Check your consciences

[MSTRS:Me]

... why the likes of France where your breast feed wine as a baby don't have the probs countries with booze restrictions do...

You think France doesn't have restrictions?

[oneofsix]

You think France doesn't have restrictions?

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_drinking_age#Europe) the law in France is;
"Buying alcohol is illegal below the age of 18 for spirits and 16 for other beverages[44] Selling alcohol to a minor can be fined 7500 euros.[45] The law has been changed recently.[46] Drinking alcohol is not forbidden to minors in private, but supplying them with alcohol that results in intoxication is forbidden."

Most of the world where you can buy alcohol the age is 18. The places where alcohol is forbidden seem to have developed other problems (check the person next to you isn't wearing a bomb).

Don't 100% trust the site as it shows the legal age for NZ and Auss as below 16

[Scuba_Steve]

You think France doesn't have restrictions?

"restrictions" was not limited to the the legal sense.

[MSTRS:Me]

"restrictions" was not limited to the the legal sense.

That didn't come through...you mean 'what is socially acceptable' or 'societal norm' perhaps?

[Stirts]

America have raised the minimum drinking age to 32?
It seems they want to keep alcohol out of schools.

[scumdog]

So in my opinion its not the age its the anti-booze, denial, "don't talk about it", its "bad", not learning to respect it culture we have.

The age thing has a lot to do with todays problems involving younger teenagers with poorly developed minds... sure, we have all the problems we've historically had but dropping the drinking age sure added a whole new dimension to them

And I bet FAS has gone up proportionally too.

[Stirts]

And I bet FAS has gone up proportionally too.

FAS?

Fat Arsed Slags....yes yes I would have to agree!

[scumdog]

FAS?

Fat Arsed Slags....yes yes I would have to agree!

FUNNY, TRUE BUT WRONG!

[Paul in NZ]

The lowering of the drinking age is not solely the problem although its the easiest to reverse quickly. Cheap booze, freely availiable at the corner store is another factor plus the loss of soooo many job opportunities for kids that dont want to go to uni are also factors. I suspect that any tax intake the govt recieves on booze and tobacco is more than spent of addressing the problems associated with them.

Its not just the kids. My own generation is bloody awful around drinking. (sigh) I'm stuffed if I know what to do about it either....

[NinjaNanna]

At 18 your are an adult, you have the right to vote and can also be tried as an adult in a court of law.

I'm sorry no one has the right to deny any adult the right to purchase and consume alcohol. If you want to do as such then you need to raise the "adult" age to 21 as well.

Teenage drinking is about rebelling, fitting in and boredom. Give kids something constructive and safe to do that addresses the boredom, that in turn will address the fitting in (the good kids will hang together), leaving only the rebelling ones to deal with.

Addressing alcohol abuse amoungst the over 20s is not so easy. Education and changing societies acceptance of drunk and disorderly behavior is probably the only way we can ever be rid of it.

In the mean time perhaps its about time that we introduced a BAL (blood alcohol limit) for being in public, over the limit (say 0.1%) and attract the attention of the police you are fined. If the police are called to an incident at a private residence and you are over the limit (0.12%) then its a night in the lock up.

[James Deuce]

If the police are called to an incident at a private residence and you are over the limit (0.12%) then its a night in the lock up.

No. Just, no.

[oneofsix]

In the mean time perhaps its about time that we introduced a BAL (blood alcohol limit) for being in public, over the limit (say 0.1%) and attract the attention of the police you are fined. If the police are called to an incident at a private residence and you are over the limit (0.12%) then its a night in the lock up.

I thought the laws from way back when about drunk and disorderly in a public place still existed? Don't over complicate with BAL as part of the disorderly could be drugs or the offender is just a prick.

[MSTRS:Me]

At 18 your are an adult...

No matter what the laws are, nature disagrees.

[oneofsix]

No matter what the laws are, nature disagrees.

Unlike nature the law has to define limits. Some of us aren't ever mature, assuming thats what you mean for adult.

[turtleman]

At 18 your are an adult, you have the right to vote and can also be tried as an adult in a court of law.

I'm sorry no one has the right to deny any adult the right to purchase and consume alcohol. If you want to do as such then you need to raise the "adult" age to 21 as well.

Teenage drinking is about rebelling, fitting in and boredom. Give kids something constructive and safe to do that addresses the boredom, that in turn will address the fitting in (the good kids will hang together), leaving only the rebelling ones to deal with.

Addressing alcohol abuse amoungst the over 20s is not so easy. Education and changing societies acceptance of drunk and disorderly behavior is probably the only way we can ever be rid of it.

In the mean time perhaps its about time that we introduced a BAL (blood alcohol limit) for being in public, over the limit (say 0.1%) and attract the attention of the police you are fined. If the police are called to an incident at a private residence and you are over the limit (0.12%) then its a night in the lock up.

Reading the first part of that is a little confusing - first they're adults, then they're teenagers, then they're kids....