Alcohol age limit increase.

[JonB]

Obviously not going to happen in near future, but seems to be quite a few calls for the limit to be 21 like the states.

From BBC Radio1's newsbeat:

[NSR Mick]

I voted yes because it wouldnt affect me in the slightest.

Apart from making the local quieter, the people under 21 who drink there dont cause any bother.
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[killa]

Smoking is banned in public places. People still smoke and people still die.

Drinking may cause a bit of trouble, but taking the age up 3 years isn't going to make the streets any safer.

How about a complete ban on police doing next to nothing first, roaming around cities and towns in large groups performing 'traffic calming' operations. You don't need 18 officers to stop cars coming down a road.

As for alcohol related deaths, well it's very rare people die when they go out for their first legal pub mission....very rare to die in the first week of kaining it. It takes time to pickle your guts, if you really hit it hard you could be signing out at around 25.
If you're the type of person to head down this route, the problem was not to do with what age you can legally drink.
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[JonB]

You are right Killa.

However I wasn't really looking at Alcohol as a health issue, more a social order (or lack of) issue.


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[Ste]

No, they don't need to raise the age limit for alcohol, they've just got to manage to enforce the current age limit.

[SoND]

The current age limit is fine, if they can't enforce this one properly nothing is going to change when it goes up. There needs to be a change that the only thing to do at the weekend is to go out and get totally blocked.

Law change won't solve anything, maybe on their bureaucratic paper it might but not in the real world.

[Kickstart]

[J0Al1]

I voted 'Yes' beacuse . . . .

It works in the US.
Sure, It wont stop idiots being idiots, but it's got to help reduce teenage pregnancy and STD's etc.

They should standardize and make cigaretts the same age too. Wish they would keep people off the roads too, but thats not possible because of travelling to work .


. . . I'm far too lazy right now to say much more on the topic.

[matt_uk]

Im sure there are still millions of under age people in USA drinking every weekend whether it be in house partys or on streets.

Kids will still be able to get alcohol here, as most of the time there parents buy it for them.

Anyway i voted no, because im 18
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[Rookie]

Another blindside then. Because having the drinking limit at 21 is doing such wonderful things in the US.

I voted no, purely because it's not the way to get underage drinking down, or to stop antisocial drinking.

[Dave McCool]

I was having a chat about this with my mum quite recently, and she raised some interesting points.

Back when she was a young lass in Ireland, things were slightly more relaxed as regards the age at which you could drink; generally, if she and her mates, at around the age of 15, went to a pub and behaved themselves, the landlord would be accepting, and would serve them as long as they weren't getting too rowdy, and were respectful. As the years went on, they grew to respect the pubs, and as such, everything continued in harmony, and no kittens were harmed.

To be honest, being from a more rural area myself, this sort of thing was true to an extent even when I was underage (I'll be 21 in March) I could get served relatively easily, so long as my group and I behaved well enough and didn't cause a scene. If you've seen Hot Fuzz, you'll know the sort of thing I mean.

Anyway, we both share the view that this sort of thing taught us gradually about alcohol, our own limits, and its effects. Essentially it taught us how to drink responsibly.

However, in the last couple of years, things have changed a lot. Now pubs are terrified of serving anyone who even might be under 18 for fear of prosecution. I know, as a barman, I'd lose my job if it was shown that I'd served someone underage, and I'd certainly get a bollocking for not IDing someone who looked under 21.

The government are much more interested in policies which make them seem as though they're taking drastic measures which will if they don't give it too much thought, the voting public will assume will surely work, rather than being a bit brave, and trying something which, with a bit of common sense, might work, even if it seems to be controversial.

As a barman, I can tell you that the most common group of people who ever really cause trouble, or who drink way beyond their own capabilities, are those within the first couple of months of becoming legaly entitled to drink, because suddenly a whole new world of drunkenness has become open to them.

As far as I can work out, the Government's stance is that this is O.K, and we shouldn't be worried about that, because they're now legal, and all of the danger from drinking has now gone away.

The underrage who want to drink now have to get an adult to buy them some alcohol, and spend the night roaming the streets, trying to stay one step ahead of the police, and generally drink what they have as quickly as possible so that it cannot be confiscated.

Essentially, in conclusion, I reckon that there should be much less worry about enforcing the drinking age laws. We all know that the majority of teenagers will go out there and experiment with alcohol, whether it's legal or not.

What I'm suggesting is that if this sort of thing were to happen under the circumstances highlighted above, essentially while under the supervision of people experienced in dealing with drunk people, and well able to tell when limits have been reached and indeed exceeded, then surely that's got to be a whole lot safer?
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[Dragonfly]

It isnt going to make much of a difference as under 18's have someone else go into the offy for them. I dont care anyway I am over 21.
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[Itchy]

Does anybody else see this as a totalitarian move? ,

there was an experiment recently where people who buy booze in pubs must give their finger prints,

HALT papers please, before you can buy a pint? , sounds strangely familiar....


Going a bit Hetz here, (and fight club and alot of other fringe culture)

Think about a few things I've said on BCF ,

Is this all there is to life? ,

And my general rant about how life seems to revolve around get up go to work , come back tired eat TV/BCF sleep , repeat for 40 years.



Thus people need a cheap escapism , and alcohol is this (short term) escape, Brave new world had "Soma" , we have alcohol, TV and advertising makes people think their lives will be great how they will grow up to be rich and famous , rockstars or movie gods, the reality is starker than that and most people end up dissappointed bitterly, and thus people drink to dull their nerves to escape from the drugery real life reality of the grind being mugged by the government and all the other crap of the world.



Note I drink very lightly as I distract myself with other things
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[Harold_Shand]

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/3847051.stm

It's probably safe to say dismounting an armoured personnel carrier in Basra is more hazordous to an 18 year olds health than 14 pints and few Goldschlaagers at the weekend.

If they believe an 18 year old can make a decision to use his body as a weapon of war, surely he can decide if he wants to get pissed or not.

Twats, so utterly out of touch with us.
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Harold_Shand's theory might be the best explanation.

[Glen]

They need to enforce the current law before they think about raising it. Every weekend I go out the bars are littered with 15yr old lads and 13-14 yr old girls getting served. If they were a bit more vigilant on the door like they were in Ireland last time I was there i.e everyone getting I.D'd on the door beforehand it might make it a bit better.

[matt_uk]

some places in bournemouth ID everyone,

E.G the witherspoons chain, there very strict down here, Seen them refuse entry to alot of people with no ID, who were blantenly 25+


But then some places just let everyone in
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- - - CAR - - - Passed Theory 20/07/06 - - - Lessons, Test on 15th Jan 08... Passed 2 minors

[craigie b]

Hell, raise the age to 25. I don't want to drink around kids who have hopes, dreams and aspirations. I want to drink with cynics and other losers who make me feel better about myself because their even more washed out than I am.

Just kidding. You can be married with kids at 16, drive a car at 17 and as Harold points out be a soldier at 18. Raising the drinking age is just daft.

Creating a better drinking culture, now that is the real challenge. The age limit is just another UK mindset of "We need to be regulated for our own good cos we're too retarded/incapable of looking after ourselves".

[craigie b]

Actually, topics like this are just an extension of how brainwashed we have became.....oh look there's a problem, lets ban it or regulate for everyone's safety.

Other countries managed fine with alcohol (France in particular). Its just a shame people so consumed with the notion that banning/regulating as being the answer that no one, especially not politicians ever feel a brave and intelligent solutions to social problems may be a better answer.

[highland biker]

I dont think it matters what age the drinking limit is because people drink anyway. My mates who are all under 18 drink (rather large amounts) anyway and have done for a while. Makes partys shit though because Im the only one not drinking .
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[Annabella]

Personally I would go against the grain here and reinforce Dave's point:

I'd lower the alcohol age and allow younger teenagers in pubs. It works a treat in Germany, there are bars that are frequented by the younger groups - so from 16-20ish that serve softer alcoholic drinks (like beer mixed with coke in a shandy-esque manner), very fruity cocktails. The youth get used to drinking in a sociable, sensible manner, get used to the alcohol and its effects at a young age.

It's not such a big deal to them to be drunk, because anyone can get drunk, it doesn't matter. For English youths, the peer pressure of drinking is a far greater appeal than the actual act of drinking - I'm sure no one enjoyed hiding in a park swigging at bottles of cheap cider.
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[Itchy]

[iooi]

Does the current 18 limit stop the under 18's from drinking ?????


Thats a big fat NO.....


We need to take a more european attitude to kids and drinking, start them young on watered down wine and work them up slowly to full blown stuff.
Then maybe we would not see the pissheads out at night staggering around like muppets, thinking how cool they look because they are totally pissed.
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[chris-red]

I said yes, because I will be 21 in 7 months and it won't come in before then. It will keep the annoying 16/17/18 y/o's out of the pub.
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[killa]

Decrease the age and im sure that kids at 16 would feel very privalaged to be in a pub with the older lot drinking a few jars or something a bit softer. Make clubs 18 years and up.

I think they'd be well behaved generally in a pub, if a small group of 16 yaer olds caused any fuss, you could just stamp them to death.
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[Annabella]

What works so well in Germany is that the bars don't state that they are for the youth, they just cater for them, i.e. cheaper drinks, fast food for sharing, younger/louder music, young staff - all their friends go to these places, there's no need for them to go to the more expensive bars where the 'adults' head out to.

At least if they're all drinking together in a bar, if someone does drink too much and ends up ill there's a support network there straight away.
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