In Asia, Singapore has the strictest alcohol laws. The sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited from 10:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Italy has set a legal drinking age of 16, one of the lowest in the world. In 2002, Renato Balduzzi, then Minister of Health, proposed raising the minimum drinking age to 18. However, the sale of alcoholic beverages to children under the age of 18 on premises is considered illegal and is punishable by a fine of 250 to 1,000 euros. Giving alcohol to anyone under the age of 16 is considered a crime and carries a penalty of up to one year in prison. Despite the regulations, many minors enjoy alcoholic beverages, especially in the company of their parents and at social events. In most European countries, the minimum age to consume alcohol is 18, while some countries even allow legal consumption at the age of 16. According to the report, in 2016, more than 50% of people in America, Europe and the Western Pacific (Japan, Australia, Oceania) drank alcoholic beverages. For comparison, in 2016, only 32.2% of people in Africa and 33.1% of people in Southeast Asia (India, North Korea, Sri Lanka, etc.) drank. In addition, 94.9% of the inhabitants of the Eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Iran, Yemen, etc.) abstained from alcohol throughout their lives. Alcohol consumption is illegal in many Eastern Mediterranean countries, at least for Muslims.
Germany is one of the most interesting countries when it comes to the minimum drinking age. It has one of the lowest minimum drinking ages in the world, allowing teenagers to drink alcohol at the age of 14 if accompanied by an adult. Although the majority of countries in the world have set the MLDA at 18, 16 is considered the youngest age to drink. At least eight countries and regions have committed to their MLDA for a period of 16 years. These countries include Barbados, British Virginia Islands, Cuba, Luxembourg, Panama, Serbia, Serbia and Zimbabwe. In these countries, it is a criminal offence to sell, give or offer alcoholic beverages to persons under the age of 16. However, in Zimbabwe, a person is permitted to sell or provide alcoholic beverages to children under the age of 16 if there is evidence of a written document signed by the parents or guardians of the minor known to the person selling the alcohol. In recent years, however, more attention has been paid to the amount of alcohol consumed by young people, not necessarily the age at which alcohol consumption begins.
Excessive or episodic excessive alcohol consumption can be measured as the consumption of at least 60 grams or more of pure alcohol at least once in the past 30 days. According to the WHO, about 16% of drinkers aged 15 and older worldwide drink heavily episodic. Teen students drink back, but 1 in 6 binge drinks, according to a CDC report, in many countries, the age at which you can legally drink is considered an important life milestone. This age has also been discussed for a long time. Should the minimum drinking age coincide with a country`s voting age, the age of conscription, the age at which you can buy a lottery ticket or rent a car? Or should it be an age in itself? The drinking age in the United States is 21, although this is not the case in all other countries or even in some states in the United States. Some countries even prefer not to impose such restrictions. The drinking age in Ireland, for example, does not exist in a private home. As the WHO says, the consumption of alcoholic beverages is a big part of social gatherings and celebrations in many parts of the world – but moderation remains key.
The average minimum age for drinking varies around the world. It ranges from 13 in Burkina Faso to a total ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in Brunei. British millennials drink less alcohol, study finds The legal drinking age is 18 in Abu Dhabi (although a Ministry of Tourism regulation allows hotels to serve alcohol only to people over 21) and 21 in Dubai and the northern UAE (with the exception of Sharjah, where the consumption of alcohol is prohibited). [113] In the 1970s, provincial and state policymakers in Canada and the United States switched to lower MLDAs (which were set at 21 in most provinces, territories and states) to coincide with the age of the majority of the province or territory – usually 18. As a result, MLDAs have been reduced in all Canadian provinces [and] in more than half of U.S. states. In Canada, however, two provinces, Ontario (1979) and Saskatchewan (1976), rapidly increased their subsequent AOMLs from ages 18 to 19 in response to some studies showing a link between lowering the drinking age and increasing alcohol-related harms among adolescents and young adults, including increases in motor vehicle crashes and alcohol poisoning among high school students. Following the reduction of AMRs in the United States, research conducted in several states provided convincing evidence of a sharp increase in fatal and non-fatal traffic accident rates that occurred immediately after the introduction of a lower age for drinking.
These scientific discoveries increased public pressure on legislators to increase MLDAs, and in response, the federal government introduced the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, which required a reduction in highway funding for states if they did not increase their MLDA to 21. All states complied and introduced a 21-year MLDA in 1988. [39] Since then, some states have proposed legislation to lower the minimum drinking age to 18, but with little traction. In September, WHO launched an initiative called SAFER to help governments around the world reduce the harmful effects of excessive alcohol consumption. Since the end of prohibition in 1933, the state has frequently changed the minimum drinking age. Under the 21st Amendment, passed in December 1933, most set their legal drinking age at 21. It is technically legal for minors to possess and consume alcohol at home and in public (not on authorized premises), as there is no law prohibiting it. It is also technically legal for someone to buy alcohol and give it to minors outside the store or licensed establishments. [104] *** The minimum age to buy alcohol in India is 18 in Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Sikkim and Pondicherry. The legal drinking age is 21 in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana, Meghalaya, Punjab and Delhi. Alcohol is banned in Bihar, Gujarat, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Lakshadweep. Manzoor Butt: “The consumption of illegal toxic alcohol kills hundreds of people every year in Pakistan; Family doctors need to take a more proactive role in saving precious lives,” Middle East Journal of Business, April 2015 However, in many other Asian countries, alcohol laws are non-existent or very flexible.
Cambodia, Macau and Vietnam do not have a minimum age to buy or consume alcohol. The legal age for the consumption and purchase of alcohol in the Faroe Islands is 18 years. [163] In North America, the legal drinking age and the legal purchasing age range from 18 to 21: he added, however, that many European countries have recently experienced a decline in alcohol consumption, reflecting the number of young people who abstain from alcohol altogether. But even after the law went into effect, only a few states explicitly prohibited minors from drinking alcohol in private. As of January 2010, 15 states prohibited alcohol consumption in public or private places and 17 states did not prohibit private use by minors. There are 18 states that allow underage drinkers to consume alcohol with their families or in certain places. Religious exceptions to the rule apply to all states. In Canada, there is no federal law setting a minimum age for drinking.
Each province and territory can set its own legal drinking age. In other words, of all the factors that could increase your risk of death or disability — such as smoking or physical inactivity — drinking too much was the leading global risk factor in this age group, according to a study published in The Lancet in August. Some states do not allow people under the legal drinking age in liquor stores or bars (generally, the difference between a bar and a restaurant is that food is only served in the latter). Contrary to popular belief, only a few states prohibit minors and young adults from consuming alcohol in private places.