States are coded as having this law if their policies specifically prohibit minors (defined as under age 21) from consuming alcoholic beverages. Note that this means observed drinking in most cases, not merely the presence of a positive blood alcohol concentration (BAC) from a breath test. A number of states have one or more of the eight exceptions such as drinking in private locations. States were coded as having this law if their policies specifically prohibit minors from consuming alcoholic beverages. The following eight exceptions were listed for this law:

1. Parent/Guardian Gives Consent
2. Parent/Guardian Is Present
3. Parent/Guardian Role Not Specified
4. Legal Age Spouse
5. In Any Private Location
6. In Private Residence
7. In Parent/Guardian's Home Only
8. Other (Religious, Educational, Medical)

The data for this law come from the NIAAA APIS (updated through 1/1/2005):

Overview
Underage drinking is a serious problem.  The total cost attributable to the consequences of underage drinking was almost $62 billion per year in 2001 dollars. (Miller, et al, 2006)  Drinking before the age of 21 is associated with:

• Damage to growing brains (White, 2001; Kuhn et al, 1998; Giedd, 1999)
• Alcohol dependence (Grant and Dawson, 1997; Grant, 1998; Hingson et al, 2003)
• Violence (Hingson, et al, Fall 2001; Hingson and Kenkel, 2003)
• Dropping out of school (NIDA, 1998)
• Drinking and driving (Hingson, et al, Jan. 2001; Hingson et al, 2003)
• Riding with drinking drivers (Hingson, et al, Jan. 2001)
• Unplanned and unsafe sex (Cooper, 2002)
• Fatalities and injuries from drownings, burns, falls, (Levy, July 1999) homicides, suicides, (Institute of Medicine, 2003) and crashes (Levy, July 1999; Hingson and Kenkel, 2003; Hingson et al, 2003).

The 21 minimum drinking age law alone has helped reduce the incidence and harms of underage drinking.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates the 21 MLDA has reduced traffic fatalities involving drivers 18 to 20 years old by 13 percent and has saved an estimated 25,509 lives since 1975. In 2006, an estimated 890 lives were saved by minimum drinking age laws. (NHTSA, 2007)

However, underage people still have easy access to alcohol.  Over 94 percent of twelfth graders and almost 68 percent of eighth graders report that alcohol is "very easy" or "fairly easy" to get. (Johnson, et al, 2003)  This is due in part to loopholes in the 21 minimum drinking age law.  Fifteen states do not prohibit the consumption of alcohol by those under 21. This forces law enforcement to prove that the underage person possessed the alcohol before drinking, which makes enforcement more difficult.  Additionally, 15 states do not prohibit attempts to purchase alcohol by those under 21. In these states, underage potential drinkers can attempt to purchase alcohol at any number of stores with no legal sanction as long as they do not use fake identification.

While the 21 minimum drinking age law has significant effect because of the illegality (Tyler and Huo, 2002), enforcement is very important and these loopholes make the minimum drinking age harder to enforce.

Take Action!
Join the fight against underage drinking in your state. Urge your state representatives to close the loopholes in the underage drinking laws and to preserve the 21 drinking age. 

Sign our pledge in support of the 21 minimum drinking age.  

Related Issues

• Child Endangerment 
• Graduated Drivers' Licensing 

Resources

• Official Position Statements
• Studies
  • Cooper, M.L. "Alcohol Use and Risky Sexual Behavior Among College Students: Evaluating the Experience." Journal of Studies on Alcohol Supp. 14 (March 2002): 101-117.
  • Giedd, Jay N. et al. " Brain Development During Childhood and Adolescence: A Longitudinal MRI Study." Nature Neuroscience 2, no. 10, October 1999. 
  • Grant, Bridget, "The Impact of a Family History of Alcoholism on the Relationship Between Age at Onset of Alcohol Use and DSM-IV Alcohol Dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey." Alcohol Health and Research World no. 22, 1998. 
  • Grant, Bridgett and Deborah Dawson. "Age at Onset of Alcohol Use and Its Association with DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence." Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey.  Journal of Substance Abuse 9 (1997): 103-110.
  • Hingson, Ralph, et al.  "Age of Drinking Onset, Driving After Drinking, and Involvement in Alcohol-Related Motor Vehicle Crashes."  DOT HS 809 188.  Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, January 2001.
  • Hingson, Ralph, et al.  "Age of First Intoxication, Heavy Drinking, Driving after Drinking and Risk of Unintentional Injury among US College Students."  Journal of Studies on Alcohol 64 no 1 (2003), 23+. 
  • Hingson, Ralph, Timothy Heeren, and Rhonda Zakocs. "Age of Drinking Onset and Involvement in Physical Fights after Drinking." Pediatrics 108(4) (2001): 872-7.
  • Hingson, Ralph and D. Kenkel.  "Social and Health Consequences of Underage Drinking."  In press.  As quoted in Institute of Medicine National Research Council of the National Academies.  Bonnie, Richard J. and Mary Ellen O’Connell, eds.  Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility.  Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003.
  • Institute of Medicine National Research Council of the National Academies.  Bonnie, Richard J. and Mary Ellen O'Connell, eds.  Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility.  Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003.  
  • Johnston, L.D., P.M. O'Malley, and J.G. Bachman.  "Monitoring the Future National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings, 2002."  NIH Publication No. 03-5374.  Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2003.
  • Kuhn, Cynthia, Scott Swartzwelder, and Wilkie Wilson.  Buzzed: The Straight Facts about the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy.  New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1998. 
  • Levy, David T., et al. "Costs of Underage Drinking." Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation. The Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Updated Edition, June 1999. 
  • Levy, David T., et al. "Underage Drinking: Immediate Consequences and Their Costs." Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation, working paper, unpublished (July 1999).
  • Miller, Ted R. et al.  “Societal Costs of Underage Drinking.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 2006 Jul; 67(4):519-28.
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse.  "Volume 1: Secondary School Students", National Survey Results on Drug Use from The Monitoring the Future Study, 1975-1997. Rockville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services, 1998.
  • Tyler, TR and YJ Huo.  Trust in the Law: Encouraging Public Cooperation with the Police and Courts.  New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2002. 
  • White, Aaron M. "Substance Use and Adolescent Brain Development: An Overview of Recent Findings with a Focus on Alcohol." Durham, NC: Duke University Medical Center, 2001.
• Fact Sheets
  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  "Traffic Safety Facts 2002: Alcohol." DOT 809 606. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2003.
  • Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation.  "Alcohol Beverage Control Enforcement: Legal Research Report."  IDC DTNH22-98-D35079. 

States with this law
Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Washington D.C., Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia