1960s: Public pressure to lower the legal drinking age mounted as thousands of American boys were drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. (Evans 118).

1971: Because of the discrepancy between the age at which men could be drafted (18) and age at which they could vote (21), eighteen year olds secured the right to vote in 1971. The movement to lower the drinking age to eighteen followed, and most states lowered the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen (Tietjen).

Just after the decrease of the drinking age, traffic fatalities among young people escalated and “blood borders” emerged (Evans 118). Blood borders are the areas of high rates of crashes and fatalities on state lines that occur when underage people cross these lines to drink legally (Evans 118). Faced with the surge of traffic fatalities and blood borders, organizations took measures to raise the drinking age once again.

Air Force Alcohol Education (U.S. Air Force photo illustration/Airman 1st Class Damon Kasberg)

1982: The Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving called for the federal minimum drinking age to be set at twenty-one (Evans 119). The National Transportation Board, Highway Safety Council and Mothers Against Drunk Driving supported the increase in the drinking age, arguing that the effort would reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths and injuries (Evans 119).

1984: The government legislated to raise the MLDA to twenty-one. In order to enforce the law in the states, the government decided to reduce federal highway funds from the states who did not reduce the MLDA to twenty-one within two years (Evans 119).

1986: The MLDA-21 law took effect. While some believe that the government should be able to incentivize states in order to impose laws for the greater good, the use of incentives from the federal government took away the states’ rights to decide their own drinking age laws without interference from the government.

Today: Since 1986, the drinking age has remained at twenty-one in most states.Despite that fact that some people still argue that the current drinking law is “working,” there is no question that the health and economic costs of alcohol-related problems call for changes in the way that Americans consume alcohol (Carpenter). Alcohol-related or impaired driving fatalities take thousands of lives every year, and nearly 100,000 students report experiencing alcohol related sexual assault or date rape each year (Facts).