Drink law 'worsened teen habits'

The Government has said that lowering the drinking age to 18 may have worsened the drinking habits of the nation's teenagers.

The admission in a Ministry of Justice report came as MPs started debating whether to restore the legal age for buying alcohol to 20.

Progressive MP Matt Robson, whose bill to lift the age is due to face its first parliamentary vote next month, supports this argument.

The cautiously worded report points to increases in alcohol-linked crashes and drink-driving prosecutions involving young drivers, and minors drinking in public.

"[These figures] indicate that the change in legislation may have had a detrimental effect on young people's drinking behaviour," said researcher Barb Lash's report.

This is the strongest conclusion she has reached about the age lowering in her series of reports since the 1999 change. But she still says it is unclear to what extent any of the trends she analyses can be attributed to the change.

The number of alcohol-linked injury or fatal crashes involving 18 and 19-year-olds increased each year from 2000, to 190 in 2003.

In the same period, those involving 15 to 17 year-olds increased most years to 108 in 2003.

These figures contrast with a downwards trend from 1995 to 1999, which was attributed to increased advertising and enforcement around road safety and drink-driving.

"The increase in the number of 15-19-year-old drivers involved in crashes after 2001 may have occurred because young people had increased access to alcohol after the purchase age was lowered," the report says.

A Health Ministry review of research last year, which recommended restoring the alcohol purchase age to 20, found that the major benefit of this was likely to be reducing road traffic injuries and deaths.

Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said an increase in road crashes was predicted as a result of lowering the drinking age.

"It's an unfortunate case of we told you so," he said. "This was the American experience when they lowered the drinking age.

"They had a massive increase in drink-driving death and injury among young people.

"When they returned the drinking age to 21 they had a reversal of their death and injury crashes."

Justice Minister Phil Goff said the Lash report showed mixed results on the effects of the change.

"I voted against lowering the drinking age in 1999, but it is not clear that raising it again will be effective when 18 is for all other purposes the legal age of adulthood."

Mr Bell said: "We know the argument about being able to vote when you are 18. Voting doesn't kill you."

Mr Bell agreed with the view that the rising problem of teenage binge drinking reflected an adult drinking culture that needed to be changed. But lifting the drinking age would help to implement that change.

The Lash report also showed the number of liquor licences and the supply of ready-to-drink spirit pre-mixes rose rapidly after 1999, although they had already enjoyed spectacular growth since their 1995 introduction.

Mr Bell said beer remained the main teenage alcohol, but pre-mixes had been successfully aimed at young people, particularly women.

The sweetness of these drinks was designed to overcome what non-drinkers considered the unpleasant taste of alcohol.

Youth health physician Dr Peter Watson said the liquor industry focused on marketing to teenagers.

Beer Wine & Spirits Council chief executive Nicki Stewart said the liquor industry followed the alcohol advertising code and did not use young people or their heroes in advertising.