Age Restriction on Drinking Saves Lives: Review

Restricting the legal drinking age to 21 years old saves lives, according to a recent study reviewing the effectiveness of enforcing the minimum drinking age.

The review, which was published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, reviewed several studies published within the last decade that analyze the drinking rates of young adults and teenagers. Studies looking into the drunk driving rates of the past decade were also considered.

According to the review, media and public attention was drawn towards efforts to lower the legal drinking age in the U.S. in 2006, when organizations began claiming that by the age of 18, young adults were capable of making mature and responsible decision. They also claimed lowering the drinking age would save lives, where an earlier drinking age would encourage teens to learn how to drink more responsibly earlier in life. The reasoning was that if teens were familiar with alcohol in their high-school years, they would be far less likely to take up dangerous binge-drinking habits by the time they became college freshmen.

Still, according to the review, one of the main concerns behind keeping the legal drinking age where it is has to do with drinking and driving. In the early 1970s, 29 states had lowered their legal drinking ages below 21 likely for the same reasons as those expressed in 2006. Unfortunately, a spike in drunk driving crashes among young people quickly reversed these decisions. By 1988, all states shared the same 21 or older legal drinking restriction.

The review also cites a 2011 study that showed that illegal drinking in underage college and high school students has dropped since a reinstatement of the restriction.  The study showed that underage college drinking rates have dropped by 7 percent since 1988, and high school student rates have dropped by 12 percent.

The researchers concluded their work explaining that they believe that drinking related incidents, such as dating violence, alcohol poisoning, and drink driving would be higher along with average drinking rates in general if young people under 21 years of age were legally allowed to drink. They also said the current binge drinking problems among young people are best solved with education, not a lowering of the drinking age-restriction.

The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs is published by the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

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