Call To Lift Drinking Age & Double Price Drinks...

[Effect]

In germany, you were allowed to go to pubs when you are under the age of 18, but have to leave at midnight. Why not instate a similar curfew?

 

[Count Vorlauf]

I find it sad that a, presumably influential, young'un can be poached between classes at high-school, or in a WalMart parking lot to go fight another man's war.. sign his/her life away at 18, but isn't regarded "adult" enough to responsibly have a beer until the age of 21 (in the US).

It was interesting to see that the Australian drinking age was dialled back from 21 to 18 based on the same argument. Unfortunately, the troopers over in Afghanistan now can only get near-beer on base in order not to offend their gracious host country. <_<

 

[warra48]

Raise the drinking age to 21 minimum.
Bring back 6 o'clock closing (well OK, 10 o'clock then).
Raise the voting age to 25.
Ban all political lobbying.
Close down all the nightclubs, who needs them anyway, they're only a means of selling illegal drugs.
Raise the price of tobacco by 10 fold (excluding my Cuban cigars, of course).
Lower the legal road speed limit to 0 (that's zero, yes, zero) to reduce the road toll to zero.
Start sinking illegal immigrant boats at night so they don't reach our territorial waters.

Am I on the right track? Am I making sense?

Yup, there's a way to make this country better, and then there's the idiotic public servant bleeding heart social engineering do gooder's way to stuff it up.

 

[Supra-Jim]

Raising the price/drinking age to solve alcohol related problems is akin to increasing speeding fines to lower the road toll.

It makes a nice news story and satisfies those on the outside of the problem looking in, but it doesn't actually do anything to address the roots of the issue.

Binge/excessive drinking is an attitude issue, not an age one. Education about attitudes towards alcohol, and breaking down the myth/assumption that it is something that's required to make you feel good/relax/party/sexy/whatever, are far more proactive and effective steps.

They are however long term solutions and do not fit into the the 10 second grab/attention span of shows like ACA, TT and informed/sensible commenators such as Andrew Bolt and the rest of the HS crew.

Providing the population with the necessary skills and information to make informed decisions, rather than legislating to limit their decisions, is the only way society can move forward.

Cheers SJ

 

[peas_and_corn]

The guy recommending it is a criminologist, what does he know about scientific evidence?

 

[Polar Beer]

This guy is probably 100% right.
Raising the cost of drinks or anything else will have the same impact. Less people will buy it. Also, booze in the wrong hands increases violence. Can't argue those points.

The big problem I have is his idea seems to exist in a social vacuum. You can't just roll out a massive change like this and not expect other negative consequences. As such it has zero chance of ever getting up. It does very little in informing the debate on this topic. A very selfish & self serving opinion on this guys part.

 

[Midnight Brew]

The writer of that article cant say he hasnt been drunk and acted like a tool. The problem is the violence it causes and my belief is that school kids need to be drilled more with education on alcohol and conflict. Raising the age limit would reduce violence but that isnt going to stop the youths from getting their hands on alcohol.

 

[boingk]

Yup, there's a way to make this country better, and then there's the idiotic public servant bleeding heart social engineering do gooder's way to stuff it up.

Might make it 'better' but it sure wouldn't be any fun. As for raising the beverage price and drinking age, I'll piss off as soon as they do that. Can't you see, people? Can't you see why this is happening? Hell, it happened before under a...

...LABOUR GOVERNMENT! Bloody Whitlam also ran us into massive defecit and taxed the hell out of beer. He also legalised homebrewing and did some nice political things like Mabo, but thats beside the point.

Damn you, Rudd! :beerbang:

Now, wheres my homebrew? Ah, thats better. Getting onto the violence thing, it happens and has always happened. I've been out countless times with countless mates and gotten into, oh, 3 fights? All of which I warned would happen politely if person X wouldn't shove off. THey wouldn't let up and they got f***n socked. Not knifed, just a good punch or two in the gut - not the face, either, I don't want to disfigure anyone.

The people I see causing real fights when I'm out have clearly had too much to drink and are generally from...er...a lower socioeconomic background. Ok, they're flanno-wearing dickhead bogans. How about we do something about that problem? Hey? Thats whats really shitting me.

Then decent folks like us can sit back and enjoy a beer at a pub. B@stards.

- boingk

 

[Pete2501]

The writer of that article cant say he hasnt been drunk and acted like a tool. The problem is the violence it causes and my belief is that school kids need to be drilled more with education on alcohol and conflict. Raising the age limit would reduce violence but that isnt going to stop the youths from getting their hands on alcohol.

I never understood the mentality to drill people with info. I don't care what smokes, booze or drugs do. What I do care about is that people know their limits and have respect for each other.

Stupid wanting to fight ruffians ruining it for the common folk.

 

[brenjak]

In Germany, Austria etc the legal drinking age is 16 i believe. I was talking to a barman in Hopfgarten, Austria, my best friend although i only just met him (he served cold beer and that made him a friend), and he said that by the time they are 17 they have the "yob" out of their sytem. He was an Aussie by the way. The more we make it a "Forbiddeen Friut" and sensationalise alcohol and it's effects, the more younger people will want to drink it by the bucket. I'm a cop by the way and most of my work is alcohol related but i see the point and i also felt safer, even being a paranoid and watchful cop, walking the streets in Germany taht i would in The Valley or in Cairns.

My two cents worth and i dont want change!

Prost!

 

[fitnessfan]

As a 20 year old that has been drinking for some years i feel that I'm proof education may definitely be the key. My parents started buying me alcohol when i was sixteen, until i proved i was responsible i was only drinking supervised with others that had permission from their parents to drink. We had great times without any sort of violent or anti-social behaviour. These days I'm going out drinking unsupervised and i'm not a binge drinker, I don't do drugs, I don't get into bar fights and I don't sleaze onto every girl at the bar. The whole educating technique worked great for me and my friends but it certainly wouldn't work for everyone (lets face it, there are some people who are just idiots)... Definitely one way to skin this cat though I think.

 

[manticle]

Even when I'm drunk I don't punch people in the head.

Maybe they should focus on stopping people from punching each other in the head?

 

[Pete2501]

Even when I'm drunk I don't punch people in the head.

Maybe they should focus on stopping people from punching each other in the head?

They could have those sumo wrestling suits and if people wanted to fight they'd ask others to step outside for that. It'd also be funny to watch.

 

[Muggus]

In Germany, Austria etc the legal drinking age is 16 i believe. I was talking to a barman in Hopfgarten, Austria, my best friend although i only just met him (he served cold beer and that made him a friend), and he said that by the time they are 17 they have the "yob" out of their sytem. He was an Aussie by the way. The more we make it a "Forbiddeen Friut" and sensationalise alcohol and it's effects, the more younger people will want to drink it by the bucket. I'm a cop by the way and most of my work is alcohol related but i see the point and i also felt safer, even being a paranoid and watchful cop, walking the streets in Germany taht i would in The Valley or in Cairns.

My two cents worth and i dont want change!

Prost!

Where are they getting this evidence that raising the price of drinking causes less violence in pubs?

From my experience, being in countries where a beer is cheaper there, it seems LESS likely for a fight to break out. And these are also the places where the drinking age is less...ie Central Europe.
I'm sure there's more to it than what i've seen overseas, but walking into many pubs over here there seems to be that underlying sense "Hmmm, some shit is going to go down sometime soon", in comparison to pubs in Europe.

The more we make it a "Forbiddeen Friut" and sensationalise alcohol and it's effects, the more younger people will want to drink it by the bucket.

And that's an awesome point too Grant.
Going back to comparisons to Europe...beer is easier to get over there (ie they sell it everywhere), not to mention cheaper for the most part, and they're not all that picky on where you drink it...so you get the sense that beer (and i'm talking about beer in particular, because that's what i'm defending!) is just another beverage, like a soft drink or cup of coffee. That's how it should be!

 

[PostModern]

This guy is probably 100% right.
Raising the cost of drinks or anything else will have the same impact. Less people will buy it.

Wrong. History has shown that raising the price of alcohol just means that those on lower incomes will spend less on food.

 

[Pete2501]

Wrong. History has shown that raising the price of alcohol just means that those on lower incomes will spend less on food.

That's a pretty bad thing and yet believable. I'd go with dropping the age and lowering taxes used to make the ads.


Edit: super spelling

 

[boingk]

Maybe they should just stuff the baby bonus off unless its coupons for baby-related items. Seems to be promoting nothing more than an expansion of the underclass, to put it nicely.

- boingk

 

[matti]

The drinking age is 20 or 21 in Finland sweden and Norway.
Unles you are dining in a licenced restaurant
There is a monopoly on selling BOOZ by Government.
Before the EU the prices where ridiculous but overseas competion has dropped them.
That hasn't stopped people from drinking

The violence will not decrease until post worldwar 3.
Try to harness all that testosterone with energy-drinks and Vodka and a couple of pills.

The drug culture in this country is strong and has not subsided in 20 years.
The drugs are just more potent and F@#ks u up.
Some guys act 16 years old but in their mid 30s.
Mary jane did it too them
Bitch

 

[boingk]

Mary jane did it too them

That and her skanky friends Crystal and Exxy.

The violence will not decrease until post worldwar 3.

Total annihilation by nuclear war? I agree.

 

[Polar Beer]

Wrong. History has shown that raising the price of alcohol just means that those on lower incomes will spend less on food.

I'd like to know more about where this behavior has happened.

I was making an assumption, but it's a pretty safe one. There will always be a section of the community that will cut back in other areas and mainatin the same level of consumption no matter how pricey a tax becomes, but by and large this approach will reduce demand.
Very recent history in Australia (the alco pops tax) shows this market behavior can driven by price point. The big distillers knew it & hit the panic button. eg: "beer" which looks and taste like an alco pop.
It's the same for smokes, credit etc. Some people can't be stopped. But it works soundly at a macro level.

It's a crap idea to apply it to all alcohol though. Say bye-bye to the hospitality & local tourism industries if that ever got up.