mfw every other fucking country's drinking age is 16-18. But no a bunch of buttmad moms had to raise it to 21.
I did an 18-page research paper on this issue. Back in the 80s when the MDA was lowered to 18, rates of teen deaths, car accidents, and alcohol poisoning increased by quite a lot. Restored it to 21, and the rates lowered. Not to mention that at young ages, alcohol use increases chance of suicide, alcohol problems later in life, and other shit.
Of course if you don't abuse it, these things are unlikely to happen. However, when 18-year-olds have legal access to alcohol, they are much more likely to abuse it.
Another fact: Right now in America, where do the 18-year-olds get their alcohol? They get it from the legal people they know. For them, it's easier to get alcohol than it is for younger kids, like 14-year-olds. Well, when you lower the MDA to 18, the 14-year-olds will have easier access to alcohol than they had ever had before.
Sure, other countries have lower MDAs and everything's alright, not as many people get in wrecks, etc. But that is because it's been that way for a very long time. They are used to it. In America, if the MDA is 18, they wouldn't know how to handle it. Everyone who now had legal access would be very likely to abuse it, because it's a new-found freedom.
If America started with its MDA at 18, as I believe it should have, it would not be a problem like it would be if it were changed today. That's what should have happened.