No one is going to change the drinking age before the drinking culture in this country changes. It may seem like a "chicken and egg" thing, but at this point there are tangible benefits to having the drinking age set at 21. At the root of all of this is an unhealthy culture with regards to alcohol. No administration in their right mind would mess with changing the drinking age if the root problem of an unhealthy relationship with alcohol persists. If there are going to be any changes in the drinking age, this will need to be preceded by changes in the drinking culture, specifically young adults learning about responsible behavior toward alcohol before college and demonstrating that they are responsible enough to warrant changing the laws.
From:
http://www.livescience.com/43605-dri...ves-lives.html
Quote:
900 Lives Saved Yearly by Keeping the Drinking Age at 21
Laws that maintain the legal drinking age at 21 save lives on the road, and protect young people from other hazards of drinking, according to a new review of studies.
Researchers examined the evidence from studies conducted since 2006, and found that laws that make it illegal for people under age 21 to drink are linked to lower rates of drunk-driving deaths among young people.
Researchers also found that current drinking restrictions have not resulted in more binge drinking among teens, as some have suggested.
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From:
http://www.boston.com/health/2014/07...r7I/story.html
Quote:
According to the NIH, drunk-driving accidents have dropped by 50 percent since the law was passed. The greatest proportion of this decline was among 16 to 20 year olds: approximately 37 percent of traffic fatalities in this age group were alcohol related in 2013 compared to more than 75 percent in the 1970s.
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