Readers Question: Evaluate the case for raising the legal drinking age to 21. Will it be more effective than other methods for reducing the harmful effects of alcohol?
There are several reasons to be concerned about the over-consumption of alcohol, especially amongst young people. In the UK, abuse of alcohol has contributed to several social, economic and health problems, including:
- Alcohol related accidents.
- Health problems
- Alcohol addiction major cause of family breakdown.
- According to a report, “Health First: An evidence-based alcohol strategy for the UK”. “The personal, social and economic cost of alcohol has been estimated to be up to £55bn per year for England and £7.5bn for Scotland,”
- Research carried out by Sheffield University for the government shows a 45p minimum would reduce the consumption of alcohol by 4.3%, leading to 2,000 fewer deaths and 66,000 hospital admissions after 10 years. Researchers also claim the number of crimes would drop by 24,000 a year.
From an economic perspective, we say that alcohol is a demerit good.
- People may underestimate the personal costs of drinking alcohol to excess (especially amongst young people)
- There are external costs to society, e.g. costs of health care, costs of treating accidents, days lost from work. Therefore the social cost of alcohol is greater than the private cost.
These two factors give a justification for government intervention to deal with some issues related to alcohol. Raising the legal drinking age could help reduce these personal and social costs because it is more difficult to purchase.
Arguments against raising the drinking age to 21
- At 18, people can vote and are considered adults, so we should allow them to have a personal decision on whether to consume alcohol.
- Alcohol in moderation isn’t necessarily harmful. Rather than a blanket ban, the government could focus on tackling binge drinking through making alcohol more expensive and tackling the drinking culture.
- Drinking alcohol is so embedded in the culture, raising the legal age to 21, will make the majority of young people break the law.
- It will encourage people to find ways to circumnavigate the law. Black market alcohol supplies, which may be harder to monitor.
- Arguably, there are better ways to deal with problems of alcohol.
Will Raising the drinking age to 21 be effective?
Raising the drinking age to 21 will reduce consumption amongst young people because it will be harder to buy alcohol. Also, young people are the most likely group to misuse alcohol; e.g. drinking to excess, which causes accidents, death and health problems. If people start drinking later in life, they may be more likely to drink in moderation and not get addicted at an early age.
However, it will still be possible for young people to drink at home. People will find ways to avoid the legislation e.g. asking older people to buy alcohol for them. Nevertheless, it will be more difficult. For example, a 16 year old may not be able to get away with drinking in a pub any more. If the age is 18, it is much easier for a 16 or 17 year old to get away with drinking alcohol.
This policy doesn’t address the underlying problem of why people want to drink to excess. For that education may be a better solution; education could help to explain the dangers of excess drinking and therefore encourage young people to drink moderation.. However, previous education policies have not seemed to be very effective. Young people don’t want to hear lectures from the government about the dangers of alcohol.
Other Solutions
Higher taxes increase the cost of alcohol and may have a significant effect in reducing demand amongst young people, who have lower disposable incomes. If demand is reduced by say 20% this may reduce many of the problems of over-consumption. This policy also raises revenue for the government. But, on the other hand, it may increase the incentive to import low duty alcohol from abroad. Demand for alcohol may also be inelastic and not effective in stopping consumption.
See also: Tax on alcohol
Minimum price for alcohol – pros and cons
In practise there is very little that the government can do to change social and individual attitudes to alcohol, which is the root cause of most alcohol abuse.
In the US the legal drinking age is 21. They still have many alcohol related problems, but, it is significantly more difficult for young people to regularly drink alcohol.
What do you think – should alcohol be illegal for under 21s?
Hi, I’ve just recently turned 18 and I live in the UK. If I’m honest, I believe that the drinking age should be, in fact, lowered and moderated, like in countries such as Switzerland and Germany. Their policy is that anyone over the age of 16 can buy beer and wine, but they have to wait until the age of 18 to buy any straight liqueurs, spirits or even ‘alco-pops’, so that people begin to appreciate the adult culture of drinking before being able buy more ‘harsh’ substances such as vodka. This then diminishes children from being rebellious and drinking harsh chemicals that could seriously effect their well-being, and they then learn to use alcohol sensibly using more traditional beverages.
Another point would be that teenagers in the UK are very defiant and strong willed, and raising the drinking age would only further the problem of under-age drinking, as teenagers will see this as an opportunity to ‘fuck with the system’.
This next point is pretty controversial, but hear me out. I believe that drinking at a younger age prevents a person from becoming ‘Drunk and Disorderly’ or an Alcoholic later in life. The reason? Because people have longer to understand the drug, and are able to work out for themselves how their body reacts to it. I would rather start drinking at 16 (as I did) and be able to manage the drug at 18-20, than drink for the first time at 18 and get that out of control that I ended up in hospital having my stomach pumped. I know this is just an opinion, but it has worked for me, as I am now 18, and I am VERY aware of how my body handles alcohol, and I do not drink strong spirits such as vodka or gin. Compared to a lot of other people I know, who did not drink until 18, I am a lot more sensible when it comes to alcohol intake.
Drinking age should stay at 18. I read an online report from the USA saying “An 18-year-old MAN” was arrested for underage drinking. Emphasis on the word MAN. 18 is the legal age to vote, smoke, drive, marry and be called an adult so therefore should be able to legally drink alcohol at 18. Those who think it should be 21, what do you say to that? At 18 a person is considered a man or woman by wouldn’t be able to legally drink? Arseholes
The Legal age should go up in the United Kingdom (UK) to 21, and also up the prices!, its so wrong seeing kids from the age of 10 drinking and street corners!, how do they get hold of it?, because its so cheap and people will buy it for them! we have to make sure the age goes up!, and make youngsters more aware of the affects from alcohol, and if children are drinking the perents should get prosecuted ether find or evan jail!, sort it out UK!, by the way i am 17 almost 18!, and I am completely against alchohol.
I think the majority of people who have left comments here, should be sent back to school for spelling lessons. In the mean time they should lay off the sauce as they clearly can’t afford to lose any more brain cells….
i think it should be increased for our future’s sake.
coz drinking at an early may coz damage.
All i am saying is thath:
TAKE CARE PEERS.
I think it shold be 21
i fink alcohol should be lowered to 10 years of age
well you are 10 so you would think that.
Lol why so your life can be ruined and you can get addicted and later have a job at mcdonalds? good luck ^.^
and why is that?, to kill more children?, alcohol is not good!, its a KILLER!
No it should stay at 18. Raising the drinking age will just make it forbidden fruit among teens. Its human nature to want what we cannot have, especially among teens.
Anyone old enough to go to war and die for their country is certainly old enough to have a drink.
Simply allow active soldiers aged 18-20 to drink alcohol on military bases. The last miltary draft was 40 years ago, back when baby car seats and bike helmets weren’t required.
why do you drink what is the point in it? u may not care about what i say but u r doing urself a lot of harm. do u want to die early? ur young u have a lot 2 live for dont let drinking hold u down. coz once u start u cant stop then u’ll b saying bye bye 2 the world(in quite a few cases)
“once you start you cant stop” mmm dont think so, im 17 and i first drank alcohol and 15. after many times drinking after that i made a personal decision to stop. i started and i stopped, drinking is a part of our culture so we may as well find better ways of controlling it and keeping it safe for people that are underage and unexpired. raising it is only going to make it even more taboo and something that teenagers are going to want to rebel against
MICHAEL MATE UR TRULY RIGHT I KEEP CRASHING MA CAR WHEN IM DRINKING. UR SUPER DA RIGHT I DRINK AND ALSO CRAH MA CAR. nanananannanaananaannaannaannanaa every body sing!
I THINK THAT THEY SHOULD KEE THE DRINKING AGE COS I LIKE TO DRINK ALOT AND CRASH MA CAR
Hi i am from Greece/Hellas! Here the legan age for drinking is 17!we finish the school at the age of 18! how can an 17-years old teenager, who is STILL going to school, drink heavy drinks?it is unbelievable how we let them drink like an 30 years old adult?! also an 18 new adult is not enough mature sometimes…isn’t he?!
THE LEGAL AGE FOR DRINKING ALCOHOL SHOULD BE AT 21!
xx
Amen to that, Kalliopi!
Dude, i get smashed off of my face every day, and im 10
oh wow you’re so cool aren’t you and you’re what 12 now. congratulations man you are a bloody legend. dont blame other people the day you get liver poisoning.
awesome!
It should be lowered to 15.
look, the whole underage drinking thing is real annoying. im a teen, and a majority of my friends think its cool to “drink” copius amounts of alcohol, and if the drinking age were to raise to 21 then we would only be increasing the amount of teens that drink instead of reducing it, which is what the government seems to think is what would happen if they did raise the legal drinking age. but now what im going to propse may seem weird but i think it might work. what if we were to introduce drinking laws like those in germany, where teens aged 14-18 are allowed to drink but arent allowed to drink any heavy alcohol, i.e straight vodka, rum, etc etc. until they hit the age of 18 then they can drink whatever. now what would also need to be proposed would be a limit to what they could drink, so e.g 3-4 standard drinks, that way it cant be seen as binge drinking. now this would allow the kids that drink already, to keep drinking but not to the amount that they used to.
yeah, drinking under age is not cool, no matter what your friends tell you! also dont pressure your friends to drink or do anything they dont want to do, its definatley not cool!
Heyy guyys drinking underage is like not cool
LOL
ily
we already have under agee drinkers so if you raise the age then even more people will be ddrinking under age!!
are you gay? drinks are fresh
I AGREE WITH BIEB, EVEN IF IT ISNT RLY HIM X
(IT CUD BE THOUGH)
LOVE YOU ALL AND I DONT DRINK CAUSE IT WILL KILL MY BODY XX
eish its rily a brilliant idea,dont drink under the age of 18 coz its very dangerous to ur helth lifestyle…mwah
hey yo everybody it’s the real JB. just stopping by to say DONT DRINK UNDERAGE PEOPLE. IF UR A BIELEBER BELIEVE IT & DO AS I SAY.
LOVE YOU ALL -JB
oh dear..
Personally I believe that the legal drinking age should be raised to 21 because at 18 people haven’t fully matured , as proven by scientists peoples brains fully develop around the age of 25 so raising the age to 21 will still be compromising but if thats what we need to do to get alcohol related violence out of our community thats what we will do.
I myself am not a drinker and I will NEVER drink but since everyone has a different lifestyle I can’t just force my way of life over others thats why I agree that the drinking age should be raised to 21.
Alyssa ♥
drinking age should be 10
it should be change
BASIC AT 18 MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT MATURE ENOUGH TO DRINK AS MATTER OF FACT THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS THAT WE HAVE IT’S WITH THEM TEEN’S SO JUST INCREASE THE DRINKING AGE AND FOR GOD SAKE GET THE GOVERNMENT TAX AND EDUCATE THE PEOPLE !
SINCERELY
P. Luis H. R. Kreische
I think the legal drinking age should be increased to 21 years. Recently there have been far too many violent incidents amongst 18-20 year old which have been either alcohol induced or drug induced or even both.
I agree with that and
Changing the legal age to 21 will not stop underage drink it will just extend underage drinking to adults of 18, 19 and 20 years of age.
that as well
what we need is to educate the ignorant part of society to drink responsible!
i mean education is the key if parents are irresponsible and ignorant to let their children get wasted then hopefully if you educate them at school they won’t do it!
2 WAYS THAT PEOPLE DRINK IN 2 DIFFERENT CLASS
1 WAY, DRINK TO GET RELAX AND HAVE FUN AT THE PUB INTELLIGENT CLASS WISE PEOPLE
2 WAY, DRINK TO GET DRUNK AND NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING IGNORANT PEOPLE CLASS OF STUPID AND IRRESPONSIBLE PEOPLE! (PEOPLE NOT MATURE USUALLY)
Alex above you don’t see older people urinating over War Memorials or shop doorways (i know you said “with in the law”) but i am just making an observation
Once again the minority spoiling it for the majority,
but the government ignoring it because they would loose out on alcohol tax and they wont do that
the drinking age is better at 18 because when you are 18 you can do almost anything (within the law)
I dont agree with all of this…
once upon a tiume there was a little homeless person. he was drinking in public and got arrested. before he was arrested he gave alchohol to all the little children. they all got drunk and beaten by their parents. the homeless man escaped and became a pedophile.
Hi all, I’m Chloe. I’m 15 i drink hardly ever only at partys and special occasions. I think that if the age is raised it will be harder for people under 20 do get fake ids therefor less people will drink illegally.
I think that age of drinking should stay at the age of 18 because if it go’s up to 21 people would go to drugs!!!
I think that it would be so much better on everybody, even people who drink. You guys dont think about the consequenses of your actions! You are wasting your life!
Raise it to 21!
i think the drinking age should be 21
i think we should have the drinking to be raised to 21 that will be more better
yes i think it should be raised to the age of 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
changing it wont make anything change cause, im 15 and i will drink no matter what, ever think about fake id? well im 15 and pass as 21 (my sisters id) so do what you please i win either way.
ever think you’d get caught
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!! it shouldd be. people who drink at a young age get influenced into bad stuff such as drink driving when the get there driving licence.
what do they think you ‘cool’ when ur under the influence of alcohol pfttttttt lol
keep it at 18
i drink and im 15 i love alcohol!!!
I want the drinking age raised up to 25 !!
Even I am a drunker . but I dont do crazy stuffs !! I dont drive when I am driNk!! I saw my friends who had an accident and damage her whole life.. !! It is really terrible.
why we have to get drunk?? Eveyone have their own problem! U think U have a lot of problem !! U think because U dont have a nice car, Fency stuffs or a nice Girls !! so U get drunk to forget everything !! let me Tell You !! It is stupid when U do that, U dont have it because U dont try it !! If u want to have a nice car, get a Job to earn some money !! dont have fency stuffs !! buy it !! need a sexy girls !! Look for one !!! If you dont do it !! U never will get it !!
other than that, I know sometimes party is for fun !! Have some drink is OK!! but do not drink Everyday,,, try to do something that Can Help Yourself and help the Earth !!
DUDES, CHILLAX GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ, i think like i would like totally want to get gucci alcohol, that would be amaaaaaaaazing
dudes, like 18 yr olds are year 12, thats when all their exams are DUH! so like thats bad cos then if they drink well they wont do very well.
ohhh emm geee my friend like totally drinks with all her gansta friends and smokes majoooana and like goes and sleeps at guys houses and does like who knows whaaat, and she’s 13 soo like no it probs wont make a diffeerence but who knows bromie
and like yo dude bro lets have a solo at the disco BRO mo oooo low , anyway that was my rap and like they’ll wanna do it more to be more R E B E L L I O U S yeeh cos teens are like rebels bro
IILIIIES <3 luv youuuu oh emm gee its my birthday tomorrow xD im sooo happy im getting a blackberry, thats totally awesome! HAHHAHAHEHEHEHOOOHOOOHOOHAHHAA
and im like seventeen and like im on a highhhh so like ignore thisss yo
LMFAMTSWSSHHHHHH
thats soooo cool
the drinking age should not be raised to 21 because if we want to stop young people from drinking then we shouldnt use bandaid solutions – we need to find out why these people drink. it could be because they have a bad social life and use alcohol to realx themselves and then they are able to talk freely and socialise like normal people. or it could be because they have a bad home life with parents because their parents are always at work and they never have anyone to come home to and dont get much love and support from their parents. then they use alcohol to completely forget about everything that is happening in their lives.
also if we raised the alcohol limit to 21 then people who already drink that are under this limit will be addicted and want to break the law, and this means they will be sent to jail and this will fill up our prisons and not leave room for more inprtant crimes such as murder and robberies.
also bars will lose money because as statistics show, most of the people who enter bars are aged from 18-21. so this means that bars will only make half the amout they normally do.
also there will be lots of protests from people who previously drink
there will be increased sales for blackmarkets, and im sure we sone want this
teenagers will be tempted to lie to their parents and drink secretly, and the parents of these people will not approve of what their child is doing.
all the reasons above is why the drinking age limit should not be raised to 21.
(p.s. i am only 11 years old but this research is for a school debate)
leave it 2 age 18 becuase of all the 18 year oldss are going to be angry and create mischeif
OMG!!! im like only 12 and i like drink and smoke dope and im like a big tyme prositute and i like lost mhy virginity like when i was like in like you know like when i was like grade 4 so i think like the whole age thingy you kno to like 21 is just STRAIGHT UP STUPID!! i like got pregnant in the middle of like last year but i like got an abortion because i was like sooo addicted to dope, alcohol and like speed and extacy so yeah :p putting the age up to 21 is just like a waist of time and money so dont even think about doing eht guys alcohol and smoke is OUR lives so DONT i repeat DONT THROW IT AWAY
ya mum!
the drinking age should not be raised to 21 because if we want to stop young people from drinking then we shouldnt use bandaid solutions – we need to find out why these people drink. it could be because they have a bad social life and use alcohol to realx themselves and then they are able to talk freely and socialise like normal people. or it could be because they have a bad home life with parents because their parents are always at work and they never have anyone to come home to and dont get much love and support from their parents. then they use alcohol to completely forget about everything that is happening in their lives.
also if we raised the alcohol limit to 21 then people who already drink that are under this limit will be addicted and want to break the law, and this means they will be sent to jail and this will fill up our prisons and not leave room for more inprtant crimes such as murder and robberies.
also bars will lose money because as statistics show, most of the people who enter bars are aged from 18-21. so this means that bars will only make half the amout they normally do.
also there will be lots of protests from people who previously drink
there will be increased sales for blackmarkets, and im sure we sone want this
teenagers will be tempted to lie to their parents and drink secretly, and the parents of these people will not approve of what their child is doing.
all the reasons above is why the drinking age limit should not be raised to 21.
(p.s. i am only 11 years old but this research is for a school debate)
it will make it worse so leave the age
LEAVE the drinking age at 18 and it wont stop people from drinking if you change the age to 21
LEAVE the drinking age at 18
bad thing is that we dont get to live life properly because of these risks
this suks that age of drinking is18 it should be 21 lots more innocent people will live
I think that its PERFECT raising it to 21!!!!!!!!! TOO many IDIOTS (young ppl) are on the streets like bums and drinking…. So i think it should be raised to 21 and harder enforeced laws should follow!!!!!!!!
no it shouoldnt
I dont like every one who smoke
To drink and smoke is not good for the body.
Every one who drink and smoke should stop cause is not good.
thank from junior to any one who smoke and drink.
that is the stupidest thing in the world!!!!!!!!! leave it at 18 u idiots!
It should be raised to 21.
Im 16 at the moment and I drink and smoke . By putting up the legal age for drinking , it wouldn`t make that much of a difference , teens have their ways of getting grog or smokes , although it would be alot harder for us to get into clubs or pubs , but otherwise they should leave the legal age at 18 .
I am 18 (legal to drink
), I don’t think increasing the drinking age to 21 will be a positive because some young people (e.g. 14-16 year olds) may think it is more big/hardcore to drink and there will be more of an incentive for them to try it. It will increase the underage drinking levels in the UK, and it will be taking away one of the things that an adult can do. Personally, I think 16 to 17 year olds should be able to drink beer (not cider) in pubs because they can be refused service when they have had too much and it is a less of a problem people (of all ages) drinking on the streets than indoors. The UK is a good country to live in, but it won’t be if we are not treated like adults in a pub until we are 21. The UK goverment should leave the laws just how they are, everytime they change they are usually not for the best. If the alcohol tax is put up, it would be OK for families with good income, but not for thw lower income familes. If the government want to deter under 18s from pubs/clubs, don’t raise the drinking age because that would be unfair on 18-20 year olds, instead I recon pubs/clubs/shops should have a biometric fingerprint ID system (so people can’t share there ID’s with there older friends).
im 14 and i drink at the weekend. I agree with what most people have said. putting the age up to 21 wont stop me or any other teenagers drinkin. Yes it may be harder for us to buy it but we’ll just do wot we do now – stand on street corners and ask random people, or parents or older brothers or sisters and other family members. Its just gunna be a waste of time and money. I smoke to and puttin the age up to 18 didnt make a slight bit of difference as i still smoke and everyone else i know smokes to. i also dont agree with the fact the goverment n most other adults seem to think they know what goes through teens minds and know why we drink/smoke/take drugs/break the law etc. Instead making up wierd suggestions themselves why cant they ask us – seein as were the people who r doing it.
Dont do it!
i think changing the age of drinking from 18 to 21 won’t work as teenagers today stil drink no matter what. Teenagers who are underage wont stop drinking because of the raise.
there is no point
I dont think raising the legal drinking age to 21 would work. Its 18 right now and we have younger teenagers going out and getting drunk illegally. So if its raised to 21 we would just have 18, 19 and 20 year olds getting drunk illegally. It doesnt matter about the age. Its the attitude of the individual and peer pressure. Also why is it that we foucs on teenagers being the problem when talking about alcohol consumption problems? I have seen programmes on binge drinking and there is someone going out for a night with the police observing what they do and watching the binge drinkers falling about in the street and it is always adults in their 20s and 30s they see. We need to stop focusing on teeagers being the problem with alcohol consumption and think more about adults being a bad influence on teenagers. Also there is no point trying to solve this problem through education. If children are exposed to alcohol at home and alot of children are, what they learn at school wont make a difference. We are more likely to mimic our parents than listen to someone telling us the dangers of excess alcohol consumption.
pushing the age to 21 has nothing to do with underage drinking, The Goverment should be spending more time and money into tacking underage drinking, also it wont stop underage drinking, also it wont stop under age drinking.
so many teenagers from 14 – 17 are throwing away there lives all because they think its cool there getting wasted, and also because they havent been informed at a younger age before they drink of the consequensas. How ever changing the legal drinking age to 21 has nothing to do with underage drinking, it could just make criminals o 18-20 year olds, what impact does the “legal” drinking age have on the behaviour of 14 – 17 year old, why would you want to expand the behaviour to 18, 19 and 20 year olds.
The goverment should send more time and money on the issue to tackel and overcome underage drinking such as more in-school speakers to show and inform us the effects o drinking at a young age, more addvertisment in the street, in school, at clubs, in doctors and in alcohol stores of graphic pictures.
Changing the legal age to 21 will not stop underage drink it will just extend underage drinking to adults of 18, 19 and 20 years of age. 50% of alcohol consumed by underage drinkers was supplied by there parents.
i dnt think it should be!
I think the legal drinking age should be increased to 21 years. Recently there have been far too many violent incidents amongst 18-20 year old which have been either alcohol induced or drug induced or even both.
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Dolly
Alcoholism Treatment