1984 U.S. law which indirectly raised the nationwide minimum drinking age to 21
This article is about the U.S. federal law. For other meanings, see legal drinking age.
National Minimum Drinking Age Act
Long title
An Act to encourage a uniform minimum drinking age of 21 to combat drugged driving, improve law enforcement and provide incentives to the states to reduce drunk driving.
Acronyms (colloquial)
NMDAA
Nicknames
National Minimum Drinking Age act of 1984
Enacted by
the 98th United States Congress
Effective
July 17, 1984 40 years ago
Citations
Public law
98-363
Statutes at Large
98 Stat. 435 aka 98 Stat. 437
Codification
Titles amended
23 U.S.C.: Highways
U.S.C. sections created
23 U.S.C. ch. 1 § 158
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 4616 by Glenn M. Anderson (D–CA) on January 24, 1984
Committee consideration by House Public Works and Transportation
Passed the House on April 30, 1984 (passed voice vote)
Passed the Senate on June 26, 1984 (81-16, in lieu of S.Amdt. 3334) with amendment
House agreed to Senate amendment on June 27, 1984 (agreed unanimous consent)
Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on July 17, 1984
The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 (23 U.S.C. § 158) was passed by the United States Congress and was later signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on July 17, 1984.[1][2][3] The act would punish any state that allowed persons under 21 years to purchase alcoholic beverages by reducing its annual federal highway apportionment by 10 percent. The law was later amended, lowering the penalty to 8 percent from fiscal year 2012 and beyond.[4]
Despite its name, this act did not outlaw the consumption of alcoholic beverages by those under 21 years of age, just their purchase or public possession. However, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, New Hampshire, and West Virginia, extended the law into an outright ban. The minimum purchase and drinking ages is a state law, and most states still permit "underage" consumption of alcohol in some circumstances. In some states, no restriction on private consumption is made, while in other states, consumption is only allowed in specific locations, in the presence of consenting and supervising family members, as in the states of Colorado, Maryland, Montana, New York, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Some states even allow persons under 21 years of age to drink alcohol in public places, such as in Ohio, Texas, Massachusetts and Louisiana as long as the parent or guardian consents to it and is the one that buys the alcohol and is at least 21 years old. The act also does not seek to criminalize alcohol consumption during religious occasions (e.g., communion wines, Kiddush).
The act was expressly upheld as constitutional in 1987 by the United States Supreme Court in South Dakota v. Dole.
^"Law signed to lift drinking age". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. (New York Times). July 18, 1984. p. 1.
^"Reagan signs drinking age into law". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. July 18, 1984. p. 1A.
^Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T (July 17, 1984). "Ronald Reagan: 'Remarks on Signing a National Minimum Drinking Age Bill'". The American Presidency Project. University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
^"Title 23 of the United States Code, Highways" (PDF), Federal Highway Administration, pp. 61–66
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