Drinking alcohol has always been a favorite pastime of Americans of all ages. Now Americans are being asked again whether or not the drinking age is affective at prohibiting drinking under the age of twenty-one or if the age should be lowered to eighteen. Throughout time we have seen the effects that drinking has had on irresponsible individuals but if an individual is considered to be responsible enough to take on tasks of an adult at the age of eighteen, then shouldn't he be able to drink if he wishes? The first thing to understand is some of the history of the drinking age. There is not a legal federal drinking age. In fact, even though the states made the laws about the drinking age, they all differ in when they find it acceptable for an individual to drink. Some laws state that it is okay for someone under twenty-one to drink for religious purposes or when they are with a parent (Johnson, Debate on Lower Drinking Age). It may seem to many individuals that are in their early twenties that the drinking age has been at 21 for a really long time, but little do they know that it actually was passed in most states only a year or two before they were born. According to Alex Johnson in his article, “Debate on Lower Drinking Age Bubbling Up,” the state laws that were implemented to ban selling alcohol to persons under the age of twenty-one happened between 1984 and 1988. Though by this time forty-nine states had made a law to raise the drinking age, not all states may have agreed that the age should have been raised. Johnson also explains that the federal government had pressured the states into the raise by saying that if they did not raise the age the government would hold back ten percent of federal highway funds from the states. It is very possible that the majority did not believe that the age should be raised but did so in order to receive needed money. In reality the law of prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcohol by individuals under the age of twenty-one does not work. David J. Hanson stated that, “Just like during national Prohibition, the law has pushed and forced underage drinking and youthful drinking underground, where we have no control over it” (Johnson, Debate on Lower Drinking Age). Even the National Survey on Drug Use and Health completed in 2005, showed that eighty-five percent of twenty year olds had consume