The legal drinking age is not based on responsibility, but on human physiology:
• Young people who use alcohol before age 21 are far more likely to have alcohol-related problems later in life.
• The brain of an 18-year-old is not fully developed. The brain doesn’t finish its development until a person’s mid 20s. During its development, your brain is very vulnerable to alcohol.
• Teenagers who participate in underage drinking may lose as much as 10% of their brainpower — the difference between passing and failing in school, on the sports field and in the job world.

Providing or supplying alcohol to a minor is typically punished as a misdemeanor offense. However, the crime may also be considered a felony depending on the circumstances of the case and the state in which it occurs.

If you give beer, wine or liquor to anyone who is under the age of 21, you could have to:
• Pay a fine of $200 to $300 and/or imprisonment for up to 30 days for the first offense
• Pay a fine of $400 to $500 and/or imprisonment for up to 30 days for a second or subsequent offense

Information provided by DAODAS.

For more information about underage drinking click here.