30th Anniversary of National Minimum Drinking Age Act

passed on July 17, 1984. Made states, by reducing Fed Highway funds, to raise drinking age to 21.

Per Wiki:

quote:

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South Dakota and Wyoming were the final two states to comply with the age 21 mandate.

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South Dakota - Raised to 19 in 1984.
Raised to 21 (all) in 1988,
pending result of (failed)
court challenge.

Wyoming - Raised to 19 in 1984
Raised to 21 in 1986

BUT NOT SO FAST!! The Great State of Louisiana was truly the last to hold out.....

Louisiana- 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.

Furthermore......

In Louisiana, 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 as 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.