Underage Drinking Laws: The Science Behind Saving Lives
Written by: Family Insurance
Many studies have been conducted regarding underage drinking laws in The United States. In fact, the 21 Minimum Legal Drinking Age Law (MLDA) is one of the most studied public health laws ever. Most of these reports have come to the same conclusion: the choice to raise the minimum drinking age from 18 to 21 have dramatically impacted alcohol-related deaths in teens, decreasing fatalities by 16 percent.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about 25,000 lives have been saved since the 1975 inception of MLDA laws. It is estimated that between 700-900 lives are saved each year due to these precautionary measures taken against teen drinking.
MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) reports that from 1983, when the minimum 21 drinking age was first introduced, to 1989, when all the U.S. state adopted the law, other countries around the world saw increases in underage binge drinking, while the U.S. experienced a 15 percent drop among high-school seniors.
However, WHY21.org continues to advocate for more effective ways to prevent the underage drinking that still occurs and endangers lives on the road. The organization believes that “increased enforcement is an immediate and effective solution to reducing underage drinking and other alcohol-related problems such as domestic violence, sexual assault, suicide, homicide and traffic crashes.
These laws include: Zero Tolerance Laws, Minor in Possession (MIP) laws, Sale of alcohol to those under 21, Social host laws, Drinking and driving laws, Public intoxication for those underage.”
Statistics from SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving) seem to back up WHY 21 in their efforts for more stringent underage drinking laws, reporting that alcohol-related crash fatalities occur most often at night vs. daytime (“59% vs. 18%”) and on weekends vs. weekdays (“52% vs. 30%”).
SADD also reports that “during the last 30 days, 28.5% of high school students nationwide had ridden one or more times in a car or other vehicle driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol.”
In a study conducted at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) in Calverton, MD by James C. Fell and colleagues over a 23 year period, many MLDA laws were examined for effectiveness in reducing alcohol-related fatal crashes.
One of the current laws examined in the study that was reported effective is giving police agencies the right to pull over anyone not wearing a seatbelt. NHTSA says “drivers are less likely to use seat belts when they have been drinking. In 2005, 64% of the young drivers of passengers in vehicles involved in fatal crashes who had been drinking were unrestrained. Of young drivers who had been drinking and were killed, 74% were unrestrained.”
The PIRE study also projects that while most of the current laws like lowering the legal BAC to .08 and seatbelt laws have been helpful, “an additional 165 lives would be saved” if every state began suspending licenses of anyone caught in possession or under the influence of or trying to purchase alcohol.
We could further reduce these deaths by making it illegal for teens to even have alcohol in their possession (a projected decrease of 11 percent) and by enacting more severe laws for those possessing fake IDs with the intent to purchase alcohol (a projected increase of 7 percent).
“These results provide substantial support for the effectiveness of under age 21 drinking laws and point to the importance of key underage drinking and traffic safety laws in efforts to reduce underage drinking driver crashes,” says Fell.
There are some supporters of lowering the minimum drinking age back to 18; however these statistics seem to disagree. Other countries around the world have attempted this proposed change with disastrous results. For example, New Zealand lowered their national drinking age from 20 to 18 in 1999 with not-so-surprising results- a 12% increase in alcohol-associated traffic crashes in males age 18 and 19 and a 51% increase of females in the same age group. Additionally, in 15-17 years olds: an increase of 24% of females and 14% for males.
MADD strongly believes the minimum drinking age should not be lowered, citing crash reductions since the 21 law and referring to research of brain development. “The brain continues to develop into the early twenties. The part that controls reasoning and cognitive ability takes the longest to mature; thus, underage drinking, especially heavy drinking, affects memory and reasoning…Alcohol use in adolescence also decreases executive functioning, memory, spatial operations, and attention among adolescents. And these changes may be permanent.”
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