On this day in 1984, that horrifically stupid social experiment, National Prohibition, was reinstated for a sizable percentage of American adults. That’s right, this is the day that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed, raising the U.S. drinking age from 18 to 21. Due mostly to pressure from MADD, millions of adults who were old enough to vote, own property, get married, drive a car, form corporations, go to war and die for their country were suddenly deprived of their right to buy a freaking beer. MADD swore it would save thousands of lives, but according to a 2011 government review, it didn’t affect mortality at all. All it did was ensure that millions of young adults, particularly college students, would learn to drink in unsupervised basements rather than in proper bars where the staff could clue them in on the rules of drinking. Consider this: an American adult can serve three tours in Afghanistan and come home and still not be considered responsible or adult enough to walk into a store and buy a beer. I mean, what kind of country is this? So, if you run into a veteran today who’s too young to buy his own damn drink, help him out. He earned it.
