Age-21 Drinking Laws: Study Confirms How they Save Lives

Though many officials actively push to lower the legal drinking age from 21, a recent study shows that these laws effectively help save lives.

For their findings, researchers examined studies that occurred since 2006, when this drinking age debate become such a controversial topic. As previous studies have shown that these laws are actually associated with lower rates of drunk-driving crashes seen in younger populations, other research has also suggested that these laws can help prevent dating violence, unprotected sex and even suicide--all of which could potentially be a result of binge drinking. 

"The evidence is clear that there would be consequences if we lowered the legal drinking age," said lead researcher William DeJong, Ph.D., of Boston University School of Public Health, via a press release.

According to background information from the study, in the early 1970s, 29 states actually lowered their legal drinking age to 18, 19 and 20. However, the number of drunk-driving car crashes among young people rose, and many states thus reversed their laws. In 1988, a change in federal law also pushed that all states adopt a minimum drinking age of 21.

However, since then, the law has been actively challenged in favor of dropping the 21-age requirement to a younger status.

In one of the studies, researchers found that in 2011, 36 percent of college students had said that in the past two weeks, they'd engaged in at least one binge drinking episode (otherwise defined as the consumption of five or more drinks in a single sitting.) Compared to 43 percent of students in 1988, also known as the first year that all U.S. states adopted the age 21 drinking law, a decline of such activity was noted among high school seniors-from 35 to 22 percent.

And though many young people do and will continue to break the age-limit required with this drinking law, the study authors said it is best to work on tougher enforcement of the issue rather than to repeal it.

"Just because a law is commonly disobeyed doesn't mean we should eliminate it," DeJong noted, via the release. "Clinical trials have found that when college towns put more effort into enforcing the law-and advertise that fact to students-student drinking declines."

He concludes the following, courtesy of the release: "Some people assume that students are so hell-bent on drinking, nothing can stop them, But it really is the case that enforcement works."

What do you think?

More information regarding the study can be found via the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.