Drink at 18 call

Press, 14 July 1980, Page 1

Drink at 18 call

The New Zealand chairman of the Young Nationals, Mr Martin Gummer, said in Christchurch yesterday that the drinking age should be lowered to 18.

“If 18-year-olds are adult enough to vote, then they should be allowed to drink on licensed premises,” Mr Gummer said. “By the time most young people have reached 18, they have had considerable experience with alcohol; Their drinking habits have been learned at home and _ at social occasions, parties, and dances.”

Young people could and did obtain supplies of alcohol. Many drank with their peers “out and about” in cars, with alcohol becoming an agent of curiosity, excitement and, all too often, tragedy, he said. It was better they should drink in a controlled and supervised environment.

Whether the drinking age was 18 or 20 would make little difference to alcohol abuse, because this stemmed from “deeper causes,” and young people should not be penalised for society’s past failures.

“What is needed. are hotel and licensing laws that foster a mature attitude towards drinking. The consumption of liquor should come to be regarded not as an end in itself, but as part of other activities such as eating, entertainment, and social gatherings,” Mr Gummer said.

The lowering of the drinking age should be one of several reforms designed to achieve . this change in attitude, he said.