The Drinking Age

Stuff.co.nz reports:

Support for returning the drinking age to 20 is gaining momentum as MPs face calls to address binge drinking.

I am not in favour of returning the drinking age to twenty. When you are 18 you are an adult and you should be allowed to buy a bottle of wine or a few beers. Or as Nikki Kaye puts it later in the article:

If someone can be elected to Parliament, get married or join the army, then they should be able to buy a bottle of wine

Alcohol Healthwatch support raising the drinking age, but their reasoning is a little suspect:

It is not about 18-year-olds, it is about 13-year-olds and making sure they don't begin drinking in their teens.

So maybe rather than punishing grown adults who want a drink we should look at preventing 13 year olds from getting access to alcohol.