Legislation for the minimum drinking age in the United States varied from state to state not even twenty years ago, ranging from 18 to 21. Driven largely by the desire to curb traffic fatalities associated with alcohol consumption, the National Minimum Drinking Act of 1984 required all states to raise the legal drinking age to 21, or risk the loss of federal highway funds under the Federal Highway Aid Act. By 1987, all states had complied with the 21 minimum age law. Based on statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), ‘alcohol-related’ traffic fatalities for people under 21 dropped by 43% (from 5,062 alcohol-related fatalities to 2,883) during the years 1987 through 1996. Over the same time period, the general population saw a decrease by 28% . The raising of the minimum drinking age is not necessarily the direct cause (albeit a factor) of the lower alcohol-related fatalities. The decrease in drinking and driving problems is the result of many factors and not just the rise of purchase age or the decreased per capita consumption. These include: education concerning drunk driving, designated driver programs, increased seat belt and air bag usage, safer automobiles, and lower speed limits. It should also be pointed out that massive education efforts about the perils of drinking and driving were supported by groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the alcohol industry, and state governments around the same time that the drinking age laws came into effect. It is difficult to measure the exact impact of this effort, but few would doubt that these campaigns have played a major role in raising awareness and changing behavior in relation to drinking and driving. In a 1995 study on alcohol-related fatalities in Canada where the minimum drinking age varies between 18 and 19, it was shown that ‘similar reductions in alcohol-related traffic crashes have occurred among young drivers without raising the minimum purchase age’ . The study also found that the magnitude of the drinking and driving problem decreased significantly in Canada during the 1980’s. This observation is indicating that strategies, other than raising the drinking age, have been effective in Canada. This would suggest that the change in the magnitude of the problem would be a result of drin

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