Abstract:
The modern history of alcoholic beverage control dates from the ratification of the 18th Amendment. The age limits established in the 1930s remained 18 and 21 for beer and spirituous liquors respectively, until the 1980s when rising concern over fatalities prompted a change in the drinking age to 21. The North Carolina General Assembly adopted the legal drinking age of 21 in 1985 to avoid a 5 percent loss of federal highway funds.