Age-21 drinking laws save lives, study confirms

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/joso-adl021814.php

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 24-Feb-2014

Contact: Kara Peterson
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

Age-21 drinking laws save lives, study confirms

PISCATAWAY, NJ – Although some advocates want to lower the legal drinking age from 21, research continues to show that the law saves lives. That's the finding of a new review published in a special supplemental issue to the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Researchers found that studies done since 2006—when a new debate over age-21 laws flared up—have continued to demonstrate that the mandates work. The laws, studies show, are associated with lower rates of drunk-driving crashes among young people. And it seems they also curb other hazards of heavy drinking—including suicide, dating violence and unprotected sex.

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Of course, many young people break the law and drink anyway. But, DeJong said, the evidence shows that the law is working despite that. That may be, in part, because minors do not want to be caught drinking, and therefore take fewer risks—like getting behind the wheel.

Plus, DeJong said, "there are many young people who do wait until they're 21 to drink."

DeJong said that education can help discourage underage drinking. Often, youths buy into the myth, for instance, that all college students engage in heavy drinking episodes. So giving them a more realistic picture of the true "drinking norms" can be effective, DeJong explained.

And, he said, tougher enforcement of the age-21 law, rather than a repeal, is what's needed. "Just because a law is commonly disobeyed doesn't mean we should eliminate it," DeJong noted. Clinical trials have found that when college towns put more effort into enforcing the law—and advertise that fact to students—student drinking declines.