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Legal age for buying drink in Scotland may rise to 21



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Published Date: 22 March 2008
By Michael Howie
THE legal age for buying alcohol could be raised to 21 under proposals being examined by the Scottish Government.
Ministers are considering raising the minimum age from 18, as part of a long-term strategy for tackling the country's drink problem.

Shona Robison, the public health minister, is due to present a number of proposals later in the year.

People i
n Scotland are twice as likely to die from alcohol-related deaths than elsewhere in the UK.

Ms Robison yesterday said nothing had yet been ruled in or out of the government's attempt to curb problem drinking.

She added: "We all know that Scotland as a nation has a drink problem and the implications of this are very serious – not least for our health.

"The Scottish Government is currently in the process of developing a long-term alcohol strategy and as part of this we have been looking at a range of issues including availability, accessibility and age of purchase.

"At this stage, nothing has been ruled in and nothing has been ruled out and we will present our proposals later this year."

In most countries the legal age for buying alcohol is 18, but there are some countries – most notably the US – where those buying drink must be aged 21 or over.





The full article contains 224 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

Charles Linskaill,

Edinburgh 22/03/2008 02:08:29
And what pray, do you think that will do,?

And are we becoming some of the American States,?

NO sex until 21years!

Get 'REAL'..'MUPPETS'!

If I was a 'Teen' I would go out my way, to break this idiotic proposed legislation!

And Pour my Alcohol over you 'God Dammed' Heeds!
2

GalacticCannibal,

Murrieta, CA...bye Bush -Cheney..u. evil leaders. 22/03/2008 04:16:41
In most countries the legal age for buying alcohol is 18, but there are some countries – most notably the US – where those buying drink must be aged 21 or over.
---------------------------------------------

Hey Dudes is their some magical event that occurs ,when a young person turns 21, that they suddenly change and can make a logical decision about drinking ..

Have news for U dudes ..THERE IS NOT, and neither is there when they reach the age of 18.

Here in the US the 21 year drinking age is a disaster.

College kids High School kids drink and bing drink, and get killed every week.

By driving drunk, by suicide , by heart attacks , by suffocation, by jumping off balconies etc..

Leave the kids alone . get the parents to teach them from a young age to drink moderately .

But that won't work when the kids see their parents getting drunk and screwing up.

LEAVE KIDS ALONE and they will be OK , some will not survive ,Its nature.

GC

G
3

Guga II,

Rockall 22/03/2008 04:33:18
I wonder what numpty thought that one up? There are 18 year olds who are as mature as, if not more mature, than 36 year olds; just as there are some of both age groups that have the maturity level of 13 year olds.

There are always going to be some people with a brain the size of a pea, and an IQ to match. These people, of all ages, will binge drink and brawl regardless of what the law is.

Moreover, there are 13 year olds drunk in the streets in many towns and cities, so any proposal to raise the legal drinking age is not suddenly going to make them stop.

What's the next move in slavishly following the Americans, prohibition? That worked really well, didn't it?
4

nabodican,

Rural Scotland 22/03/2008 05:48:07
This is one of the best ideas to come out of the Holyrood numptorium, far better than the stupid law which is now taxing all the little b & b's for having a drinks license
5

pst4911,

USA 22/03/2008 06:57:43
If you don't mind my intrusion here I can tell you from the USA raising the drinking age has not helped one bit. Maybe it will there.
6

Jim A,

22/03/2008 07:04:48
I can see what they are on about, but if this becomes law it means one can fight and maybe die for your country at 18, but you won't be able to buy a drink if you survive and make it home.
7

Anne,

Eaglesham 22/03/2008 07:10:57
It may be like smoking - those who do not smoke before the age of twenty-one are less likely to take up the habit.

Sometimes good sense does accrue with age.
8

Finnking,

Lempäälä 22/03/2008 07:37:40
How about 18yo for less than 5% alcohol and 21yo for over 5% alcohol?

Or how about less laws and more self responsibility as The Shroom Man suggests?

Wait for the middle class to stop drinking and it will get banned anyway.

Lapin Kulta on paska.
9

yockel,

22/03/2008 08:13:53
If there are underage drinkers now there only be more with this proposal. Add to that more youngsters inured to disregarding the law..
Vote, get married, die for your country, be 8uggered by a gay MP but not allowed a glass of wine over dinner.
Whars ma civil rights hen?
10

Spondoolicks,

location location 22/03/2008 08:45:51
Tremendous news!

I'm not a big fan of the SNP but they're showing real 'balls' by suggesting this.

It's not a vote winner but will go a long way to weening Scots off the booze.

Alcohol has become a staple in the scots diet - not good when you consider it's one of the most dangerous and addictive drugs around

For everyone's sake raise the age and price booze in the shops to the same as in the pubs
11

donald,

glasgow 22/03/2008 08:54:58
Children should be looked after properly. Not fed alcohol and junk food.
12

yockel,

22/03/2008 09:00:33
#10 Spondoolicks; And make 2lb bags of sugar illegal to stop them brewing their own?

If they effectively enforced existing law there would be no need for change.

Ever come across a law that effectively erdicated drug taking?

Just get the message out, binge drinking is stupid and the folk who think binging is fun are idiots.

13

DaveK,

Edinburgh 22/03/2008 09:20:05
Justa another reason to leave Scotland then and pop down to Englandshire. Unenforcible and toying with the electorate - who happen to be able to vote at 18 and certainly will - against the SNP. Fools.Please can we have some proper policies now?
14

jdships,

22/03/2008 10:23:04
How much did this cost to think up ?
We are tumbling head first into a nanny state .
This proposal will not make one iota of difference
12 Yockel is spot on
"If they effectively enforced existing law there would be no need for change."

If not why not try cutting the number of small corner licensed grocers and monitor the ones that remain.
We have eight licensed premises and a pub within a mile radius in a residential area
Of a weekend evening majority of customers are youngsters from outwith the district

15

Black Five,

edinburgh 22/03/2008 10:25:25
Another load of rubbish.What a nerve by the killjoys who never got a life.I started drinking at 16 and it did me no harm.This lot never had a life and they don`t want the youth to have one either.Don`t tar every youth by the same brush,they aren`t all drunks.
16

Black Five,

edinburgh 22/03/2008 10:27:58
Dave you`re right here.At 16 you can marry.At 21 I was married ,had my own house.Not alowed to drink,what a lot of rubbish.Tell that one to the under 21`s out in Iraq,enough to make a cat laugh.
17

Toast,

22/03/2008 10:42:27
How about the police enforcing vigorously the existing laws against selling alchol to people under the age of 18,either that or limit sales of alchol to specialist shops taking supermarkets and local corner shops out of the equation.
18

Stu_R_20,

22/03/2008 12:08:55
Funnily enough I was at a comedy night at the pub last night and this guys solution to the binge drinking was hilariously true: Anyone with less than 6 Credit Std Grades cannot drink at all and those with three highers get tax deductions on the drink. What more incentive does one need?!? No 'schemies' giving everyone hassle, great stuff.
19

Guga II,

Rockall 22/03/2008 12:31:19
#14 Dave. Just one correction Dave. In Scotland it is illegal to marry your first cousin, unlike in England where it is legal.
20

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 22/03/2008 12:37:11
Adolf Hitler is alive and well and living in Scotland.
I ****** her last night!

-- Based on a comment by Jim Morrison

No guesses who is Adolf Hitler eh? Why can they not just leave us alone and stop this rediculous meddling with people's rights? At 18 you are an adult. If you wish to smoke or drink there should be nothing put in the way of your right to do so by brain-dead, needless legislation.
21

JoeMcT,

BlairsFantasyIsland 22/03/2008 13:08:42
"Ms Robison yesterday said nothing had yet been ruled in or out of the government's attempt to curb problem drinking."

As Ms Robinson should know, her statement is false as Gordon Brown has already over-ruled any changes to New Labour's 24 hour drinking laws.
22

sam the god,

22/03/2008 13:38:19
legal age to become an msp or mp raised to 100 (might have learned some sence by then).
23

Artemis,

22/03/2008 14:55:25
#21 - you lose the internet.
24

Jock MacTamson 2,

Highlands 22/03/2008 16:09:29
The politics of being seen to be doing something.

What a total waste of bloody time. Prohibition has not worked ever, anywhere.

We should be concentrating on building sports centres and community activities for the kids to be involved in not wasting police time with such utter p1sh policies
25

BenTen,

22/03/2008 17:05:41
I can legally drive a metal projectile capable of speeds of over 100Mph at the age of 17 --- yet I cannot go for a pint till I'm 21????? The lunatics are on the grass.... and welcome to the Dark Side of the Moon......

Politicians again seeking 'sound-bite' solutions that are incapable of working but which make 'good press'......

I suggest they make drugs illegal and people will autmatically stop!!
26

Charles Linskaill,

Edinburgh 22/03/2008 18:11:29
'HEAR, HEAR'
Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head @#21,

Bring on the Revolution! before we all get 'sucked in' to these idiocies, born in the minds of the 'Muppets'!
27

magicmountain.,

Angus 22/03/2008 23:03:02
It's an offense to purchase alcohol under age of 18. It's not an offense to have consumed alcohol under that age provided you are over 5 and not drunk & incapable. Perhaps, to encourage moderate drinking amongst the young it should become an offense to have consumed a sufficient quantity of alcohol so as to be above the legal limit for driving. The police would of course need to be empowered to do breathalyser tests where necessary.
magicmountain.
28

magicmountain.,

22/03/2008 23:26:11
Incidentally, Guga11 is wrong. It has always been legal in Scotland to marry a first cousin. The law in England was changed early last century to allow such marriages.
29

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 23/03/2008 01:32:27
BenTen & Charles:

If this rediculous piece of legislation ever gets passed, I will be one of the first in line to buy alcohol for 18 year-olds. How about you?

"...you can whip the horse's eyes and make them sleep. And make them cry!"

Why did we vote for this bunch of nazis?
30

The Daleks,

Longmen 24/03/2008 04:56:19
If you force the 18 to 20 year olds out of the pub, where they are supervised and have to behave themselves, they won't stop drinking they'll simply continue in unsupervised venues such as play parks etc.

Yet another false step by the SNP.

And as for Shona Robertson's sweeping statement about the Scottish nation having a drink problem, I actually feel quite insulted.

Is this all an attempt to play to Alex's new friends from the lands where alcohol is forbidden?
31

What's happening to Scotland ?,

26/03/2008 01:28:12
I drank.... under supervision from the age of 16.
Recieved A driving license at 17
After turning 18 I trained for a decent job, and have been working hard at my career for over a year now, moving higher within the company.
At the age of 19 I am supporting myself, living in a flat, have my own car.
I enjoy going out or sitting in with my friends and having a drink....
Changing the legal age to 21 is one of the worst ideas I've heard, I doubt very much the 18 - 20 year olds.... and hopefully people older will tolerate it at all... enough is enough !
They need to try and control the laws they've already got... who in their right mind legalises canabis that can cause long term brain damage... but stops people who are classed as adults from having a drink.
I do not appreciate being stereotyped.... and I'm almost certain I'm not the only one...
These people need to get a grip !
32

Citylocal Fife,

Citylocal Fife News 01/05/2008 14:01:50
It's all about enforcement (or lack of it), the evidence shows that if can't be enforced at present with an age limit of 18 - how do they think it can be enforced at a higher age limit?

 

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