Minimum Drinking Age Act (23 USC §158) directing the Secretary of Transportation to withhold a percentage of otherwise allocable federal highway funds from States “in which the purchase or public possession … of any alcoholic beverage by a person who is less than twenty-one years of age is lawful.” This act led most remaining states to increase their MLDA’s to age 21 by 1988, with the exception of the state of Louisiana, which permittedde facto alcohol sales to 18 to 20 year olds until 1995 (Table S1). All states now prohibit public possession of alcoholic beverages by minors, and prohibit furnishing of alcoholic beverages to minors by commercial enterprises. Most states also explicitly prohibit minors from purchasing or consuming alcoholic beverages, but many states allow certain exceptions in non-commercial settings; for example, 20 states currently allow alcoholic beverages to be furnished to a minor by a parent, guardian or spouse (NIAAA APIS, 2009).
