preview

Uniform Drinking Age

Decent Essays
Open Document

Ever since 1776, when the United States first gained independence, there has been constant debate over how much power states should have compared to the the federal government. Some argue that the central government should have more power, claiming when laws are uniform to every state, they will be more effective. Others, however, argue that if the states have more power that the federal government, then they can enact laws that will address the unique needs of constituents of that particular state.
Technically, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act didn’t force the states to conform to a federal uniform minimum drinking age. Instead of overstepping the boundaries of states right by simply making a federal law that outlaws anyone under 21 …show more content…

In 1980 after Candy Lightner, a mother of a thirteen-year-old girl was killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver, she was galvanized by the tragedy and founded of the organization MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). MADD lobbied for the law after many deaths of children in result of drunk driving, and activist who protested against the organization was accused of promoting drunk driving. Since then, they are still to this day fighting to keep the uniform minimum drinking age at 21.
Senator Frank Lautenberg of New York, proposed the act to congress when he noticed that minors in New Jersey were driving to New York state lines to drink legally and then suffering fatal consequences on their drives home. He proposed that a uniform federal drinking age would end dangerous acts like

Get Access