A new minimum legal drinking age (MLDA)? Some findings to inform the debate

Abstract Despite support that the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21 is an important public health provision in the United States, a group of college presidents are petitioning for the MLDA to be lowered. To inform this debate, we examined whether heavy and risky drinking was associated with a stance to lower the MLDA in 865 college students under the age of 21. Results showed that, in comparison to other students, heavy/risky drinkers more often had a stance to lower the MLDA. Thus, for students, the MLDA debate seems to be less a philosophical issue about prohibition and harm reduction, and appears to be more a political stance that reflects students' concurrent behaviors. We discuss how drinking and MLDA laws in Europe might compare with the United States, and how future policy work might benefit from empirical and cross-cultural study.