Voters in California could soon decide whether to lower the state's drinking age from 21, while lawmakers in Minnesota will consider bills making it legal for 18, 19, and 20-year-olds to drink in bars and restaurants.
A 1984 law established the national drinking as 21, with the federal government telling states it would withhold highway funding if they didn't abide. But Phyllis Kahn, a longtime state rep in Minnesota, believes a provision in Obamacare now makes states immune from that threat, according to the Pioneer Press, a Minnesota newspaper.
This inspired Kahn to introduce two bills addressing the legal age: One would lower the drinking age in bars and restaurants to 18; the other would allow people under 21 to drink in bars and restaurants if they are with a parent, guardian, or spouse of legal age. (Kahn prefers the first bill, the Pioneer Press said.)
The idea is to adopt a European mindset, the Pioneer Press reported, teaching young people how to drink responsibility in a social setting. They wouldn't be able to buy booze in liquor stores until age 21.
