Why is the age of majority (18 in most places) not the same as drinking age in the USA (21)?
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It was 21 for pretty much everything.
The age to be drafted was then reduced to 18. People protested so voting was reduced to 18 too, and most other things followed automatically.
Now there was a bunch of drunk teenagers on the road so the feds told the states to make drinking 21 or lose federal funding for roads.
Its not federally required to be 21, however, due to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, any state that fails to make it 21 loses all highway funding.
Last year the FDA decided that all tobacco, nicotine, and Marijuana minimum age will be increased to 21 from 18, too.
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