Inside Report (1)

The push for a higher, uniform drinking age is intensifying.

The National Transportation Safety Board says the drinking age in every state should be 21 to reduce highway deaths. The National Council on Alcoholism agrees. Some 35 states and the District of Columbia allow drinking at a younger age. The situation is rough near borders of states with different drinking ages. In Illinois and Wisconsin, for instance, the drinking ages are 21 and 18 respectively. There is heavy cross-border traffic each night during the summer as young people take advantage of the gap. Police in both states have teamed up to deal with the problem. The first night's effort led to 26 arrests and 63 tickets.

Citizens of both states have recently joined forces as ''Hands Across the Border'' to lobby Wisconsin legislators to raise the drinking age to 21.m