The alcohol laws of the United States

Alcohol laws of the United States by state

This list of alcohol laws of the United States by State provides an overview of alcohol-related laws by state throughout the United States. This list is not intended to provide a breakdown of such laws by local jurisdiction within a state; see that state's alcohol laws page for more detailed...

 regarding minimum age for purchase have changed over time. The history is given in the table below. Unless otherwise noted, if different alcohol categories have different minimum purchase ages, the age listed below is set at the lowest age given for (e.g. if the purchase age is 18 for beer and 21 for wine or spirits, as was the case in several states, the age in the table will read as "18", not "21"). In addition, the purchase age is not necessarily the same as the minimum age for consumption of alcoholic beverages, although they have often been the same.

As one can see in the table below, there has been much volatility in the states' drinking ages since the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Shortly after repeal, most states set their purchase ages at 21 since that was the age of majority

Age of majority

The age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as it is conceptualized in law. It is the chronological moment when minors cease to legally be considered children and assume control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thereby terminating the legal control and legal responsibilities of...

 at the time, but a few set their limits lower. Most of these limits remained constant until the early 1970s. From 1969 to 1976, some 30 states lowered their purchase ages, generally to 18. This was primarily because the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 with the 26th amendment

Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution limited the minimum voting age to no more than 18. It was adopted in response to student activism against the Vietnam War and to partially overrule the Supreme Court's decision in Oregon v. Mitchell...

, and nearly all states lowered their ages of majority as well. In spite of this, twelve states kept their purchase ages at 21 since repeal of Prohibition and have never changed them. Most of the age lowering occurred in 1972–1973. From 1976 to 1983, several states voluntarily raised their purchase ages to 19 (or, less commonly, 20 or 21), in part to combat drunk driving fatalities. In 1984, Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act

National Minimum Drinking Age Act

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was passed on July 17, 1984 by the United States Congress as a mechanism whereby all states would become thereafter required to legislate the age of 21 years as a minimum age for purchasing and publicly possessing alcoholic beverages...

, which required states to raise their ages for purchase and public possession to 21 by October 1986 or lose 10% of their federal highway funds. By 1988, all 50 states and the District of Columbia (but not Puerto Rico, Guam, or the Virgin Islands) had raised their purchase ages to 21 (but see Additional Notes below). The current drinking age of 21 remains a point of contention among many Americans, not least because of it being higher than the age of majority (18 in most states) and higher than the drinking ages of most other countries. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act is also seen as a congressional sidestep of the tenth amendment

Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791...

. Although the issue has been on the back burner for a while, a few states are currently considering lowering their drinking ages, while Guam has raised its drinking age to 21 in July 2010.

State	Pre-Prohibition Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition... (prior to 1919)	Post-Prohibition Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which had mandated nationwide Prohibition... (after 1933)	1970s 1970s File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...  / 26th Amendment Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution limited the minimum voting age to no more than 18. It was adopted in response to student activism against the Vietnam War and to partially overrule the Supreme Court's decision in Oregon v. Mitchell... (adopted in 1971)	1980s 1980s File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...  / Drinking Age Act of 1984	21st century
Alabama Alabama Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...	?	21	Lowered to 19 in 1975	Raised to 21 in 1985	21
Alaska Alaska Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...	?	21	Lowered to 19 in 1970	Raised to 21 in 1983	21
Arizona Arizona Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...	?	21	Lowered to 19 in 1972	Raised to 21 in 1985	21
Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...	?	21	21	21	21
California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...	?	21	21	21	21
Colorado Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...	?	None, 18 in 1945	18	Raised to 21 in 1987	21
Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1972	Raised to 19 in 1982 Raised to 20 in 1983 Raised to 21 in 1985	21
Delaware Delaware Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...	?	21	Lowered to 20 in 1972	Raised to 21 in 1984	21
District of Columbia	?	18	18	Raised to 21 in 1986 (after Sep)	21
Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1973	Raised to 19 in 1980 Raised to 21 in 1985	21
Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...	21	21	Lowered to 18 in 1972	Raised to 19 in 1980 Raised to 20 in 1985 Raised to 21 in 1986	21
Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...	?	20	Lowered to 18 in 1972	Raised to 21 in 1986	21
Idaho Idaho Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....	?	20 (beer), 21 (liquor)	Lowered to 19 (all) in 1972 (Jul 1)	Raised to 21 in 1987 (Apr 11) w/ grandfather clause Grandfather clause Grandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption... 2 years - 1989 (Apr 11)	21
Illinois Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...	?	Age of majority: 21 (men), 18 (women) Raised to 21 for all in 1961	Lowered to 19 (beer/wine) in 1973.	Raised to 21 in 1980	21
Indiana Indiana Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...	?	21	21	21	21
Iowa Iowa Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...	?	21	Lowered to 19 in 1972 (Jul 1) Lowered to 18 in 1973 (Jul 1) Raised to 19 in 1978 (Jul 1)	Raised to 21 in 1986 (Jul 1)	21
Kansas Kansas Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...	?	18	18	Raised to 21 in 1985	21
Kentucky Kentucky The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...	?	21	21	21	21
Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...	?	18 as of 1948	18	Raised to 21 de jure in 1987, but de facto age was still 18 until 1995 due to a sale loophole. De facto age raised to 21 in 1995 when loophole was closed. In 1996, briefly lowered by Louisiana Supreme Court to 18 until it reversed its decision, raising to 21 three months later. Other exceptions still remain.	21
Maine Maine Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...	?	21	Lowered to 20 in 1969 Lowered to 18 in 1972 Raised to 20 in 1977	Raised to 21 in 1985	21
Maryland Maryland Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...	?	21	Lowered to 18 (beer/wine) in 1974	Raised to 21 (all) in 1982	21
Massachusetts Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1973 Raised to 20 in 1979	Raised to 21 in 1985	21
Michigan Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....	?	21 (Age of majority)	Lowered to 18 in 1972 (Jan 1) (w/ age of majority)	Raised to 19 in 1978 (Dec 3) Raised to 21 in 1978 (Dec 21), 18 days later. First state to raise age to 21 since it was lowered	21
Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1973 Raised to 19 in 1976 First state to raise age after lowering.	Raised to 21 in 1986	21
Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...	?	18 (alcohol not legalized until 1966)	18	Raised to 21 in 1986	21
Missouri Missouri Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...	?	21 (since 1945)	21	21	21
Montana Montana Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1972 Raised to 19 in 1979	Raised to 21 in 1987	21
Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....	?	21	Lowered to 20 in 1969 Lowered to 19 in 1972	Raised to 20 in 1980 Raised to 21 in 1985.	21
Nevada Nevada Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...	?	21	21	21	21
New Hampshire New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1973 Raised to 20 in 1979	Raised to 21 in 1985.	21
New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1973 (w/ age of majority)	Raised to 19 in 1980 Raised to 21 in 1983	21
New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...	?	21	21	21	21
New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...	?	18	18	Raised to 19 in 1982 (Dec) Raised to 21 in 1985 (Dec)	21
North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...	?	18	18	Raised to 19 in 1983 Raised to 21 in 1986 (Sep 1)	21
North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....	?	21	21	21	21
Ohio Ohio Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...	?	Initially 16, raised to 18 in 1935	18	Raised to 19 in 1982 Raised to 21 in 1987	21
Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...	?	3.2% beer 21 (men), 18 (women)	Lowered to 18 (3.2% beer) for both sexes in 1976 (Dec) Last state to lower the drinking age.	Raised to 21 in 1983.	21
Oregon Oregon Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...	?	21	21	21	21
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...	?	21	21	21	21
Rhode Island Rhode Island The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1972	Raised to 19 in 1980 Raised to 20 in 1981 Raised to 21 in 1984	21
South Carolina South Carolina South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...	?	18	18	Raised to 19 in 1984 Raised to 20 in 1985 Raised to 21 in 1986	21
South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...	?	21 (all) in 1934 Lowered to 18 (3.2% beer) in 1939 Raised to 19 sometime later	Lowered to 18 (3.2% beer) in 1972	Raised to 19 in 1984 Raised to 21 (all) in 1988, pending result of (failed) court challenge.	21
Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1971 Raised to 19 in 1979	Raised to 21 in 1984	21
Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1973	Raised to 19 in 1981 Raised to 21 in 1986 (Sep 1)	21
Utah Utah Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...	?	21	21	21	21
Vermont Vermont Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...	?	21	Lowered to 18 in 1971	Raised to 21 in 1986	21
Virginia Virginia The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...	?	21	Lowered to 18 (beer/wine) in 1974	Raised to 19 in 1981 for off-premises consumption Raised to 19 (all beer) in 1983 Raised to 21 in 1985	21
Washington	"Age of majority" since 1877	21	21	21	21
West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...	?	18 (beer/wine), 21 (liquor)	Lowered to 18 (all) in 1972	Raised to 19 in 1983 (& 21 for non-residents) Raised to 21 in 1986	21
Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...	1839–1866: 18 (wine/liquor), no age for beer; post-1866: 21 (all)	18 (beer), 21 (wine/spirits) but 21 (all) in some municipalities (age of majority: 21). As of 1957, 21 for residents of bordering states with age 21. Raised to 21 in 1963 (off-premise beer sales, remained 18 for on-premise).	Lowered to 18 (all) in 1972 (Mar) Border state restriction lifted in 1977	Raised to 19 in 1984 Raised to 21 in 1986	21 (however anyone can drink when parents or legal guardians are present)
Wyoming Wyoming Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...	?	21	Lowered to 19 in 1973	Raised to 21 in 1988 (Jul 1) Last state to raise de jure drinking age to 21	21
American Samoa American Samoa American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...	?	?	?	21?	21
Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...	–	–	?	21?	21
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...	?	18	18	Kept at 18 despite 10% highway funding penalty under Drinking Age Act.	18
Virgin Islands United States Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...	?	?	?	18	18
Guam Guam Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...	?	21?	18	18	Raised to 21 in 2010 (Jul 8)

Additional notes

• Contrary to popular belief, since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, not all states specifically prohibit minors' and young adults' consumption of alcohol in private settings. That is due to the fact that the federal law is only concerned with purchase and public possession, not private consumption, and contains several exceptions. As of January 1, 2007, 14 states and the District of Columbia ban underage consumption outright, 19 states do not specifically ban underage consumption outright, and 17 states have family member and/or location exceptions to their underage consumption laws. Federal law explicitly provides for religious, medical, employment and private club possession exceptions; as of 2005, 31 states have family member and/or location exceptions to their underage possession laws.

• In Louisiana
  Louisiana
  Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
  
  , the 1987 law raising the age from 18 to 21 was deliberately written solely to comply with the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 to avoid losing highway funding, while still allowing 18–20 year olds to drink like before. Not only did it still allow 18–20 year olds to consume in private, it contained a major loophole allowing bars and stores to sell alcohol to 18–20 year olds without penalty (despite purchase being technically illegal) which meant that the de facto age was still 18. In other words, the drinking age was 21 only on paper. This loophole was closed in 1995, but in 1996 the Louisiana Supreme Court declared a drinking age of 21 unconstitutional. That briefly lowered the de jure purchase age to 18, causing an uproar which prompted the Louisiana Supreme Court to reverse its decision, raising the age to 21 three months later. Other exceptions still remain to this day, including drinking in a private residence, and Louisiana still has some of the most liberal general alcohol laws of any state.

• Some states were "dry" well before national Prohibition
  Prohibition
  Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
  
   was enacted in 1919, in some cases since achieving statehood. Also, some states did not become fully "wet" until several years after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 (e.g. Mississippi in 1966). Since 1966, all states and territories of the USA have been "wet," but dry counties and towns still exist in some states.

• In Canada
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
  
  , the historical changes to the drinking age followed a similar pattern (first no limit, then prohibition, then 21 after repeal, lower to 18 or 19, then raise some more provinces to 19), except that no province or territory raised their age limit back to 21 (or even 20). Most provinces/territories are currently 19, while three (Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec) are 18.

External links

• MLDA-21 – dates enacted by state – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...
  
  (NHTSA)