Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21?

• “No”

  

  “The European Myth”

• No Objections Yet

The European Myth

Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation

Expert Verified | See Profile

Recommend (2) Comments (4)

The idea that we should follow a European model that allows children to drink from an early age is founded on a myth.

European countries are held up as examples of where more liberal drinking age laws and attitudes may foster more responsible styles of drinking by young people. It is often asserted that alcohol is more integrated into European (especially southern European) culture and that young people there learn to drink at earlier ages within the context of the family. As a result, it is said that young Europeans learn to drink more responsibly than do young people from the United States. In fact, when compared to young people in the United States—

• Young people in nearly all European countries report drinking in the past 30 days in a greater percentage than in the United States.

• A greater percentage of young people in a majority of European countries report having five or more drinks in a session.

• In most European countries, young people have higher intoxication rates than in the United States, and less than a quarter had lower or equivalent rates to the United States.

• There is evidence that some European youth have higher rates of alcohol-related problems because of their heavy drinking. See the graphs below II for further details on adolescent drinking in the United States compared to European Countries.

Evidence

Text

Youth Drinking Rates and Problems:

Grube J. Youth drinking rates and problems: A comparison of European countries and the United States. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice; 2005:1–6.

Text

Steps Towards Constructing a Global Comparative Risk Analysis for...

Rehm J, Monteiro MG, Room R, Gmel G, Jernigan D, Frick U, Graham K. Steps towards constructing a global comparative risk analysis for alcohol consumption: Determining indicators and empirical weights for patterns of drinking, deciding about theoretical minimum, and dealing with different consequences. Eur Addiction Res. 2001;7:138-147.

Text

Drinking and Coming of Age in a Cross-Cultural Perspective.

Room R. Drinking and coming of age in a cross-cultural perspective. In: Bonnie R, O'Connell ME, eds. Reducing underage drinking: A collective responsibility, background papers [CD-ROM]. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2003.

Image

Prevalence of Drinking in the Past 30 Days: United States and Europe

Sources: 2003 ESPAD Survey and 2003 Monitoring the Future Survey

Image

Prevalence of Heavy Drinking in the Past 30 Days" U.S. and Europe

Sources: 2003 ESPAD Survey and 2003 Monitoring the Future Survey

Image

Prevalence of Intoxication in the Past 30 Days: U.S. and Europe

Sources: 2003 ESPAD Survey and 2003 Monitoring the Future Survey

Next Argument

"No" PIRE

• Minimum Drinking Age Laws have Proven Their Effectiveness
  4
• Alcohol and Fighting for Your Country do Not Mix
  6
• Many Bars Over-Serve Alcohol
  0
• The European Myth
  2
• Where is the Evidence That This Will Work?
  4

"No" GHSA

• The Law Saves Lives
  4
• The Teen Brain is Not Fully Developed
  1
• History Speaks for Itself
  2

"Yes" Choose Responsibility

• You are an Adult at 18
  5
• Legal Age 21 Forces Drinking Behind Closed Doors
  5
• Binge Drinking Puts Lives at Risk Off the Highways
  8
• Legal Age 21 Marginalizes Parents
  3
• Legal Age 21 Erodes Respect for Law
  4
• America is Out of Step with Most of the Rest of the World
  3
• History Speaks for Itself: Prohibition Doesn't Work
  4

Most Objections

• Minimum Drinking Age Laws have Proven Their Effectiveness
  4
• Alcohol and Fighting for Your Country do Not Mix
  6
• Where is the Evidence That This Will Work?
  4
• The Teen Brain is Not Fully Developed
  1
• You are an Adult at 18
  5
• History Speaks for Itself: Prohibition Doesn't Work
  4
• Legal Age 21 Forces Drinking Behind Closed Doors
  5
• Binge Drinking Puts Lives at Risk Off the Highways
  8
• Legal Age 21 Marginalizes Parents
  3
• Legal Age 21 Erodes Respect for Law
  4
• America is Out of Step with Most of the Rest of the World
  3

Drinking Age Before 21?

• Yes
• No

View Results