Epidemiology of binge drinking
Concerns over binge drinking by teenagers has led to a review of liquor advertising being announced by the New Zealand government in January 2006. The review considered regulation of sport sponsorship by liquor companies, which at present is commonplace. Previously the drinking age in New Zealand was 20, then dropped to 18 in 1999.
Alcohol laws of New Jersey
New Jersey's drinking age was lowered to 18 in 1973 as part of a broader legal change which reduced New Jersey's age of majority from 21 to 18. Much of the impetus for lowering the drinking age to 18 was to grant returning Vietnam veterans the right to purchase alcohol. Possibly because of concerns about 18-year-old high school students being able to legally purchase liquor, and then illegally consume it school, the state raised the drinking age to 19 in 1980. Citing statistics that indicated an increase in car deaths among drivers under 21, the drinking age was raised back to 21 in 1983. At the same time, the penalties for underage drinking were increased to include a mandatory driver's license suspension. In 1985, the state made it illegal for an adult to give alcohol to a person under 21, with exception for religious services and parents serving alcohol to their own children at home or in a private area.