Allowing people under 18 to purchase alcohol would mean a massive influx of consumers to an already massive industry. The money, however, would be made from the sacrificing of our children's health and well being.
While it is true that the many teens still regularly consume alcohol, the MLDA 21 has decreased the number. Also, legalizing something solely because it happens is not a rational legal argument.
As shown in our Enforcing the MLDA 21 page, the real failure of enforcement is not lack of punishment towards the drinkers, but instead the lack of punishment towards the establishments that sell alcohol to minors.
As an american citizen people have the right to vote, while the ability to consume alcohol is a privilege. Because alcohol is a privilege, states can regulate it when they feel there is a compiling state interest to do so. After lowering the drinking age to 18 before, as seen in our History of The Drinking Age page, states decided that enforcing an MLDA 21 was a compelling state interest.
Though many more drinkers may come out of the shadows if the drinking age was lowered, it would not out weigh the massive amounts of new drinkers the reduction would cause. Additionally the issues with minors hiding their drinking would still be relevant, only now with an age group of 14-17 year old people, where the long term health effects are much worse.
As seen in our Health Effects page, the effects of alcohol on the developing brain are drastic and long lasting.
While the debate is often shown as having two equal sides, over 70% of american feel that lowering the MLDA would have little to no significant benefit
The National Highway Traffic safety association estimates over 1,000 crashes are prevented every year due to the MLDA 21
The idea that teenagers drinking in bars and nightclubs would be safer is simply a myth. Over 75% of bars have sold alcohol to obviously intoxicated persons and over half of all DUI arrests are made for people who are leaving bars.
Where the current MLDA 21 forces underage drinkers (specifically high school students) to look for suppliers over the age of 21, a MLDA 18 would not only allow 18 to purchase for themselves, but also become a supplier for even younger drinkers.
ProCon.org. "Minimum Legal Drinking Age ProCon.org." ProCon.org. 17 May 2018.