Oh yeah… good idea

Some Ontario "health units" are considering a campaign to get Ontario's government to raise the drinking age to 21 from 19.

The Middlesex-London Health Unit has voted to lobby the province to raise the drinking age from 19 to 21. "As a society we need to take a stand about drinking and its effects on our society and our youth," said Mary Lou Albanese, manager of chronic disease and injury prevention in London. "In order to make an impact these are some of the things we need to do."

I have problems with this argument. In what world are 18 - 21 yr olds considered "youth"? I passed this milestone a decade ago and I don't consider 18 - 21 yr olds "youths" now and I obviously didn't when I was that age. We are talking about people who can go to war, vote, get arrested and charged as adults, yet some overly PC do-gooders start their campaign message with "won't someone please think of the children!!" Except they're not. They're adults and should be able to consume alcohol legally. In fact, I don't understand the distinction between the drinking age of 18 and 19. Why is 18 the age of majority for everything BUT drinking in some provinces. Either everything should be 18 or 19, why make a drinking distinction?

There are other misleading and potentially inaccurate statements by this "health unit" as well:

ALPHA executive director Linda Stewart said there has been renewed interest in the issue with the release of recent health studies. "There is now a stronger known link between alcohol and cancer," she said. "We've been discussing those issues related to alcohol and what we want to be doing with those issues."

I think what Ms. Stewart is referring to is the link between excessive alcohol consumption and certain cancers (liver, larynx), because I sure haven't seen any compelling connection between mild to moderate alcohol consumption and cancer. In fact, it is fairly well established that moderate alcohol intake (of any kind, not just wine) decreases risks for cardiovascular diseases. Yet the link is presented as if all alcohol consumption is bad.

Also, anecdotally, this doesn't jive with history when moderate to heavy (i.e. every day) alcohol consumption can be traced back, essentially to the start of agriculture 3000 years ago. Of course, this ignores other potential negative impacts on society of excessive alcohol consumption, but if those were the concern of the health unit they should be lobbying for alcohol to be made illegal and not a 2 year age increase.

The final poor argument is:

Mary Lou Albanese, said it's not crazy (to raise the drinking age) when you consider the effects of alcohol. She said the latest 2001 statistics show 1,600 people in Canada between the ages of 15 and 24 died from injury. She said 45 per cent of those were related to car accidents, and 40 per cent of those car crashes were caused by drinking.

2001. Sweet statistics. Anyway, if you make this argument, then you must believe raising the drinking age from 19 to 21 will lead to less drinking which will lead to less drunk driving which will lead to less accidents. Raise their hands anyone who believes people aged 19 - 20 who are at university or working full time already will drink less before or after the change. Yeah, thought so. This is a leap of logic that defies hyperbole. No 18 - 20 yr olds drinking in the US right? I'd suggest anecdotally that the preponderance of harmful binge drinking in the US is higher than that of Canada with its lower legal age. If you think about it, it makes sense. If I have alcohol available to me at all times, am I more or less likely to binge drink at a party where alcohol is available? Ms. Albanese makes not one but two logical leaps (1. raising drinking age will lead to less drinking and 2. less "legal" drinking will lead to less drunk driving - when I'd suggest the exact opposite is likely true) to get from deaths from car crashes to raise the drinking age.

These do-gooders should concentrate more on operating "health units" and less to lobbying to change societal norms more to their liking.