I need to say up front that I believe the drinking age (for alcohol) should be lowered to 18 years of age. I just think that all adults should be treated equally, and if you are old enough to put your life in danger by serving in the military, vote in elections, create individually-responsible debt (including college debt), get married in all states, and be considered an adult in criminal courts -- then you should be able to purchase and drink alcohol. And if 18 to 20 year-olds aren't mature enough to drink alcohol, then I have to question whether they are mature enough for the other things I listed above.
But I seem to be in a small minority with that view. Only 25% of Americans agree with me, while a whopping 74% say the drinking age should be kept at age 21. And this huge opposition extends across all demographic groups (sex, age, race, education, and political preference). It even extends to all four regions of the country -- South (75%), East (75%), Midwest (75%), and West (72%). Judging by these results, this is not something that is going to change anytime soon. Americans seem content to grant 18 to 20 year-olds only a second-class sort of citizenship.
The chart above was made with information contained in a recent Gallup Poll. The survey was done between July 7th and 10th of a random national sample of 1,013 adults, and has a margin of error of about 4 points.
