A compelling argument for the translational value of the brain disease model of addiction is the knowledge that the prefrontal and other cortical networks that are so critical for judgment and self-regulation do not fully mature until people reach 21 to 25 years of age.53 As a result, the adolescent brain is much less able to cognitively modulate strong desires and emotions. This observation is particularly relevant to the establishment of 21 years of age as the legal drinking age in the United States, a ruling that is often questioned even though a dramatic reduction in highway deaths followed its institution.54 One could legitimately argue that the study of the neurobiology of addiction provides a compelling argument for leaving the drinking age at 21 years and for increasing the legal smoking age to 21 years, by which time the brain networks that underlie the capacity for self-regulation are more fully formed.
