Alexander C. Wagenaar and Traci L. Toomey

Underage drinking is a serious national problem with substantial social and economic consequences. Alexander C. Wagenaar and Traci L. Toomey argue in the following viewpoint that the establishment of a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of twenty-one represents the single most effective approach to curbing underage drinking. They maintain that the age-21 MLDA has saved over seventeen thousand lives since 1975 and could be even more beneficial if it was strictly enforced. Alexander C. Wagenaar and Traci L. Toomey are researchers in the division of epidemiology of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the authors, when did most states establish an MLDA of twenty-one"
2. What penalty did states suffer if they did not raise their...