New call to raise booze age to save teenage brains

The state government is being pushed to raise the legal drinking age and get tougher on drink driving laws for youths.

The state government has been urged to raise the drinking age to 21.

A submission to the parliament’s inquiry into the state’s criminal justice system also urged the government to toughen drink-drive laws for youths.

Under the proposal Victorians would be banned from purchasing alcohol and would be required to have a BAC level of zero before driving a car until the age of 21.

The move is being pushed by advocacy group Drug Free Australia.

“It is now time for the Victorian government to act to increase the drinking age to 21 years of age, as well as to change the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for under 21 years of age of all drivers in Victoria to zero BAC,” it said in its submission.

“A precedent has been set by the requirement for drivers on a probationary licence (P plates) or a learner’s permit (L plates). It’s urgent and logical that a zero BAC be a requirement for all drivers under 21 years of age.”

The submission argued the harmful use of alcohol was a major cause of preventable, non-communicable disease and injury worldwide.

Deakin University Health Psychology chair John Toumbourou, in a separate submission, said it was a backward step to reduce the drinking age from 21 to 18 because of the damage to young binge drinkers, and the science of the developing brain.

Prof Toumbourou, who has long campaigned to raise the drinking age, said international evidence suggested increasing the legal purchasing age would reduce youth alcohol use and harm. “Evidence shows that where the legal age for purchase or consumption was reduced, population rates of youth alcohol-related harm increased,” he said.

“In the US, 29 states lowered the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 years between 1970 and 1975. During this period, all 10 Canadian provinces, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland also lowered the minimum age for selling alcohol to 18 years.

“A meta-analysis found that lowering the age increased the incidence of crashes involving 18–20-year-old drivers by 10 per cent. The Australian studies each showed increased harms after the state-legislated age was lowered.”

In 2013 Victorians led a national push to raise the legal drinking age to 21.

Top health experts, emergency ward surgeons, sporting greats and politicians all backed the “21 Be There” campaign. It failed to lead to legislative change.

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