According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, approximately 5,000 US youths under the age of 21 die from unintentional injuries, homicides and suicides related to alcohol consumption every year. But a new review states that if the age-21 drinking law was not in place, these numbers would be even higher.
The review was recently published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
Under the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, also known as the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act, all US states are required to prohibit individuals under the age of 21 from purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages. By 1988, all US states had adopted this minimum drinking age.
But in 2006, this federal law was challenged. A nonprofit organization called Choose Responsibility began campaigning for a reduction in the legal drinking age, stating that young adults between 18 and 20 years old should have the ability to make mature decisions regarding the place of alcohol in their lives.
In 2008, presidents of universities and colleges over the US created the Amethyst Initiative. This group called for a re-evaluation of the legal drinking age.
According to Prof. William DeJong, of Boston University School of Public Health in Massachusetts, these campaigns received a lot of media attention.
This led public health experts to carry out new studies in order to analyze the impact of the age-21 drinking law.
Age-21 law 'reduces alcohol consumption and drunk-driving accidents'
Prof. DeJong and colleagues conducted a review of research that had been conducted since 2006.
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