Drinking Age

Table of Contents

Introduction
Pros
- Pro 1: 18, not 21, is the age of legal majority (adulthood) in the United States.
- Pro 2: MLDA 21 is ineffective because young adults will consume alcohol regardless, leading to dangerous behaviors.
- Pro 3: MLDA creates a mindset of noncompliance with the law among young adults.
Pro Quotes
Cons
- Con 1: Alcohol consumption before age 21 is irresponsible and dangerous.
- Con 2: MLDA 21 lowers alcohol consumption and illicit drug use across age groups.
- Con 3: Alcohol consumption should be based on age of license (legality), rather than age of majority (adulthood).
Con Quotes
State-by-State MLDA 21 Adoption and Exceptions
- Sources for State-by-State MLDA 21 Adoption and Exceptions
International Minimum Ages for Sales of Alcohol
- Source for International Minimum Ages for Sales of Alcohol
Discussion Questions
Take Action
Sources

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Read Next

Alcoholic beverages bottles at Host 2013, international exhibition of the hospitality industry on OCTOBER 18, 2013 in Milan.

Why Is Alcohol Measured by Proof?

Neon sign of the word BAR hanging in a bar that serves alcoholic drinks. Alcohol drinking

Pro and Con: Lowering the Drinking Age

Several types of bottled alcohol are displayed on some shelves in a pub in Bucharest, Romania.

Why Does Drinking Give You a Hangover?

Hand washing. Healthcare worker washing hands in hospital sink under running water. contagious diseases wash hands, handwashing hygiene, virus, human health

17 Questions About Health and Wellness Answered

Shelves of traditional alcoholic Korean Soju

Spirited Away: 9 Liquors from Around the World

Discover

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)

New Seven Wonders of the World

pg 229Nazi parade features a banner proclaiming, "Death to Marxism."The possibility of a peaceful Germany after World War I was precluded entirely by the terms of the Versailles Treaty and theintransigent hostility of France and England. Stripped of indu

Were the Nazis Socialists?

Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint

8 of the Largest Empires in History

Parsons Weems' Fable, oil on canvas by Grant Wood, 1939; in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Catalog entry: The historian Mason Locke Weems, commonly known by his clerical title, Parson Weems, pulls back a curtain to point at 6-year-old George Washington. Bearing an adult head and holding an axe, George gazes blankly up at his father, Augustine, who questions his son while holding a partially cut cherry tree. All of this takes place in front of a 20th-century brick building, which Wood modeled after his own home in Iowa. The scene illustrates the fable of Washington and the cherry tree, which Weems invented in 1806 for the first president's biography. Wood playfully suggests the artifice of the tale here, presenting the story in the manner of a costumed stage play rather than a real event. Amid the action, two Black figures pick cherries in the background, a reference to Washington' slaveholding past and a reminder of of what often gets left out in historical mythmaking.

Did George Washington Really Say, “I Can’t Tell a Lie”?

earthquake. Heavily damaged school in the town of Yingxiu after a major earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.

The 6 Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1950

Sailboat against a beautiful landscape

Which Waters Do You Pass Through When You “Sail the Seven Seas”?

winter ice melting salt on the ground, pattern as background

Why Does Salt Melt Ice?

Drinking Age: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos

See All Images →

Topics

alcohol consumption alcoholic beverage U.S. Surgeon General Calls for Cancer Warnings on Alcohol Labels Death Penalty Gun Control Recreational Marijuana Body Cameras Constitutional Carry of Guns Private Prisons Prostitution U.S. Ban on Selling Guns to Adults Younger Than 21 Ruled Unconstitutional