<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Most states in the U.S. regulate the use of alcohol by those under the age of 21 . Many believe that anyone under the age of twenty - one cannot consume alcohol in the United States . However, this is incorrect because underage drinking is allowed in 31 states with parental consent and 17 states with spousal consent, if the consenting spouse is over 21 . Although the state laws pertaining to drinking by minors (defined as those under the age of 18) are presumptively constitutional, as valid exercises of the police power, to protect public health, welfare, and morals, there exists a question of whether laws forbidding the consumption of alcohol by those 18 to 20 years of age are Constitutional, as such individuals are considered legal adults for all intents and purposes other than that of consuming alcohol and running for certain State and Federal offices, such as the Presidency of the United States, which is restricted for those 35 years of age and older . Under the Constitution of the United States, Amendment 14, Section 1, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws". Many parallel State constitutional provisions similar to those contained in the 14th Amendment exist, and State constitutions often have explicit prohibitions against age discrimination, as well . </P> <P> Since citizens between the ages of 18 to 20 are adults, able to sign legal contracts, vote, be sentenced to death, and serve in the military, questions exist whether criminalizing alcohol consumption for these adults reduce them to a suspect class, thus depriving them of the equal protection of the law promised by the Equal Protection Clause; effectively deprive them of the privileges and immunities of citizenship protected by the Citizenship Clause; or infringe on the liberty or privacy interest protected by the concept of substantive due process implicit within the Due Process Clause . These questions were litigated before the Supreme Court of Louisiana, in Manuel v. State, 692 So . 2d 320, 324--25 (La . 1995); the Court originally found such laws criminalizing the possession of alcohol by persons between the ages of 18 and 20 to be repugnant to the Constitution of said State . However, when the Court was threatened by the Legislature therein with the passage of a Constitutional amendment overruling Manuel, they reversed it, finding that laws forbidding 18 - to 20 - year - olds from drinking were constitutional, due to the alleged benefits that these laws had on statistical rates of drunk driving . However, this decision only applies to the State of Louisiana . </P>

How old do you have to be to drink alcohol in america
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