Legal drinking age

The legal drinking age is the minimum age at which a person can legally consume alcoholic beverages. The minimum age alcohol can be legally consumed can be different from the age when it can be purchased in some countries. These laws vary between countries and many laws have exemptions or special circumstances. Most laws apply only to drinking alcohol in public places with alcohol consumption in the home being mostly unregulated (one of the exceptions being England and Wales, which have a minimum legal age of five for supervised consumption in private places). Some countries also have different age limits for different types of alcohol drinks.
The majority of countries have a minimum legal drinking age of 18. The most commonly known reason for the law behind the legal drinking age is the effect on the brain in adolescents. Since the brain is still maturing, alcohol can have a negative effect on the memory and long-term thinking. Alongside that, it can cause liver failure, and create a hormone imbalance in teens due to the constant changes and maturing of hormones during puberty. Some countries have a minimum legal drinking age of 19 to prevent the flow of alcoholic beverages in high schools, while others like the United States have a minimum legal purchasing age of 21 (18 in P.R. and USVI) in an effort to reduce the amount of drunk driving rates among teenagers and young adults.
There is a concept called underage clubs, where individuals below the legal drinking age are catered for and are served non alcoholic beverages.
The most common minimum age to purchase alcohol in Africa is 18. However, Angola (except Luanda Province), Central African Republic, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali have no laws on the books restricting the sale of alcohol to minors. In Libya, Somalia and Sudan the sale, production and consumption of alcohol is completely prohibited.
In Central America, the Caribbean, and South America the legal drinking age and legal purchase age varies from 0 to 20 years (see table below). In South America in particular, the legal purchase age is 18 years, with two exceptions:
In North America the legal drinking age and legal purchase age varies from 18 to 21 years:
In the late 20th century, much of North America changed its minimum legal drinking ages (MLDAs) as follows:
In the United States, the minimum legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages has mainly been 21 years of age since shortly after the passage of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984. The two exceptions are Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands where the age is 18. The legal drinking age varies by state, and many states have no age requirements for supervised drinking with one's parents or legal guardians.
Despite a rekindled national debate in 2008 on the established drinking age (initiated by several university presidents), a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll found in September 2008 that 76% of New Jerseyans supported leaving the legal drinking age at 21 years. No significant differences emerged when considering gender, political affiliation, or region. However, parents of younger children were more likely to support keeping the age at 21 (83%) than parents of college-age students (67%).
Seventeen states (Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Wyoming) and the District of Columbia have laws against possession of alcohol by minors, but they do not prohibit its consumption by minors.
Fourteen states (Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Wisconsin, and Virginia) specifically permit minors to drink alcohol given to them by their parents or by someone entrusted by their parents.
Many states also permit the drinking of alcohol under the age of 21 for religious or health reasons.
Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, has maintained a drinking age of 18.
United States customs laws stipulate that no person under the age of 21 may bring any type or quantity of alcohol into the country.
Most countries in Europe have set 18 as the minimum age to purchase alcohol. Although Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Switzerland (except Ticino) maintain a minimum purchase age below 18 years, minors are permitted either full or limited access to alcohol. In 2005, 2007 and 2015 harmonization at the European Union level toward a minimum purchase age of 18 was discussed, but not agreed.
Timeline of changes to drinking/purchase age or laws restricting the access to alcohol for minors: