Synthesizing essay 5 paragraphs

The Minimum Legal Drinking Age: Facts and Fallacies

Brief History of the MLDA

After Prohibition, nearly all states restricting youth access to alcohol designated 21 as the

minimum legal drinking age (MLDA). Between 1970 and 1975, however, 29 states lowered the

MLDA to 18, 19, or 20. These changes occurred when the minimum age for other activities, such

as voting, also were being lowered (Wechsler & Sands, 1980). Scientists began studying the

effects of the lowered MLDA, focusing particularly on the incidence of motor vehicle crashes,

the leading cause of death among teenagers. Several studies in the 1970s found that motor

vehicle crashes increased significantly among teens when the MLDA was lowered (Cucchiaro et

al, 1974; Douglas et al, 1974; Wagenaar, 1983, 1993; Whitehead, 1977; Whitehead et al, 1975;

Williams et al, 1974).

With evidence that a lower drinking age resulted in more traffic injuries and fatalities among

youth, citizen advocacy groups pressured states to restore the MLDA to 21. Because of such

advocacy campaigns, 16 states increased their MLDAs between September 1976 and January

1983. Resistance from other states, and concern that minors would travel across state lines to

purchase and consume alcohol, prompted the federal government in 1984 to enact the Uniform

Drinking Age Act, which mandated reduced federal transportation funds to those states that did

not raise the MLDA to 21. Among alcohol control policies, the MLDA has been the most

studied: since the 1970s, at least 70 studies have examined the effects of either increasing or

decreasing the MLDA.

Research Findings

A higher minimum legal drinking age is effective in preventing alcohol-related deaths

and injuries among youth. When the MLDA has been lowered, injury and death rates

increase, and when the MLDA is increased, death and injury rates decline (Wagenaar,

1993).

A higher MLDA results in fewer alcohol-related problems among youth, and the 21-yearold MLDA saves the lives of well over 1,000 youth each year (Jones et al, 1992;

NHTSA, 1989). Conversely, when the MLDA is lowered, motor vehicle crashes and

deaths among youth increase. At least 50 studies have evaluated this correlation

(Wagenaar, 1993).

A common argument among opponents of a higher MLDA is that because many minors

still drink and purchase alcohol, the policy doesn't work. The evidence shows, however,

that although many youth still consume alcohol, they drink less and experience fewer

alcohol-related injuries and deaths (Wagenaar, 1993).

Research shows that when the MLDA is 21, people under age 21 drink less overall and

continue to do so through their early twenties (O'Malley & Wagenaar, 1991).

The effect of the higher MLDA occurs with little or no enforcement. Historically,

enforcement has focused primarily on penalizing underage drinkers for illegal alcohol