Myths
Can you distinguish the facts from the myths? Most americans cannot. But you're smarter.
Myth #2. The drinking age reduces the number of highway fatalities
According to MADD, 21,000 lives have been saved since the drinking age was raised from 18 to 21. This, however, does not mean there is cause and effect. At the same time the drinking age was raised, the standards for automobiles were changed. Today cars have airbags, side impact standards, anti-lock brakes, and a variety of other safety features. Today, Americans are having more accidents than ever. But they are being killed less often due primarily to the safety features (not the drinking age change).
In this period of time, alcohol related crashes were reduced across all age groups. The fact that the drinking age was changed from 18 to 21 cannot possibly explain why there were fewer drunk driving accidents caused by people over 50.
The states which did not change the drinking age (where it had been 21) also showed a decrease in alcohol related fatatilities. Clearly the change in the drinking age cannot be responsible.
Since most sexual assaults are alcohol related, women are safer under prohibition
Alcohol plays a role in a large number of sexual assaults. Victims who are under the influence of alcohol are seen as easy prey for potential assailants. Alcohol is the number one date rape drug. High school and college women frequently attend parties where alcohol is served. The fact that alcohol is illegal for them does not deter them. The minimum age laws, therefore, do not offer any protection.
The drinking laws do, however, cause a problem when women try to report the crimes to police. There have been many cases where women have reported that they were attacked. When these women tell police or school officials that they had been drinking, the drinking is often seen as more important than the assault. Many times the women are actually charged with underage drinking (based on their "confession"), while it is rare that the male assailants are convicted of assault. The fact that underage women are unable to report crimes makes them more vulnerable.
If the drinking age was abolished, five year olds would be in bars.
As silly as this argument sounds, I hear a lot of it, so it has to be addressed. Five year olds need to be watched (generally by their parents). Responsible parents do not let their children wander off to bars. If we examine the countries that have no drinking age (some have purchase laws), we cannot find a sinlge contry with an epidemic of five year old children flooding the bars. This is simply a hysterical argument presented by the uninformed.