It has not always been this way. In 1984, the Uniform Drinking Age Act was passed. This law did not force all states to switch to the drinking age of 21, but threatened to decrease federal funding to each state’s transportation fund if they did not comply within two years. Before this law was passed, each state varied on their drinking age from 18-21 years old. The national drinking age became a national issue when the founder of MADD, (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Cathy Lightner, claimed that 18-20 year old drinkers were causing

Since then, this law has done little to stop young adults from using or abusing alcohol. When the minimum drinking age was being introduced, binge drinking was actually higher in states with the 21 minimum drinking age then with ones with lower ages. Now, a 1999 Harvard survey says drinking has gotten so bad that that two out of every three underage college students drank alcohol in the past 30 days. The main reason for the introduction of the law, alcohol-related accidents, was already on the decline before the law was introduced. Even though the 18-20 age group alcohol-related crashes have nearly been cut in half since the law was introduced, every other age group has been nearly cut in half as well. (CDC)

many auto accidents. The statistics that she used, however, were inaccurate and misleading. For instance, the statistics used to show the number of 18-20 year olds in alcohol-related accidents, included people who were riding with parents or other adults that were

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