National Minimum Drinking Age Act

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The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was passed on July 17, 1984 by the United States Congress as a mechanism whereby all states would become thereafter required to legislate and enforce the age of 21 years as a minimum age for purchasing or public possession of alcoholic beverages. Under the Federal Aid Highway Act, a state not enforcing the minimum age would be subjected to a ten percent decrease in its annual federal highway apportionment. ^[1]

While this act did not outlaw the consumption of alcoholic beverages by those under 21 years of age, some states extended its provisions into an outright ban. However, most states still permit "underage" consumption of alcohol in some circumstances. In some states, no restriction on private consumption is made, while in others, consumption is only allowed in specific locations, in the presence of consenting and supervising family members, and/or during religious occasions.^[2]^[3]

Pressure from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was credited with passage of the bill.

[edit] Opposition

There have been many complaints that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was a type of political blackmail. This included allegations that MADD was coerced by auto insurance companies who saw this Act as an opportunity to increase their own profits.^{[citation needed]} The New York State Conservative Party opposed the passage of the law in 1984, but according to The New York Post no longer considers the effort to bring back drinking by those under 21 worthwhile. In 2001, according to the same article, New York State Assembly member Felix Ortiz introduced a bill that would lower the drinking age to 18. He cited unfairness and difficulty with enforcement as his motivations. ^[4]

Many, including a number of well respected sociologists such as David J. Hanson, claim that the laws cause irresponsible drinking. Hanson says that because it is not possible for young people to learn responsible drinking habits before striking out on their own, it takes years after passing the legal age to learn to drink responsibly. He also claims that because young people cannot drink at home, with adult supervision, they tend to drink at parties or other hot spots of poor judgment. Drunk driving and alcoholism ensue. Sociologists like Hanson look to Europe, where drinking laws are far more liberal and irresponsible drinking is much less common, for inspiration.

In 2005, the president of Vermont's Middlebury College, John M. McCardell, Jr. wrote in The New York Times that "the 21-year-old drinking age is bad social policy and terrible law" that has made the college drinking problem far worse. [5] The United States is one of the few countries in the world with such a high drinking age. Other countries with similarly restrictive laws include the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine.