Seven states consider lower drinking ages

WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- Seven U.S. states are contemplating changing their laws to allow residents younger than 21 years to drink alcohol, officials said.

Kentucky, Wisconsin and South Carolina are considering laws to change the drinking age only for members of the military, ABC News reported Thursday. Missouri, South Dakota, Vermont and Minnesota are debating laws that would allow all residents to take advantage of the lower required age.

Kentucky state Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown, who said he thinks the legal drinking age should be 18, told ABC News that military personnel exhibit their ability to handle alcohol-drinking responsibilities while serving their country.

States considering changing drinking ages face losing as much as 10 percent of federal highway funding because of the 1984 Uniform Drinking Age Act, which threatens to pull funding if states lower legal drinking ages below 21.

Advocates for lowering drinking ages argue that the act is outdated and binge drinking and drunken driving would be less of a problem for the United States if the drinking age were lowered.