re: SB 429. State Senator proposes bill to allow 19 & 20 year olds to drink. Link included.

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Was it the 80s or 90s? I could drink when I was 18 in 95, but then the law changed to 21 and I couldn't.

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originally 85 but Louisiana had loopholes the size of aircraft hangers so they were still effectively 18 until 95 when most of the loopholes were closed. Briefly 18 in 96 due to a supreme court ruling, after which the law was amended to address the deficiencies in the law making 21 the official drinking age.

Cleopatra doesn’t understand capitalism

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Cleopatra doesn’t understand capitalism

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I didn't actually read that comment. Wow.

Unfortunately, she represents a good chunk of society too

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I didn't actually read that comment. Wow.

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thats the best part of that post

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If you were 18 before the law changed you were grandfathered in.

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That is not true. I could drink from 18-20 then they changed the law around 1995. There was a 6 month or so gap where I couldn’t drink (legally) when I was 20 until I turned 21.

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That’s not true. If you were 18 before the law changed you were grandfathered in. I was at LSU when the law changed. If my memory serves me right but I was drunk so I could be mistaken.

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No one was grandfathered in. I lived this and remember it all too well.
In 1986 a law was passed that made it illegal to buy alcohol if you were under 21, but there was a loophole that allowed businesses to sell it to 18 years old. Even though some businesses enforced a 21 y.o. policy anyway, most would sell to 18 year olds.

I turned 18 in early 1995. The new law meant to close the loophole went into effect in August 1995. Someone filed a lawsuit saying the law was unconstitutional shortly after it went into effect. A judge ordered a stay (wrong term?) and for a while some places would sell to those of us that were 18-20 (i.e. Sports). Many other places were still afraid of selling to underage folks b/c Richard Ieyoub was the AG and he was a dick about enforcing the 21 year old drinking age.

The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled both laws unconstitutional sometime in early 1996 and began the time that it was 100% legal for anyone 18 and older to buy alchohol. Thanks to Mike Foster, within a few months the state leg passed another law that couldn't be deemed unconstitutional by the LA Supreme Court and the drink age was permanently changed to 21 without any loophole.

another source (wiki)