When did the federal government come up with a drinking age to be set and which amendment was created?

Question

I would really like to know and not when they changed it from 21 to 18 but when did this law come in to place and what caused it to come about?

Answer 1

Just to add to the above answers, much of the impetus for the federal government's actions in "influencing" states to raise the drinking age came from MADD.

Answer 2

There's no Constitutional amendment setting a mandatory drinking age; instead, in 1984 Congress passed a bill which President Reagan signed into law stating that states which did not enact legislation forbidding the sale of alcohol to people under age 21 would lose eligibility for some federal highway funding. Eventually, all the states passed laws to comply with the act.

Answer 3

Drinking ages are set by the State governments, not the Federal govt. (Except for drinking on Federal property)

However..... the Feds changed the Highway Transportation Act to say that States with a drinking age under 21 would not be eligible for Federal Highway funds, so they 'all' changed to 21.

They did it because 18/19/20 year olds were being killed in DUI wrecks far more than other people.

Richard

Answer 4

It isn't in the constitution, it is just used as a condition for the state to get federal funding.