Many people would back raising the alcohol age limit to 21

Ulfhedjinn said:
Yeah and I agree, which is why I keep saying the problem of binge drinking culture and trouble making won't go away until there's some serious reforms in education, parenting, and the general attitude of this country.
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Thats the key, but unfortunatly the governments idea of tackling problems is mainly to throw money at them rather than enforce higher standards and tell yobs to sort themselfs out. Look at the NHS, this government has spent millions yet the fundimental basics of keeping a hospital clean seems to be a total mystery to them.
 
MookJong said:
Thats the key, but unfortunatly the governments idea of tackling problems is mainly to throw money at them rather than enforce higher standards and tell yobs to sort themselfs out. Look at the NHS, this government has spent millions yet the fundimental basics of keeping a hospital clean seems to be a total mystery to them.
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One of the main failures of cleanliness was getting rid of the Matrons, oh how they failed.
 
I don't think raising the drinking age would help.

Kids are going to drink when they get to "that age", around 15 - 18, when they start to become more independent, form vaguely adult social circles, and perhaps rebel against the ideals of their parents. I don't think this will change no matter what, and at least with the drinking age at 18 for the most part the drinking can be done in a 'proper' environment. Raising the drinking age to 21 will increase the number of youths drinking on the streets as opposed to in pubs, which I don't think any of us want.

Just look at the situation in the US, where the drinking age is 21. It doesn't seem effective in discouraging alcohol use among minors.

Bad idea all round IMO.
 
A thoroughly ridiculous idea.

I was resourceful enough to get alcohol pre-18s.

Im fairly sure i still have that resourcefulness.
 
Tough question that - At 18 you are physically and mentally an adult. However, this doesn't mean that one is mature enough to drink sensible and to control it.

The longer opening hours and the ease of buying cheap alcohol is a problem and a curse on our young and society but I doubt raising the age limit would make any difference.


I would like to see the opening times reduced back to 11pm for pubs/bars and keep the clubs open to 2am or3am but that’s not going to happen.
 
The problem isn't the drinking age, it's the drinking culture. I've heard a huge number of people (friends, colleagues and randoms) who effectively live "for the weekend". Until these people choose otherwise we will always have a binge drinking culture.

I'd advocate raising the age to 21, having far harsher penalties for disorderly behaviour (i.e. rather than an overnight lockup, which doesn't bother anyone, maybe 7 days in a real lockup), and having harsher penalties/tighter restrictions on under age drinking. Yes, I say all this with the benefit of hindsight, but trust me, when you are 15,16,17,18,19,20 and the like, you still have a LOT to learn, no matter how much you think you know!
 
Admiral Huddy said:
Tough question that - At 18 you are physically and mentally an adult. However, this doesn't mean that one is mature enough to drink sensible and to control it.
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The same can be said for a 30 year old, people relate maturity to age, which I think is not always the case.
 
If raising the age is not going to make a difference, what about have stiff penalties for people who are drunk and disorderly and other alcohol fuelled crimes? I mean really go to town on them, fine, prison sentence, ban from public houses, name and shame (amputate the hands?).
 
Name and shame and hefty fines would be great, wasting prison space would not, they are dangerous or dissordily with alcohol, prisons are full to bursting, and if they lose their job, its another on the dole.
 
Even if they did make it 21 it wouldn't make a difference anyway when you can buy alcohol at 13 by using a debit card over the internet.
 
bringerofdecay said:
maybe a little less alcohol damage to your brain would have enabled you to spell 'yeah' without sounding like a chav?
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Very well. In future I will construct my replies to you better. I would rather not fuel your 'holier than though' ego any more than nessecary.

What I mean by my reply is, a total ban on alcohol is one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard. If you follow those lines, then perhaps we should ban all unhealthy food. We should ban non educational television, pre marital sex, and numerous other forms of 'non essential' enjoyment.

Is it beyond your limited perspective on the world to beleive that people have a right to choose whether they want to enjoy themselves by having a drink or not, and in this country, you are deemed an adult at 18. Therefore at that point its entirely up to you whether you drink or not, and who on earth do you think you are to preach otherwise.
 
Energize said:
Even if they did make it 21 it wouldn't make a difference anyway when you can buy alcohol at 13 by using a debit card over the internet.
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Somehow I don't think that sole fact is responsible for the binge drinking culture that is slowly taking over our country!
 
[DW]Muffin;10685943 said:
Name and shame and hefty fines would be great, wasting prison space would not, they are dangerous or dissordily with alcohol, prisons are full to bursting, and if they lose their job, its another on the dole.
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Agree. If the first lot is hit hard and fast, hopefully it would serve as a deterent? Or maybe not. :-s
 
'scuse me while I quote myself:

Having spent 2 months in the States as an under 21 this year I met plenty of people my own age and the impact the drinking age there has is quite incredible really. The 18-21 age group is placed in a really awkward position, since they are getting to a stage where they are looking for proper freedom and independence, but they aren't able to attain it because the "adult world" is still very much out of reach until they become 21. As a result of this, those under 21 are still viewed very much as children and seem to be given the same amount of freedom.

This is not a problem until the reins are loosed; exampl e, I came across a group of college kids I was staying with in New York, all 19 or 20. Their average evening's entertainment would be running round the corridors like 13 year olds chasing each other and being generally manic like they'd been given too many sodding E numbers. Obviously there are exceptions, but by putting things out of reach to people when they are hitting the stage of their lives when they should be taking full responsibility for themselves ends up stunting their emotional growth.Society can't nanny people as it creates as many problems as it solves and people have to realise it's a culture thing rather than a matter of freedoms.

In any case, binge drinking among teenagers and young adults in America is worse than more or less all of Europe apart from the UK (obviously), except it has become a more underground phenomenon and there are plenty of commentators that argue a reduction in the drinking age would help control the rising problem by taking it back into licensed establishments. Thus it seems the drinking age has nothing to do with levels of alcohol consumption as the nations with the lowest drinking ages almost always tally with the lowest levels of binge drinking.

Furthermore, the short-term problems affecting city centres that are so often associated with binge drinking (in particular drunken assaults and general disorder) are almost uniquely attributed to over 21s in my experience and this is suggested by statistics.

Taken from a study on victims of alcohol related facial injuries admitted to A&E (Hutchinson, I.L., Magennis, P., Shepherd, J.P. and Brown, A.E. (1998) ‘BAOMs United Kingdom Survey of Facial Injuries, Pt. 1: Aetiology and the Association with Alcohol Consumption’, British Journal of Maxillofacial Surgery, Vol. 36, pp 3-13.) found that 24% of injuries sustained were attributed to assault and that "the mean age of all patients was 25.3 years, of males 23.2 years, and of females 29.8 years" which seems to suggest that alcohol violence is a more common occurence among over 21s hence raising the drinking age would have little impact in this area also.

Ultimately, my personal believe is that a raise in the drinking age would leave the country worse off and that our alcohol problems stem more from cultural factors than legal ones.
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[DW]Muffin;10685943 said:
Name and shame and hefty fines would be great, wasting prison space would not, they are dangerous or dissordily with alcohol, prisons are full to bursting, and if they lose their job, its another on the dole.
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I completely agree. This is a lot better solution than just changing the age limit.
 
Daveyboyuk said:
Agree. If the first lot is hit hard and fast, hopefully it would serve as a deterent? Or maybe not. :-s
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If they lost £500 for hurling abuse at a police officer and resisting arrest, they would certainly think twice when they have no money to go out with for the next month. :)

They may still be a tool, that is a bit aggressive, but the money will seriously effect them.
 
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