by munchingfoo on Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:54 am
I don't think it is such a bad idea.
They are not proposing to make it illegal to consume drink until 21, only buy it in an off-licence. You could still purchase alcohol in a pub, or the Union if you prefer the price.
As far as getting hold of off-licence alcohol goes, it would just require a little more thought on your behalf. Most students have a friend over 21, an academic father for instance. Whilst it seems a chore to have to get someone else to buy it for you, after a while it would become the norm.
I don't think the idea is to stop mature 18 year olds from getting hold drink, otherwise they would have proposed changing the drinking age. Instead, I think the proposed change is to stop people of 16 trying to buy drink because "they look old enough" and also to stop 18 year olds who are the oldest amongst their group of friends from purchasing alcohol for all their mates.
When a trial period of age 21 restriction was carried out in Scottish towns the results of reduced alcohol related crime were promising,
so much so in fact the neighbouring towns voluntarily joined the scheme.
Personally I would recommend combining the sale age with a drinking age reduction. This might remove some of the novelty factor as well as allowing parents to teach their children about drinking in a manner similar to those on the continent.
[hr]
“ When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading”
I'm not a large water-dwelling mammal Where did you get that preposterous hypothesis? Did Steve