at what age can you buy alcohol in usa
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title: Legal drinking age text: Somalia and Sudan the sale, production and consumption of alcohol is completely prohibited. The minimum age to purchase and consume varies, but the most common age is 18 years. However, in North America the age limits varies between 18 and 21 years of age. Throughout the United States the minimum legal age to purchase any alcoholic beverage from a shop, supermarket, liquor store, bar, club or any other licensed premises is 21 years of age. In Canada each province can decide which minimum age limit is to be set to buy or consume alcohol. Most provinces have a minimum age title: U.S. history of alcohol minimum purchase age by state text: 10% of their federal highway funds. By mid-1988, all 50 states and the District of Columbia had raised their purchase ages to 21 (but not Puerto Rico, Guam, or the Virgin Islands, see Additional Notes below). South Dakota and Wyoming were the final two states to comply with the age 21 mandate. The current drinking age of 21 remains a point of contention among many Americans, because of it being higher than the age of majority (18 in most states) and higher than the drinking ages of most other countries. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act is also seen as title: Driver's licenses in the United States text: under the age of 21 is vertical while a driver's license for those over the age of 21 is horizontal. Since the driver's license is often used as proof of a person's age, the difference in orientation makes it easy to determine that a person is legally allowed to purchase or consume alcohol (the drinking age in all U.S. states is 21). Some states, however, do not require that a driver's license is changed to horizontal, such as Arizona, where it is optional to change to a horizontal license. Furthermore, the vertical license does not expire until age 65 in title: U.S. history of alcohol minimum purchase age by state text: the minimum age for "consumption" of alcoholic beverages, although they have often been the same. As one can see in the table below, there has been much volatility in the states' drinking ages since the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Shortly after the ratification of the 21st amendment in December, most states set their purchase ages at 21 since that was the voting age at the time. Most of these limits remained constant until the early 1970s. From 1969 to 1976, some 30 states lowered their purchase ages, generally to 18. This was primarily because the voting age was lowered title: Coming of age text: in Alabama, Alaska and Utah; and 21 in California, New Jersey, Oregon, Hawaii and Maine. Multiple localities have also raised the minimum purchase age independent of state laws. In Canada, a person aged 16 and over can legally drive a car and work, but are only considered to be an adult at age 18 like in the US. In most provinces, the legal age to purchase alcohol and cigarettes is 19, except in Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec where it is 18 years old. In Spain during the 19th century, there was a civilian coming of age bound to the compulsory