The Minimum Drinking Age Act - 1692 Words

Kaitlyn Allman Dr. Xiong ENG 111-JD 22 March 2016 Twenty-One vs. Eighteen July 17, 1984. This day will forever be remembered as the day in history that president Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. This act stated that all states must raise their minimum drinking age to 21. Individuals under the age of 21 would now be prohibited from purchasing or being in public possession of any alcoholic beverage. Though not every state was keen on this idea, they all jumped to raise the minimum drinking age due to the government threat that they would lose up to 10% of their federal highway funding if they ignored the request. However, since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was signed, much controversy has since arisen.†¦show more content†¦This slowly led to the passing of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act two years later, even though the goal of the recommendations was not necessarily to do so. This one recommendation seemed to be such a new idea that gained so much momentum and interest that the law w as eventually created. When the law was first formed, stipulations were also included. Underage drinking is allowed in 29 states if done on private premises with parental consent, 25 states if for religious purposes, and 11 states if for educational purposes (â€Å"Drinking Age ProCon†). This goes to show that a decent number of states still allow underage drinking under certain conditions. This is not to mention the mere fact that when you turn 18 in the United States of America you become a legal adult. Being a legal adult in the United States means that at age 18 you could do various activities such as, get married, join the military, and sign contracts for yourself, yet drinking alcohol is technically still illegal for three more years. Something about this just does not sit right with me. How could this group of individuals be given so many legal rights, yet still be denied the right to drink a glass of alcohol legally? In addition, though the law may say the minimum dri nking age is 21, we all know that individuals under the age of 21 still participate in the action of drinking, whether it be illegal or not. Yes, often times this can lead to binge drinking and troublesome situations for these