Around the world, different countries have different drinking ages. The lowest drinking age in the world is in Cambodia where there is no limit on the drinking age. The highest legal drinking age in the world is 21 (excluding countries like Afghanistan where alcohol is banned).In the legal drinking age is 18, in the USA it`s 21 and in Italy, it`s 16. In the Uk, there is much debate on whether the age to purchase alcohol should be lowered or raised. In this essay, I`m going to discuss this and the pros and cons of raising or lowering the drinking age in the UK, as well as the effects increasing or decreasing the drinking age, has had on other countries.
The Negative Effects Of Alcohol
In this first paragraph, I`m going to talk about the symptoms and effects of alcoholism, how much alcohol can harm people, and how alcohol can affect mental health. Some statistics issued by public health say, 10.4 million people are drinking at levels of increasing risk or higher risk. Broken down, 8.6 million people are drinking at increasing risk, and 1.8 million are drinking at higher risk. Another figure issued by public health said 1 in 10 patients have an emergency alcohol-specific readmission within 30 days following an alcohol-specific admission. A final statistic issued by public health about how to treat alcohol harm said the economic burden of alcohol is estimated between 1.3% and 2.7% of annual GDP. From this it is clear alcohol can negatively impact people`s health and finances. Alcohol can impact people`s health the most out of all the other factors. Alcoholism can cause many health issues all over the body from the Brain to the stomach. Alcoholism can cause dementia and memory loss later on in life. In the heart, it can cause irregular heart rate strokes, and high blood pressure. Abnormally high drinking can cause lung issues, breathing difficulties, and lower levels of nitric oxide in the lungs. The muscles are also affected but the liver is affected, maybe worse for all organs. The liver can become swollen and alcoholism can bring hepatitis and cirrhosis. The effect on people`s physical health can be just as bad as the effect on people's mental health. Alcohol uses combined with conditions like stress and depression, leads to an estimated 300 teen suicides a year in the USA. Alcoholchange.org.uk said Alcohol has been described as the`s favorite coping mechanism. For people struggling with mental health problems, alcohol can be used as a form of self-medicating Although alcohol can help you feel relaxed and can bring brief euphoria the effects are short-lived and can have long-term negative effects like the health issues mentioned earlier. Overuse of alcohol can cause symptoms of many mental health issues to worsen. With all these very widespread and very bad effects on physical and mental health, you would think the drinking age should be increased to stop people from coming to the harms of alcohol earlier on.
The Positives Of Raising The Legal Drinking Age In The Uk
The positives of raising the legal drinking age would be it would stop younger people from drinking and having all this harm done to them. Lowering the drinking age would give secondary school students easier access to alcohol. Another reason for the drinking age to increase is people tend to be more mature at 19,20 or 21 so they are more responsible with their drinking. Not drinking alcohol gives people more energy, can help them save money, and can improve mental health. The MLDA is not a priority for law enforcement so if you raised the drinking age it would cut out some of the work for law enforcement. Not to mention the many health problems alcohol can bring so why would you want to expose younger people to these health problems?
The Benefits Of Alcohol
I have talked about the bad alcohol can do to the body but alcohol can also provide health benefits if used in moderation. Beer for example if drunk in moderation can increase brain health, reduce the risk of heart disease and also reduce the risk of diabetes. Although drinking excessive amounts and alcohol addiction is dangerous to health, beer can also aid in digestion, promote urination, and lower the risk of kidney stones. Drinking alcohol for most people is a social activity and socializing and spending time with friends is a severely underused way to improve mental health as humans are social creatures and socialization is very beneficial to humans' mental health which can also affect their physical health too
The Positives Of Lowering The Legal Drinking Age In The Uk
Banning drinking by young people could make drinking more attractive and make more people want to drink because they aren`t meant to and it`s illegal. Teenagers can`t drink in safe areas as they aren`t allowed In pubs and bars without having to go in with fake IDs and the fear of getting caught. Otherwise, they`re not allowed in pubs and bars and have to find places on the street or in kids' parks to drink. This is nowhere as safe as in pubs or clubs. Alcohol is widely accepted and enjoyed in western culture so why would you ban people from drinking it? I`m not saying let your 7-year-old drink but as they get older introduce them to alcohol and how to drink in moderation and safely. Countries with higher age limits on buying alcohol (except Muslim countries) tend to have a lower rate of alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Like all things in life, it has to be enjoyed in moderation and I think safe drinking should be taught in schools the same way as safe sex and sex education is in schools. Teenagers should be informed how to drink gradually, safely, and in moderation. Many other countries in the world have lower drinking ages or are more relaxed on alcohol laws, for example, France and Spain and their rates of alcoholism are lower than s. This could be partly to drinking being a bigger part of their culture though. In the Netherlands, most drugs have been legalized and this has taken money out of the hands of dangerous criminals, gangs, and organized crime. Lowering the drinking age could do a similar thing but with alcoholic beverages.
Has The Drinking Age Ever Been Raised Or Lowered Before
In the drinking age was raised to 18 in 1923 and has not changed since. The sale of alcohol in shops is set at 18 but an adult can buy you a beer if you are eating food in a pub. Before 1923 in 191 an act was put in place by the government on the sale of spirits to people under sixteen. The first minimum drinking age was set in 1886 when intoxicating liquors were not allowed to be sold to people under the age of 13. According to you go.co.uk, the vast majority of Uk adults say they have tried alcohol before the age of 18. Most Uk adults said they have had alcohol by the age of 15. If most adults have tried alcohol before they are 18 what is the point of having a drinking age of 18? In the USA after prohibition, the drinking age was set at 18 the same as in the Uk and a lot of other countries. But in 1984 many states changed the drinking age to 21 years old. This is ridiculous as in the USA you can drive a car, vote, pay taxes, and take out loans but you can`t buy alcohol. This law has had no effect really on teenagers drinking and most American teenagers have also drunk before the age of 21. The USA also shows the Uk isn`t an outlier and most teenagers have drunk before the legal age in their country. This gives evidence that in the western world most people have drunk underage and this leads me to question why the age is still high even though it doesn`t really restrict teens from drinking.
Conclusion
In my opinion, I think the legal drinking age should be reduced to 16 or 17. I think this because most people have already drunk illegally,y by then so what difference does it make? It stops teenagers from buying fake IDs and stealing alcohol which could potentially get them into quite serious trouble. The law in place obviously isn`t working if most teenagers have drunk before the age of 18 so why have it in place? Why have a law in place if it isn`t working? Like prohibition after years of not working they changed the law why not change it in the Uk? And yes some people will disagree with this as they want to protect their children but not exposing teenagers to alcohol will most likely make them more reckless with it. You can learn to drive at 17 so I think you should be able to buy a beer.