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That smuggling was one of the things that made me a (small-l) libertarian.
We had the MD border when I was a kid, and it was in my youth that the federal law was enacted that "encouraged" the states to raise their drinking ages to a uniform 21. During the debate, a study was done of the rates of teenage alcoholism and drunken driving between PA and MD in similar types of communities. It found that the rates were lower in MD, where the drinking age was lower.
But this fact held no sway amongst the legislators. Real social science was not relevant. The knee-jerk opinions of the masses was the only concern. The feds passed the legislation even though it would increase drinking problems and drunken driving.
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