Higher Drinking Age Could Lower Illness Rates

Raising the minimum drinking age may have more benefits than just lowering drunk driving rates. Researchers analyzed data on American adults who turned 18 years old between 1967 and 1990. The team examined if young people who were legally able to drink before their 21st birthday had a higher risk of death from an alcohol-related disease than people who couldn’t legally drink until they turned 21. They found that, among individuals who did not attend college, those who entered adulthood in areas with minimum legal drinking age of 21 had a lower risk of death from chronic alcohol-related health issues, such as liver disease and certain cancers, over the course of their lifetime. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, June 2016