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Debate: Lowering of drinking age
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*'''Most 18 year-olds who want to drink are forced to do it secretely.''' As teenagers are unable to drink legally in pubs or bars, but are old enough to want to socialise on an evening, they are forced to do it secretly on streets and in parks. This often creates a nuisance to the wider public. | *'''Most 18 year-olds who want to drink are forced to do it secretely.''' As teenagers are unable to drink legally in pubs or bars, but are old enough to want to socialise on an evening, they are forced to do it secretly on streets and in parks. This often creates a nuisance to the wider public. | ||
- | *'''Lowering the drink age could also lower teenage crime.''' It also makes it more likely that younger children will be exposed to alcohol and is often one of the causes of teenage crime, vandalism and violence | + | *'''Lowering the drink age could also lower teenage crime.''' It also makes it more likely that younger children will be exposed to alcohol and is often one of the causes of teenage crime, vandalism and violence. I LIKE BEER |
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Revision as of 13:06, 11 April 2011
Should the legal age for drinking alcohol be lowered? |
Background and contextThis is a classic debate about the limits the state should place on a something which could harm people. The proposition does not have to argue that drinking alcohol is harmless, as to win the debate they only need to show that the way to encourage limited and responsible alcohol use is to have lower minimum age limits. Current age limits vary across the world. In US states the limit is 21, in most Canadian states it is 19, in the UK it is 18, but in many other European countries it is 16 and alcohol is usually allowed with a meal at any age. The opposition should argue that an age limit of 18 or higher ensures an overall lower level of drinking amongst teenagers and is therefore the more sensible policy.
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Health: Can drinking be healthy? Does this apply to young adults? | |
Yes
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No
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Rebelliousness: Do drinking ages make drinking rebellious and cool? | |
Yes
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No
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Rights and Privelages: Do 16 - 18 year olds deserve the right to drink? | |
Yes
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No
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Socially: Do 18 year olds need alcohol to socialise and lower crime? | |
Yes
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No
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Law: Does the drinking age law work? | |
YesAlthough there are underage drinkers in every country, the question is whether the law should encourage them or act as a clear moral standard. It is noticeable that in the US where the limit is 21 fewer 17 year olds have consumed alcohol than in the UK where the limit is 18. Clearly, although some people will always drink underage, a higher age limit leads to underage drinking beginning later. If age limits were enforced more strongly, perhaps by standardised ID cards (such as are being proposed in the UK), this would further reduce underage drinking.
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NoStudies show that most people have consumed alcohol in the UK before they reach their 18th birthday, so clearly the law does not work. There is further evidence from the US which suggests increasing the alcohol age limit has no real impact on college students’ alcohol intake. A study at Arizona State University in the late 1980s during the time Arizona increased its minimum age from 19 to 21 showed that only 6% of students reduced their alcohol intake. Perhaps more worryingly 22% of students reported that they intended to take more soft drugs as they would be easier to hide in a college dorm than bottles of alcohol. When laws are ignored it undermines the wider legal system in the eyes of the public. The legal system should reflect the reality of drinking patterns and have a lower minimum age. The drinking age law does not it does not set a boundary for kids who want to if a under age person whats to drink or party they'll find the way alcohol is alot easier to get to than most people think.
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Argument #6 | |
YesWhile adverts for alcopops and beer may make underage drinking seem more attractive, they are not the cause of underage drinking. The European Council in a 1989 directive placed strict limits on how alcohol could be advertised - for instance adverts cannot claim that alcohol leads to sexual success and they cannot criticise non-drinkers. Yet advertising companies were still able to glamorise alcopops in the 1990s. In fact even with a complete ban on tobacco advertising, over 10% of under-16s in the UK still smoke regularly and that figure has hardly fallen since the ban came into place. Drinking alcohol is attractive to young people for much wider reasons than advertising, and the only effective way to regulate it is to reduce the age limit.
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NoIt has been argued that part of the problem with underage drinking has been created by alcohol companies themselves. They created and have marketed alcopops (alcohol which tastes like a soft drink) since the 1990s. Whether these were deliberately designed for teenagers or not, the fact that they do not taste of alcohol and can be seen as a step-up from fizzy drinks like lemonade has made them attractive to teenagers. There have been greater limits placed on alcohol advertising over the last decade in Britain to stop adverts being targeted at people who are underage. However, further measures, perhaps including a complete ban on alcohol advertising as with tobacco, would help to reduce the cool factor and accessibility of alcopops thereby helping to tackle underage alcohol consumption without weakening the law.
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Categories: Debatabase | Politics | Health | Alcohol | Drinking | Youth | Citizenship | Individual responsibility | US politics