Editing Legal drinking age (section)

=== United States ===
[[File:Underage consumption map 2007.gif|thumb|center|upright=2.0|Exceptions to the minimum age of 21 for drinking alcohol in the United States, as of 1 January 2007]]
In the United States, the minimum legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages has mainly been 21 years of age since shortly after the passage of the [[National Minimum Drinking Age Act]] in 1984. The two exceptions are Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands where the age is 18. The legal drinking age varies by state, and many states have no age requirements for supervised drinking with one's parents or legal guardians.

Despite a rekindled national debate in 2008 on the established drinking age (initiated by several university presidents), a [[Fairleigh Dickinson University]] PublicMind [[Opinion poll|poll]] found in September 2008 that 76% of [[New Jersey]]ans supported leaving the legal drinking age at 21 years.<ref name="publicmind.fdu.edu">{{Cite web|author=William R. Kennedy |url=http://www.publicmind.fdu.edu/21todrink/ |title=New Jersey Residents Say Leave the Drinking Age at 21 – FDU PublicMind – September 15, 2008 |publisher=Publicmind.fdu.edu |date=15 September 2008 |access-date=2012-07-28}}</ref> No significant differences emerged when considering gender, political affiliation, or region. However, parents of younger children were more likely to support keeping the age at 21 (83%) than parents of college-age students (67%).<ref name="publicmind.fdu.edu" />

Seventeen states ([[Arkansas]], [[California]], [[Connecticut]], [[Florida]], [[Kentucky]], [[Maryland]], [[Massachusetts]], [[Mississippi]], [[Missouri]], [[Nevada]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Mexico]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Oklahoma]], [[Rhode Island]], [[South Carolina]], and [[Wyoming]]) and the [[District of Columbia]] have laws against possession of alcohol by minors, but they do not prohibit its consumption by minors.

Fourteen states ([[Alaska]], [[Colorado]], [[Delaware]], [[Illinois]], [[Louisiana]], [[Maine]], [[Minnesota]], [[Missouri]], [[Montana]], [[Ohio]], [[Oregon]], [[Texas]], [[Wisconsin]], and [[Virginia]]) specifically permit minors to drink alcohol given to them by their parents or by someone entrusted by their parents.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

Many states also permit the drinking of alcohol under the age of 21 for religious or health reasons.

[[Puerto Rico]], a territory of the United States, has maintained a drinking age of 18.

United States customs laws stipulate that no person under the age of 21 may bring any type or quantity of alcohol into the country.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/ |title=Know Before You Go |publisher=Cbp.gov |access-date=2010-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007204857/http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/ |archive-date=7 October 2010 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>