Original sentence: However, because the amendment applies only to voting, many states have higher age limits for other rights; Utah's minimum age for tobacco use is 19, Nevada and other states have a limit of 21 years for gambling, and though many states had lowered their drinking ages in the 1970s, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 obliged states to set a limit of 21 years for the use of alcohol under threat of losing 10% of federal highway construction monies
Edited sentence: The issuance of one adult privilege did run counter to this trend, as the minimum age for the purchase of alcoholic beverages has been 21 throughout the United States since 1989 (prior to the late 1970s about half the states observed a lower drinking age, most frequently 18; the age was raised based on statistics which purportedly showed that drivers aged 18 through 20 were, on aggregate, more likely to engage in drunk driving)