21 Is the Legal Drinking Age
The law is working.
The Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984. The law established 21 as the minimum legal drinking age. Since then:
- Teen drinking is down. Twenty-six percent fewer high school seniors drink today than did in 1983 (see chart).
- Teen binge drinking is down. Seventeen percent fewer high school seniors engage in binge drinking today than did in 1983 (see chart).
Source: The Monitoring the Future Study, University of Michigan, December 12, 2007.
Available at monitoringthefuture.org.
- Alcohol-related fatal crashes involving teen drivers have dropped by more than half—from 22 per 100,000 licensed drivers 15 to 20 years old in 1982 to fewer than 10 per 100,000 in 2003.
- The minimum drinking age has prevented an estimated 22,000 alcohol-related driving deaths—about 900 lives a year.
Despite these gains, too many teens still drink.
- Sixteen percent of eighth graders, 29 percent of high school sophomores, and 43 percent of high school seniors report recent drinking.
- More than 8 percent of eighth graders, 16 percent of sophomores, and 25 percent of seniors report recent binge drinking.
- Most teens report that alcohol is “fairly easy” or “very easy” to get — including 64 percent of eighth graders, 81 percent of sophomores, and 92 percent of seniors.
Don't serve alcohol to teens.
It's unsafe. It's illegal. It's irresponsible.