College campuses across the country continue to struggle with underage drinking problems, despite the national MLDA of 21. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has taken a particular interest in this topic and has compiled a list of recommendations that colleges should implement to combat underage drinking on campus. However, few schools have actually implemented these recommendations and, according to a recent study, most intervention programs currently in place on campus have proven ineffective. Underage drinking on college campuses is almost impossible to prevent, as access to alcoholic beverages is extremely easy. [15] In most European countries, the minimum age to consume alcohol is 18, while some countries even allow legal consumption at the age of 16. The average minimum age for drinking varies around the world. It ranges from 13 in Burkina Faso to a total ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in Brunei. All fifty states had raised their minimum drinking age to 21 by the summer of 1988. South Dakota and Wyoming were the last states to comply with the change.

Since then, alcohol consumption by high school students has decreased significantly, from 66% to 42% (see chart). Over the same period, binge drinking among high school graduates, that is, five or more drinks occasionally, decreased from 37% to 24%. While this is not the only contributing factor to student alcohol consumption, the status of bootlegging alcohol seems to fill it with mysticism. Therefore, alcohol consumption and abuse are considered and should be demanding. [16] The legal drinking age is 18 in Abu Dhabi (although a Ministry of Tourism regulation allows hotels to serve alcohol only to people over 21) and 21 in Dubai and the Northern Emirates (with the exception of Sharjah, where alcohol consumption is prohibited). [113] There are many factors that could explain the failure of higher education institutions to implement NIAAA recommendations to control underage drinking on campus: a lack of university funding, a lack of time, a perceived lack of authority or competence within the community, or even a lack of interest on the part of the university. Many universities even consider the program a waste of resources. Whatever the reasons, a variety of options are available, colleges should implement programs to reduce underage drinking on campus. These options include, but are not limited to, alcohol education programs, social norms campaigns, substance-free housing, individual interventions, parental notification policies, disciplinary procedures for alcohol-related offences, and amnesty policies to protect the health and safety of students.

[15] Relaxing alcohol laws may contribute to an increase in alcohol-related accidents and health problems. After New Mexico repealed its blue law banning the sale of alcohol on Sundays in 1990, the state had 29 percent more alcohol-related car accidents and 42 percent more deaths in those crashes over the next 10 years. Chronology of changes in the age of alcohol purchase or laws restricting access to alcohol for minors: It is technically legal for minors to possess and consume alcohol at home and in public (not on licensed premises) as there is no law prohibiting it. It is also technically legal for someone to buy alcohol and give it to minors outside the store or licensed establishments. [104] Even with this national law, underage drinking is still associated with serious health problems: in the 1960s, Congress and state legislatures came under increasing pressure to lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. This was largely due to the Vietnam War, in which many young men who were not allowed to vote (or drink legally) were conscripted into the war and therefore had no way of influencing the people they sent to risk their lives. “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote” was a slogan commonly used by proponents of lowering the voting age. The slogan dates back to World War II, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt lowered the military age to 18. With the lowering of the voting age to 18, the legal drinking age (MLDA) has also been lowered, as the ability to vote (and for men to be unwittingly conscripted into the military) should also allow for the legal consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Some alcohol laws are made by states or local communities. Some state laws set a legal limit on the amount of alcohol per drink. Most states have laws that restrict happy hours, such as banning free alcoholic beverages with a grocery purchase at a restaurant or bar. At that time, many states changed their minimum voting age to match the drinking age. In the late 1970s, some states raised their minimum age to combat the incidence of impaired driving. In the United States, there have been proposals to change the legal drinking age. They haven`t gone far with lawmakers, making it unlikely that the minimum drinking age will change anytime soon. Despite this flexibility for states, Congress retains the power to use financial and tax incentives to promote certain alcohol policies, such as the legal drinking age.

The Uniform Federal Drinking Age Act of 1984 sets the legal drinking age at 21, and every state adheres to this standard. During the colonial period under British rule, there was no drinking age. It was not uncommon to see young teenagers drinking in taverns. In Canada, there is no federal law setting a minimum age for drinking. Each province and territory can set its own legal drinking age. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 [23 U.S.C. § 158] requires states to prohibit persons under the age of 21 from publicly purchasing or possessing alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving state highway funds. A federal ordinance interpreting the law excludes possession “for established religious purposes” from the definition of “public property”; accompanied by a parent, spouse or legal guardian who is at least 21 years of age; for medical purposes, if prescribed or administered by a physician, pharmacist, dentist, nurse, hospital or authorized medical facility; in clubs or private institutions; or for the sale, handling, transportation, or supply of liquor by reason of the lawful employment of a person under twenty-one years of age by a duly licensed manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer of liquor” [23 C.F.R. § 1208.3]. Health experts cite evidence that the age of 21 is necessary to protect young adults from alcohol dependence.