking age laws led to the creation of “blood borders,” where teenagers from states with stricter laws would cross into neighboring states to drink and then drive home, creating a dangerous mix for fatal accidents.
Even if young people weren’t more likely to drink and drive than older adults, all this cross-border activity meant that underage drinkers had to drive longer distances to get home compared to their older peers, who could easily walk to a nearby bar for a drink. The longer trips increased the chances of a drunk driving accident.
When did the drinking age return to 21?
Organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) began campaigning for a nationwide, uniform drinking age of 21 to close these “blood borders” and keep alcohol away from 18-year-olds, whom they considered less mature. This led to the signing of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 by President Reagan.
This legislation essentially instructed states to implement a minimum drinking age of 21 or face a loss of up to 10 percent of their federal highway funds. With such a significant financial penalty at stake, states quickly conformed. Interestingly, this law does not outright ban drinking; rather, it pressures states to make it illegal for individuals under 21 to buy or possess alcohol in public. Exceptions exist for religious practices, situations where the individual is with parents, spouses, or guardians over 21, medical use, and while employed in certain legal capacities.
MADD’s “Why 21?” website highlights that, “More than 25,000 lives have been saved in the U.S. thanks to the 21 Minimum Legal Drinking Age.” Traffic reports show a 61 percent drop in alcohol-related deaths among drivers under 21 between 1982 and 1998. Statistics reveal a consistent decrease in drunk driving fatalities since the early 1980s across all age groups. According to the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, overall drunk driving fatalities have dropped by 26 percent. In 2018, fewer than 1,000 people under the age of 21 died in alcohol-related crashes.
It’s challenging to identify the exact causes behind the reduction in total fatalities. Non-alcohol-related traffic deaths have also fallen relative to the number of miles driven over the same period, which could be attributed to several factors such as the increased use of seat belts, the widespread installation of airbags, and general safety improvements in cars and roadways. Furthermore, the decline in drinking and driving across all age groups could be due to greater public awareness, tougher penalties, improved law enforcement, and the growing social stigma surrounding drunk driving.
Who is advocating for lowering the drinking age now?
College presidents and chancellors backing the Amethyst Initiative—a movement started in 2008 to reassess the national drinking age of 21—acknowledge that drunk driving remains a serious issue. However, they argue it’s not the only danger young drinkers face. They suggest that lowering the drinking age would allow colleges to bring alcohol into the open and teach students about responsible drinking. This education, they believe, could help reduce alcohol poisoning, injuries from drunkenness, alcohol-fueled violence, and alcohol dependence among students.
Here’s an interesting tidbit: the group is named after the character Amethyst from Greek mythology. Amethyst caught the attention of a drunken Dionysus, who, in his state, transformed her into white stone. Realizing his mistake, the god poured wine over the stone, turning it into the purple gem we now call amethyst. The ancient Greeks believed wearing this stone could protect them from the effects of drunkenness.
