Should the legal drinking age be lowered in the U.S.?

By tnichols2

  • National Minimum Drinking Age Act

    prompted states to raise their legal age for purchase or public possession of alcohol to 21

  • MLDA 21 reduces alcohol consumption

    87% of the analyses found higher legal drinking ages associated with lower alcohol consumption.

  • MLDA 21 is largely ineffective because the majority of teens continue to consume alcohol.

    72.2% of twelfth graders reported drinking alcohol at some point in their lives

  • The American public overwhelmingly supports MLDA 21

    77% of Americans would oppose a federal law that lowers the drinking age in all states to age 18

  • Traffic accidents and fatalities are higher in newly legal drinkers

    21- to 24-year-old age group had the highest percentage of drivers in fatal crashes