The United States is one of only three developed countries in the world with a nationwide drinking age over 18. The other two countries are Iceland and Japan, which both have a drinking age of 20.
The problem, of course, is that the age of majority—when a minor assumes the legal rights and responsibilities of an adult—is 18 in most states, 19 in two states (Alabama and Nebraska), and 21 in just two states (Colorado and Mississippi). There are generally exceptions for children who are married or have been legally emancipated. In most countries, the age of majority coincides with the drinking age.
So why is the drinking age 21 in the United States?
Before Prohibition (1919), only a handful of states had a drinking age. After the repeal of Prohibition (1933), all of the states gradually established a minimum drinking age, most commonly 21. After the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted in 1971, which prohibited the states from setting their voting age above 18, most states lowered their drinking ages down to 18. But by 1988, every state in the Union had raised its drinking age to 21.
This happened because the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 (H.R.4616, P.L. 98-363) mandated that the states raise their drinking ages to 21 or their federal highway funding would be cut by 10 percent beginning in fiscal year 1988.
First alcohol, now tobacco.
Federal law requires states to have a minimum age of 18 for the purchase of tobacco products.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie signed 53 bills into law last month and vetoed 14 others. But one bill (S-359/A-2320) in particular will live in infamy because it raises the minimum age to purchase tobacco products in New Jersey from 19 to 21. The bill passed the Democratic-controlled legislature by a…