Alcohol always gets a bad rap. Perhaps more than any other substance in history, we love to blame alcohol for all our problems. During Prohibition, temperance advocates associated alcohol with everything from laziness and broken homes to poverty and insanity. While we have for the most part moved on, alcohol still receives its share of condemnation.
In modern times, one of the chief worries about alcohol is the possibility of underage children getting their hands on it. Those pushing these concerns grew louder as a wave of states across the country changed their laws during the pandemic to allow more types of alcohol to be delivered to consumers' doorsteps. Though youth drinking has long been a target of handwringing, the reality is that fewer and fewer young people are drinking. Rather than overlook this untold story, policy makers should use it to inform their posture toward alcohol reform in the years ahead.
