Owning a gun, voting, getting married: These are all things one is able to do once they turn 18 in the U.S.. Something major is not included in this list, though: the consumption of alcohol, which is only legal for adults 21 and above.
For many, turning 18 means freedom. Individuals are no longer considered minors, and therefore, by law, have the liberty to make their own decisions. So why are adults in the U.S. not allowed to purchase alcohol until they are 21? There are a couple of concrete reasons.
The National Minimum Drinking Act was passed in 1984, forcing states to raise the minimum drinking age in order to get back witholded highway funds. Congress was using its spending power by withholding 5 to 10 percent of funds until states complied to raise the drinking age. The reason Congress wanted the age to be raised was due to the high number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities, especially within young people, according to the National Liberty of Medicine. Since this act has passed, there have been significantly less alcohol-related deaths, both within traffic accidents and other fatalities, such as suicides. This is a good thing, and it shows that alcohol-related deaths have decreased over time.
However, many still participate in underage drinking, which poses more of a danger of drugging, since the alcohol may come from untrustworthy sources. Most students would be in their 3rd year of university by the time they turn 21. This also means they will most likely have attended parties or events that distributed illegally obtained alcohol. People are more eager to drink, meaning they will resort to more dangerous or uncanny ways to get their alcohol. This can mean getting it from people they do not know or in open containers, with there being a higher chance of it being laced. Lacing is not an occurrence. Many around the country have seen it happen within their communities. In 2025, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized over 47 million fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills, according to the DEA. Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous drug, with one of these pills having the potential to kill an individual. The more people are desperate to get alcohol, the higher the chance they will be given a laced drink that could contain fentanyl, killing or seriously harming them. Even if the drug is not fentanyl, it can seriously mess someone up, with many young women getting assaulted after being laced.
Alcohol is very dangerous, but having the age limit set to 21 creates a lot of conflict. It goes against the pillar of freedom in America: the right to make one’s own decisions in something that concerns only them if done responsibly. Furthermore, it makes many resort to dangerous ways of obtaining alcohol, putting them in danger and at risk of being laced. Therefore, although it can be dangerous in terms of drunk driving, putting age restrictions causes other problems. More should be done to continue to decrease drunk-driving and accidents caused by it, while also keeping in mind the freedom of adults and the harms of illegal under-21 drinking in universities.
