Thetownend.com

It's being suggested that the age a person should be to purchase alcohol be raised to 21.

This, apparently, would help stem the problems underage drinking is causing, as it would be more difficult for the chavvy little scum to get hold of it.

My question is this: many countries in Europe are far more relaxed with their drinking laws, but don't seem to have the problems we do.

Why?




P.S I blame the parents........

I dont blame the parents. our culture seems to just have this issue of not knowing when to stop.

21 is a bit ott though. 21 to drink but 16 to fight for your country :?

I'll be pissed off if they do this. I'll have to wait another 11 months to be "legal" again FFS  :D

Seeing as the relevant authorities do such a poor job in many areas of policing an under 18 law, I think it is enforcement of the rule and not the rule itself that needs examining.  To be fair, a moral panic is being created regarding alcohol following a tragic incident - pissed or not, those responsible must have been scum....

I've heard they're going to make a special case for you.

You'll have to wait until you're 50!

Bring it on, I'll be "legal" again in an hour and fifteen minutes  :D

Let's raise it to 22

 :(

It will just mean more underage people drinking at house parties or down the local park. Changing the law wont stop it. Its the same with when they said cheap drinks causes people to get more drunk. If the prices of drinks went up, people would just drink more at home before going out.

As Macca said, its just the English culture. I dont think it will ever change. We as a nation like to drink.

Everyone hits the park bench with cider at the ages of between 11 and 16. Friday night's down the park were what we lived for as kids.

The only benefits I see is that there will be less chavvy scum in pubs.
The downside is the streets and parks will be full of them. So what does this solve?

Dont give a shit as I am 26. But I dont think they monitor the under 18 law enough. If they ID'ed every person that went in a pub fair enough. Its down to their own negligence. If people know they can get away drinking underage they will. Not rocket science.

I've said it before, they should lower the drinking age of non-spirits to 15 and have wine tasting and beer drinking lessons in school.

As an over-21 year old I applaud the decision and wish it all the success.

 :D

They shouldnt change the law, just inforce it better....

If you dont have ID you dont get in the pubs/clubs.

If you dont have ID you dont get served at the off license.

Yeah i agree, they do it in America and I do think it would be better if they did it here too.

it would be much easier to lower the legal age - to 0 years old, no one would be underage then.  most toddlers stagger around like they are lashed anyway.

Agreed. They are very very strict in America. I got asked for ID almost everywhere and I'm 30!

What i don't quite grasp is that when i was 13/14/15/16 we used to drink cider at the park or wherever, but there never seemed to be as many anti-social incidents as now... is it just that as a nation we have changed, or is it just being reported differently?

It's clearly about teaching people to drink responsibly. Suddenly enforcing a date when you can start drinking will make fuck all difference and kids will always find a way of getting hold of drink anyway.

Parents should encourage 14/15 year olds to have a drink with meals etc. So they get used to it, know there limits and the effects in a safe environment. If parents can't be trusted to do it then they should do it in schools.

most pubs round by me you have to be 21 or over to get in them which gets rid of most chavvy little shits.

but as others have said it should be policed or enforced better

There are people over 21 who don't know their drinking limits. We all know one at least.

Jimmy Cider

Careful Ben, you're slowly upping your sensible posting quota.

FWIW, I agree entirely.

2002 - me and a mate were in Sydney watching the world cup on tv in some bar.  His old man was out in Oz visitnig him at the same time and was meant to meet us for the footie.  Anyway he doesn't turn up for ages, when he does we ask him what took him so long.  Turns out he wasn;t allowed in the pub as he didn't have any ID.  His dad was around 50 at the time.  Fair play I say.

It's purely and simply our culture.

My uncle is Spanish and always tells us about how children are bought up to drink fine wine with a meal. Wine is simply a nice compliment to a good meal not a means to get intoxicated.

Over here, kids are told alcohol is bad for you and aren't allowed it until their 18.

What do kids do when their told they can't have something? They do it.

naughty little shits aren't they?

I think people just like to piss around and act like a twat away from the responsibilities and the mundane of work/daily routine. Dare I say, it's bloody great fun getting pissed.

You could change the age to whatever and people will either find a way to get hold of booze or do something else which allows them to let off a bit of steam.

Agree 100 %

I used to drink down the park when i was a little un but we never ever caused trouble, killed people, set light to cars or mugged people.

We had brushs with the law reguarding our underage drinking and that was it.

This wasn't 1960 either. This was only 10 years ago.

Didn't you cause a bit of trouble when drunk though?

It bloody is a means to get intoxicated.

and likewise, we all used to get pissed as kids in the park or wherever but i never caused any trouble other than the odd patch of vomit which a passer-by might tread in.

media hype on anti social behaviour once again...

it happens and it always has done, just like stabbings... black people have been stabbing each other in london for the last 25 years, but they constantly report it and people think it's a new thing.

We are a drinking culture....... period. And for me the only time that it is (Usually) a problem is the youngsters who just cannot handle their ale. Let the youngsters drink, after it is the only way that they will learn, just as I did: A few black eyes and a broken nose for being a prick did me the world of good!

Besides? what would be better? A bunch of 13 - 18 yr olds drinking in a park, or a gang of 13 - 21 yr olds?

I've just found out that from tomorrow, Asda will be upping their 'Challenge 21' scheme to 'Challenge 25'.

Personally I think it's right royal piss-take. I'd hate to be 25+ and get challenged for ID in a supermarket.

If alcohol causes all these anti social problems, why don't they just ban it?

Don't tempt fate.

10 years ago, who would have believed that smoking would be banned in public places.

Which brings me nicely on to my gripe about the smoking ban.

It's crap, I'm a non smoker and for years I've known that if I go into a drinking establishment, chances are they'd be a fair amount of smoke about.  I choose to go to the smokier venues at my own risk.

Nowadays I can't walk down town to the shops without being surrounded by smokers walking about, blowing smoke everywhere, smokers hanging outside their places of work, smokers hanging outside the non smoking pubs, all puffing away, it's royal pain in the arse.  There's a definite smell of smoke hanging round town now, it's horrible.

There is no escaping the smoke now, least when you could smoke in pubs you could avoid it.  The ban is flawed, bring back smoking!!

I love the ban. Been a non smoker for 97 days now.

The ban is shit. I reckon the smell of stale beer, sweat, beer farts etc  is about 40x more cancerous than the cigarette smoke which used to effortlessly destroy it.

Cancerous beer farts, we've all had em :)

Ben, you're just saying that cos you don't have the will power to give up  :D

I never get ID'd in Asda and I look about 12

I'm saying it because I don't want to give up. I don't smoke that much anyway.

  That's what you get for hanging out with TEF'ers

   Imagine what its like for a non smoker like me with my newly enhanced olfactory capability

How do you smokers find night outs now ? Is it a pain having to keep leaving nightclubs for a smoke?

I dont really care about getting ID' or not as I always have ID to prove Im of the age anyway!

Surely you'd only be bothered by the new challenge 25 if you were under the legal age?
 :?

It can be ace having to go outside. Good chance to chat to random people.

Is that a serious question?

If I am biting on a sarcastic comment then alcochol will not be banned for 3 main reasons:

1) The government makes a mint from alcohol though taxes, licences, ect.

2) Alcohol IS NOT (In general) an anti social drug (And it is a drug), rather it is a social drug, which creates probably hundreds of thousands of jobs DUH!!!!!! To ban it and piss of the vast majority of the nation, regardless of class would just be plain stupid

3) Al Capone et al, made their money through the "prohibition" when in America, during the 50's, when some bright spark decided to make alcohol illegal, pushing it underground and giving the trade to the gangsters. FFS Cannabis, Ecstacy and Cocaine, for example, are all illegal but doe's that stop anybody from doing it....... NOPE!!!!! If anything it encourages the youngsters because it is more "Daring".

The Answer lies in this:

1) Parents: Parents should allow, maybe even encourage their children to drink at a certain age (Below 18), so that there kids learn to respect alcohol in a controlled environment (At home). For me this is the most important thing because once they are allowed it, their desire WILL drop (Caffeine is also addictive, but is coca-cola banned) Also, it will not take long for a kid to learn that drinking too much and throwing up all night is NO FUN!!!.

2) Control.. The kids are going to drink, and to try to stop them (excempting the legal age law) would be foolish because it just wont work Therefore let the law make sure that those kids' and the general public are safe!! After all the government makes a fair whack from under-age drinkers (Taxes ect.), and we ain't exactly a third world country either.

The differences in alcohol consumption between cultures can be huge, and  having lived in Asia for nearly 8 yrs now it is blatant to me. On a night out in Thailand it is common to see a group of 4-5 lads sat around a bottle of whiskey which will last them all night, and they will end up pissed. They simply cannot fathom at times how I can drink 2 litres of the shit, yet I am the one helping them to the taxi when the club shuts.

Like it or lump it, we are drinkers, So just blame the parents, and blame the law....

AND NECK IT!!!!!



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P.S. Beer was invented in Germany, and I have out-drunk every Kraut that I have met..... ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND

I think you'll find prohibition in the States happened around the 1920's, still in Capone's prime though, if you choose to believe the wonder of wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States

And I don't think Herthab was being serious...but a good post nonetheless!

Also, alcohol has been so important in the rise of modern culture and civilisation that it and humanity our now linked in a symbiotic relationship of self medication. A ban of alcohol would set the entire human race back to a pre-industrial revolution quality of life within five years.