So why does our age-based legal system persist despite an abundance of evidence showing that it is unwise to use age to define maturity? In addition to drinking age laws, states have adopted various other policies to combat underage drinking. Some of these policies apply directly to teens, such as using false identification documents to purchase alcohol, losing driving privileges for alcohol-related offences committed by minors (use and loss laws), and reducing blood alcohol levels for drivers under the age of 21 (zero tolerance laws). Other policies include minimum age for liquor vendors and waiters and bartenders, keg registration requirements, and criminal penalties for hosting underage parties. But this advance in scientific understanding has done little to eliminate the hodgepodge of state laws granting rights, privileges, and responsibilities between the ages of 8 and 21. For example, 33 States currently do not have a minimum age for criminal responsibility. In other words, in most states, a 5-year-old or 10-year-old (or even a baby) could be charged as an adult if a judge so wishes. For a federal felony, the legal age of criminal responsibility is 11. While in many states a 12-year-old cannot legally be left home alone, such a child could be charged with a federal felony as an adult. YouGov also asked Americans who said there should be an age limit for these 15 subjects to indicate what they think is the legal age without parental consent. On average, Americans who support age limits for everyone say someone should be at least 16 to be prescribed birth control without parental consent, 18 to be prescribed gender confirmation hormones, and 21 to buy a handgun or gun. Some of these responses may also reflect resistance to legal activity, which the survey did not request. However, these changes were soon followed by studies showing an increase in road crash deaths due to the decrease in MLDA.

In response to these findings, many states have raised the legal drinking age to 19 (and sometimes to 20 or 21). [5] In 1984, the National Minimum Legal Drinking Act, drafted by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and influenced by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), required all states to set their minimum purchasing age at 21. Any state that chooses not to comply with the law would withhold up to 10 percent of its federal highway funding. Americans who said there should be a minimum age for each of these measures were also asked to indicate what they thought the minimum age should be. On most issues, opinions among Americans who support a minimum age limit coincided closely with current legal age limits: 21 as the median age to buy cigarettes and 18 to vote in local or state elections, consent to sex, or go to jail. The median minimum age for the office of President of the United States was 35, which is consistent with the U.S. Constitution. At the 10th percentile (i.e. 10% chose lower numbers), Americans who support a minimum age say 25-year-olds should be able to serve as president, while at the 90th percentile, they say the president should be at least 45. The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1919, bans the sale of all intoxicating spirits in the United States and replaces state laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages to youth. After the repeal of the 18th Amendment in 1933, restrictions on the possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages by teenagers and the non-commercial distribution of alcohol to adolescents by adults became the norm.

Most states have enforced these restrictions on people under the age of 21, so the legal drinking age is the same as the minimum voting age in federal elections. [1]. Americans` early age-related concerns revolved around when a person should be legally allowed to marry, contract, vote, and testify in court, as well as when they became guilty of crimes. The use of age to set these limits was an explicit rejection of the British system, in which inherited status governed privileges. The Americans wanted to build a system governed by experience and informed consent, with seemingly neutral markers for civil rights. While not everyone can acquire a country or an education, theoretically, everyone could reach the age of 18 or 21. Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, which sets the legal purchasing age at 21. Legislation on the legal drinking age in the United States dates back to the prohibition era.

In 1920, the 18th Amendment in the United States Constitution declared it illegal to produce, transport or sell intoxicating spirits. [5] This was repealed with the passage of the 21st Amendment in 1933, which was followed by the introduction of a legal drinking age in all states, with most states choosing a legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21. [5] Between 1970 and 1975, 29 states lowered the MLDA from 21 to 18, 19 or 20. This was largely due to the passage of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. [5] Despite these improvements, too many young people still drink. In 2012, 42% of Grade 12 students, 28% of Grade 10 students took the exam. and 11% of Grade 8 students reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days. In the same year, approximately 24% of Grade 12 students, 16% of Grade 10 students, and 5% of Grade 8 students reported excessive drinking in the past two weeks. State laws restricting access to alcoholic beverages for young people were first enacted in the early 20th century. These laws prohibited the sale of alcohol to minors, but did not directly prohibit the consumption of alcoholic beverages by adolescents or the provision of alcohol to adolescents by adults. Underage alcohol policies in the United States have become more restrictive over time. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) notes that underage drinking strategies, such as those described here, demonstrate a broad societal commitment to reducing underage drinking.

IOM further notes that “the effectiveness of laws restricting young people`s access to alcohol can be enhanced by closing gaps in coverage, promoting compliance and strengthening law enforcement.” [4] If you live in the United States, you may have wondered at one point why 18 is the minimum voting age and 21 is the minimum drinking age. Although many age limits are imposed in order to protect people, some may seem arbitrary and there is an ongoing debate about lowering or increasing some of them. A recent YouGov poll asked Americans what age limits, if any, would be appropriate for different activities, and looked at the median — also known as the median score — among Americans` opinions. The median is the value that is greater than or equal to what half of people would choose, and less than or equal to what the other half would choose if you all aligned yourself according to their opinion. At the age of 18, Americans can claim legal independence from their parents or guardians. You can vote in federal elections at 18 and drink alcohol at 21. These legal age laws act as rites of passage for young Americans as they grow up. But these laws reflect 18th century definitions of maturity and age, rather than the scientific understanding of how age and growth actually work.

Since then, alcohol consumption by high school students has decreased significantly, from 66% to 42% (see chart). Over the same period, binge drinking among high school graduates, that is, five or more drinks occasionally, decreased from 37% to 24%. Despite its name, this law did not prohibit the consumption of alcoholic beverages by persons under the age of 21, but only their purchase. However, Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia, have extended the law to a complete ban. The minimum age for buying and drinking alcohol is a state law, and most states still allow alcohol consumption by “minors” under certain circumstances. In some states, private consumption is not restricted, while in others, consumption is only permitted in certain locations in the presence of consenting and supervising family members, such as Colorado, Maryland, Montana, New York, Texas, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Nor does the law seek to criminalize the consumption of alcohol on religious occasions (e.g., communion wine, Kiddush). In 2007, Acting U.S. Surgeon General Kenneth P. Moritsugu unveiled a call to action against underage drinking.

The Call to Action, developed in partnership with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Administration for Substance Abuse and Mental Health, identifies six goals for government, school officials, parents, other adults and teens to achieve. These objectives are: (1) to promote the healthy development of adolescents and to prevent and reduce alcohol consumption among minors; (2) involve parents, schools, communities, governments, social systems and young people in a national effort to prevent and reduce underage drinking and its consequences; (3) promote understanding of underage drinking through individual adolescent characteristics and environmental, ethnic, cultural and gender differences; (4) conduct research on the consumption of alcohol among adolescents and its consequences; (5) improving the monitoring of alcohol consumption among minors and minors in the field of public health; and (6) promoting policy coherence at all levels of government.