Minimum Drinking Age

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Some people believe the United States minimum drinking age should remain at 21 instead of lowering it to 18. In 1984 Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, requiring states to raise their drinking age to 21 or they would lose 10% of their federal highway funding. This was done in an effort to help curb drunk driving deaths among teens in particular. According to Ryan Lessing, the number of teenagers killed in traffic accidents has declined drastically from 6,952 deaths in 1984 to 2,524 in 2013. The percent of fatalities in which the driver tested positive for alcohol has decreased 46 percent in the last 35 years among teenagers. A spokesperson for the National Highway Safety Administration named Evelyn Avant said, "We believe
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