In louisisana the legal drinking age was 18 until 1995. We used to joke that as long as you could look over the bar then you were legal.
Alcohol here (southern Louisiana) is just as much a part of the culture as crawfish. It was very common when I was growing up to be drunk at the age of 13 during family events (including Mardi Gras parades). It was, and still is in some areas, common for teenagers to have alcohol at parties with parental consent. Generally parents would be present and have the permission of other parents to let the kids get drunk. No big deal as long as no one was driving. I grew up in a culture where alcohol was not a big thing. At the age of 18 we went out and drank legally. Statistics from that time frame show that the most deaths and DWI's occured in the 32-39 age range. The 18-25 year old's came in at #3. Locals swear that we didn't have as many problems because we were "trained" from an early age how to handle ourselves when intoxicated. By 21yrs old, we had already grown out of the bar scene and spent more time at house gatherings. There are many benefits to that.
When the legal drinking age turned to 21, I had been 18 for 9 months and Louisiana did not feel like giving us a grandfather clause. Bars served us anyway...atleast for a couple of more years or long enough for the 18 yr olds to turn 21:animwink:
Something happened to the area though. 18yr olds couldn't buy alcohol anymore (unless they were in a bar) which meant no more buying beer for their high school friends. Although parents still let kids drink, it wasn't an every weekend occurance. Drugs took on a bigger role for those 21 and under.
If you check the statistics of when drugs really became an underage force, it is when the legal drinking ages were changed to deny access to minors.
Now instead of a kid throwing up from a night of playing quarters we have drug addiction and overdose.
It used to be that a friend would get stupid drunk and their friends would laugh and take them home and it was all innocent enough. Drinking stopped at drinking. Now kids are taking XTC and when they feel like it's not enough they take more, then they take the acid that their freind gave them and they end up in a psych ward for the night for observation because it was a little too much to handle. Friends aren't laughing, they are dropping them off on the side of the road because they don't want to be caught with the tweeked out kid because they are high too and paranoid (true story, many times over). It's not so innocent of a night anymore. By changing the law, this has become a nightly reality for underage kids. IMO drugs has a far worse effect on a growing mind than any night of alcohol, maybe that's why they're illegal:lookaroun
Now many will say, my husband from IL. included, that it is wronge to give kids alcohol. Many will agree that the way Kids are raised with access to alcohol like we did in Louisiana is a total lack of responsability on the parents part. But in our defense, the kids who drank early on grew up to drink less than their peers as adults...adults that drive. They had less alcohol related traffic issues and less deaths per year. They were more responsible drinkers period. And...many of them drank less and less as they got older. It wasn't a new thing for them by the time they hit 21. They were over drinking binges and being sick after a rough night.
If you can vote and die for your country at 18, you should be able to drink. but, not because you can go to war or vote but because there is no valid reason to make someone wait until they are 21. A whole region is living proof.
At 38 years old now, and having registered for "selective service" at the age of 18, thanks for telling me that. 
Actually, it is similar to anyone on a cell phone while driving, which is, yet, another issue which needs to be addressed big time, but, that is another topic.