21 is of course the age when a US citizen is legally allowed to purchase alcohol, but I am curious about laws making it illegal to even consume alcohol.
Wikipedia says: “As of January 1, 2007, 14 states and the District of Columbia ban underage consumption outright, 19 states do not specifically ban underage consumption, and an additional 17 states have family member and/or location exceptions to their underage consumption laws.”, but in very un-Wkipedian fashion it doesn’t bother to cite the source so I cannot find a state by state breakdown.
Anyone know more?
Edit: Oops, demerit for me. A working citation was a bit lower down.
Map, in case anyone else is interested.
21 is also the legal limit for possession of alcohol, though it’s technically a matter of state law so there are various exceptions in some locations. I.e. sometimes it’s legal for an 18 year old employee to sell or serve alcohol. Sometimes it’s legal for a minor to help their parents carry alcohol, but sometimes it’s explicitly forbidden. A lot of states also have very strict standards for blood alcohol in underage drivers – a 17 year old driving with a .01 BAC can get in serious trouble.
IIRC, Louisiana was the last state to pass the 21 age drinking law. They resisted for several years and as a result, lost their federal highway funds.
They eventually capitulated after they quit maintaining all of their interstate highways and tourism suffered. But as a local told me years ago, they somewhat skirted the issue by passing a law that prohibits persons under the age of 21 being able to purchase alcohol. It is still legal for a shop keeper or bar owner to sell alcohol to persons over the age of 18. Therefore the onus is on catching the individual’s attempting to illegally purchase liquor under 21, not on the bar or shop keeper for selling it to them.
Since some of those states (including my home state of PA) have no exception for families, the wine I drank at Passover would now be illegal. I don’t recall how old I was when it started, but probably around 13.
Colorado: Legal for parents/guardians to provide alcohol, but ONLY TO FAMILY MEMBERS.
So when we had friends over for Thanksgiving, we could give our kid a taste of alcoholic beverage, our friends could give their daughter a taste of alcoholic beverage, but the kid who arrived sans parents, we could not let him have even a sip. Therefore we didn’t give the other two any, either.
Passover wine, okay. Christmas Eve communion, okay. (With parental supervision.) Toast a wedding in a rented facility, okay. Toast a wedding in a restaurant with a liquor license, not okay.
Heres a curve ball on this thread:
Can underagers consume/posses “non-alcoholic” beer in the USA (I know 1/50th of the answer).