Drinking age to 21?

31-05-2007 05:03PM

I think attitude is the problem, rather than legal age
if kids thought it wasn't a big deal, and if there were better ways of socialising rather than the local pub in the back end of nowhere, there might be a difference
and if people didn't think (as AH threads have shown they do indeed) that there's nothing else to do in dublin for fun except get completely, sickeningly hammer and it's either that or sit home watching dvds all the time being boring

french woman ages back was highly surprised young people didn't socialise in sports clubs
what sports clubs =/

Overheal · 31-05-2007 06:12PM

Ironically: I'm spending the summer back home in the states. I hate being 19 on 20

The law here I havent quite checked: I was working (there? Ireland anyway) as a barmen and I wonder if I can serve but I'll have to look that up.

You definitely couldnt get away with bar/pub drinking here: you look under 30 and they ID. and theyre damn strict. Went to an offy last night with my dad and there was this big sign "Under 30? Have ID ready. We arrest minors." :eek: <-- theres me on the inside with a composed face holding a case of Imported Heinekken

As far as Ireland upping the age? HEll no; besides the clear riot/political fallout, the economy would see an increase in invisible import: dirt cheap flights to Britain and all that - A good weekend on the piss. They underestimate how much drinking gets done in the 18-21 wedge.

As for the socialising aspect: I may have to agree. let aside it cuts back the 'knacker drinking' and promotes the kids to stay in a controlled space, it is one of the few places you can bump into new random people and enjoy yourselves. Here in America? I'm bored. I can't go to the pub and meet new people and nobody in public would ever talk to you here: this is america; and its why I'd never live here again.

Still in Ireland I wouldnt be totally flabberghasted if they did up the age to 21 to act against all the drink driving deaths. Someone new is killed on the roads every day/night.

31-05-2007 06:14PM

Overheal wrote:

You definitely couldnt get away with bar/pub drinking here: you look under 30 and they ID. and theyre damn strict. Went to an offy last night with my dad and there was this big sign "Under 30? Have ID ready.

Yup.
They ID'd my mother when we were over there a few years ago.

JC 2K3 · 31-05-2007 06:33PM

Beckham Tinkling Urchin wrote:

what drug 'less harmful' than alcohol?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,,2040886,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6474053.stm
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=65988

snickerpuss · 31-05-2007 07:01PM

User45701 wrote:

hahahahah what a waste of money on flights and other stuff if no drinkey,

Really? I couldn't imagine not being able to go without drink for a while. Thats a problem. Can you not have fun without it?

Blush_01 · 31-05-2007 10:07PM

Surely the consumption of alcohol should be far from a focal point of a night out. The idea that someone is "wasting" their J1 because they're under the legal drinking age is ridiculous!

To be really honest, I couldn't care less if people get hammered every night of the week - although I find it depressingly pathetic - as long as they don't brag about it. The fact that you can't remember how you got home last night isn't a funny story, it's frightening.

JC 2K3 · 31-05-2007 10:18PM

Blush_01 wrote:

Surely the consumption of alcohol should be far from a focal point of a night out. The idea that someone is "wasting" their J1 because they're under the legal drinking age is ridiculous!

To be really honest, I couldn't care less if people get hammered every night of the week - although I find it depressingly pathetic - as long as they don't brag about it. The fact that you can't remember how you got home last night isn't a funny story, it's frightening.

If the elitist, holier-than-thou brigade started to impose restrictions narrowing what people's perception of fun should be permitted to be, then life would ultimately get a lot less fun.

Fremen · 31-05-2007 10:24PM

3) Smoking is chemically addictive, alcohol is not

Actually, alcohol is one of the few drugs whose withdrawal symptoms can kill you. Over time, it is extremely chemically addictive.

Blush_01 · 31-05-2007 10:42PM

#Elites wrote:

although i do agree with you on the bragging..i hate when people go "oh yeaah i had like 10 pints..i was so locked" like really who the **** cares?

Exactly. If that makes me holier than thou (and I can't see how it does) then I guess I'm happy that I don't need to tell everyone how rat-arsed I was in order to confirm that I had fun on that night out that I can't remember. It's almost as though there's such a lack of confidence in people that they have to compete as drinkers in order to validate themselves.

JC 2K3: If someone has to get so drunk that they can't remember the night out (which the majority of people do) then are they really having fun? Is the fact that you can only remember shards of the night a signifier of a good night out? (I guess that's why amnesiacs have such a great time...) I genuinely cannot grasp how a negative image of frequent, excessive alcohol consumption within society impinges on a persons potential for fun. That negative image isn't preventing people from doing what they want if that's what they want to do, but why pretend to agree that it's an intelligent course of action, if you don't believe it? I have a great night out when not drinking alcohol, despite being out in a pub with other people who are getting drunk. The only difference when I'm heading home is I can see how utterly smashed and helpless lots of people are, how dangerous it is for them to be in that state - simply with a view to getting home safely, if nothing else - and those other people don't recognise how close that taxi came to knocking them down, for example.

JC 2K3 · 31-05-2007 11:17PM

Blush_01 wrote:

JC 2K3: If someone has to get so drunk that they can't remember the night out (which the majority of people do) then are they really having fun? Is the fact that you can only remember shards of the night a signifier of a good night out? (I guess that's why amnesiacs have such a great time...) I genuinely cannot grasp how a negative image of frequent, excessive alcohol consumption within society impinges on a persons potential for fun. That negative image isn't preventing people from doing what they want if that's what they want to do, but why pretend to agree that it's an intelligent course of action, if you don't believe it? I have a great night out when not drinking alcohol, despite being out in a pub with other people who are getting drunk. The only difference when I'm heading home is I can see how utterly smashed and helpless lots of people are, how dangerous it is for them to be in that state - simply with a view to getting home safely, if nothing else - and those other people don't recognise how close that taxi came to knocking them down, for example.

Well, occasionally getting smashed is fun. Having shards of what happened that night gradually come back to you over the course of the next day is kinda fun I think. Of course I wouldn't do it all the time(And I think it's a slight over estimation to say the majority get THAT drunk on every night out). People doing it all the time would be slightly pathetic I agree and perhaps indicate problems in the person. But if getting drunk wasn't fun people wouldn't do it.

Bottom line is:
-You can have a great night wihtout alcohol.
-You can have a great night with a moderate amount of alcohol.
-You can have a great night with excessive consumption of alcohol.

And no one has the right to judge anyone as "pathetic" based on how much or little they drink on a night out, unless that person blatantly is drinking far too much too often and likely has a problem.

cson · 31-05-2007 11:21PM

Blush_01 wrote:

Exactly. If that makes me holier than thou (and I can't see how it does) then I guess I'm happy that I don't need to tell everyone how rat-arsed I was in order to confirm that I had fun on that night out that I can't remember. It's almost as though there's such a lack of confidence in people that they have to compete as drinkers in order to validate themselves.

JC 2K3: If someone has to get so drunk that they can't remember the night out (which the majority of people do) then are they really having fun? Is the fact that you can only remember shards of the night a signifier of a good night out? (I guess that's why amnesiacs have such a great time...) I genuinely cannot grasp how a negative image of frequent, excessive alcohol consumption within society impinges on a persons potential for fun. That negative image isn't preventing people from doing what they want if that's what they want to do, but why pretend to agree that it's an intelligent course of action, if you don't believe it? I have a great night out when not drinking alcohol, despite being out in a pub with other people who are getting drunk. The only difference when I'm heading home is I can see how utterly smashed and helpless lots of people are, how dangerous it is for them to be in that state - simply with a view to getting home safely, if nothing else - and those other people don't recognise how close that taxi came to knocking them down, for example.

Take a look at any ad for an alcoholic drink. What are the people doing? Rightly or wrongly its a characteristic that is somewhat uniquely Irish. Someone mentioned in the thread earlier about having no problem getting alcohol bought for you in America if you're Irish.

Blush_01 · 31-05-2007 11:39PM

I was in America when I was 18. I chose not to drink, but those I was with did drink, and we had no problems getting served in the Irish bar we were in. ID never even came into it.

As for the alcoholic drink ads, I'm not sure I know exactly what you're getting at. The only ads I know of that portray getting completely ossified are the ones recommending a sensible attitude to alcohol consumption. All others seem to have alcohol consumption as a side note or subliminal message, rather than the blatant focus of the advert, with the possible exception of WKD ads.

cson · 31-05-2007 11:51PM

Nah, what I'm getting at is all those ads, the people in them are having a great time = they're subliminaly saying you have to drink to have fun.

veXual · 01-06-2007 12:44AM

/flame flame

Don't be takin our precious alcohol!!!!!!!

/end teh flamage

NZdubstar · 01-06-2007 01:27AM

I think it would be harsh to raise it to 21, we don't want to be living in even more of a Nanny state, it's bad enough as it is. The US is incredibly harsh on these things, I was put in a cell overnight for drinking a beer on the path outside my house for example. I think Irish people will drink excessively no matter what we do, as long as we can get our hands on it. It is pretty shocking though how drunk we get, but for most people, it becomes tired, and pointless after a while. I try and restrict my booze intake nowadays because the hangovers had me wrote off for 3 days sometimes. Since moving to NZ I am drinking probably 20% of what I did in Ireland, just because the lifestyle is different here, but I know when I go home it'll be back to 5 pints on a thursday, 8 pints on a friday, 12 on a saturday, 5 on sunday for recovery etc...
As for the "riots" if they raised the age, who's going to riot? do you really think anyone would take a bunch of 18 year olds rioting for want of alcohol seriously? LOL! No! I'd personally take pleasure in watching the young upstarts getting baton charged on O'Connell st.

01-06-2007 06:26AM

kevmy wrote:

3) Smoking is chemically addictive, alcohol is not

Huh? Excessive and prolonged alcohol drinking does not result in a physical dependence that is chemically based?

01-06-2007 07:15AM

bluewolf wrote:

Yup.
They ID'd my mother when we were over there a few years ago.

Have a fake drivers license and it has worked everywhere in New York.It says that I am 24 and I have a babyface!

AlmightyCushion · 01-06-2007 10:31AM

Overheal wrote:

Went to an offy last night with my dad and there was this big sign "Under 30? Have ID ready.

I was watching an American tv show the other day (think it was My name is earl) and he went into a shop where there was a sign saying "We ID everyone under 35" or something like that and I was shocked.

seamus · 01-06-2007 10:40AM

AlmightyCushion wrote:

I was watching an American tv show the other day (think it was My name is earl) and he went into a shop where there was a sign saying "We ID everyone under 35" or something like that and I was shocked.

Ah the Americans are hilarious though. Their work ethic seems to either be "By the book" or "Not at all". My mum was in a restaurant in Boston and asked for a glass if wine. The waitress asked for ID. My Mum is nearly 60. The waitress didn't seem to 'get' the inanity of her request, even if it was company policy. She couldn't understand why my Mum was laughing.

AlmightyCushion · 01-06-2007 10:46AM

seamus wrote:

Ah the Americans are hilarious though. Their work ethic seems to either be "By the book" or "Not at all". My mum was in a restaurant in Boston and asked for a glass if wine. The waitress asked for ID. My Mum is nearly 60. The waitress didn't seem to 'get' the inanity of her request, even if it was company policy. She couldn't understand why my Mum was laughing.

Could you imagine carrying your age card around with ya till you're sixty. The bleeding thing would look like ya any more and you'd never get served.

Duggy747 · 01-06-2007 10:57AM

Ah, my father was pulled by a garda and breathalised a while ago. He found it funny cuz he hasn't had a drop of beer in nearly 40 years

Jonesy3110 · 01-06-2007 11:06AM

I can't stand this attitude kids have of "We drink cos there's nothing else to do" It's just moronic! I remember hearing a girl on some phone in show on the radio and she was 16 and was talking about how there was nothing to do and how she had no money to go to the cinema or anything, but then someone rang in as was like "How can you afford drink?" She shut up pretty quickly then :P
Saying that I was exactly the same through being 14-17. And when I look back on it I just think, God I wasted those years, I could of being doing something productive.
The thing with under 35's being ID'ed doesn't mean you have to be over 35 to drink. Its the same here except I think it's 25. I think if you're over 25 you shouldn't have to produce ID.

AlmightyCushion · 01-06-2007 11:11AM

Jonesy3110 wrote:

The thing with under 35's being ID'ed doesn't mean you have to be over 35 to drink. Its the same here except I think it's 25. I think if you're over 25 you shouldn't have to produce ID.

I know you don't have to be 35 to drink. It's just the thought that I'd have to carry around id for the next 15 years.

5starpool · 01-06-2007 11:43AM

When I did my J1 in the states (first time I was there) I got asked for ID twice in the whole summer, and one of those was on the first night. I was 21 and was still getting ID'd everywhere here at the time. New york is a hell of a lot more relaxed than the rest of the States in this respect I have since realised. Their policy is pointless, stupid, and over the top, yet I still carry my passport with me everywhere when I am in the states just in case.

Judt · 01-06-2007 12:22PM

5starpool wrote:

When I did my J1 in the states (first time I was there) I got asked for ID twice in the whole summer, and one of those was on the first night. I was 21 and was still getting ID'd everywhere here at the time. New york is a hell of a lot more relaxed than the rest of the States in this respect I have since realised. Their policy is pointless, stupid, and over the top, yet I still carry my passport with me everywhere when I am in the states just in case.

One might be tempted to say that the Irish policy of getting sloshed at all ages is pointless and over the top, too.

Every time something comes up about drinking in this country it comes back to a simple fact: We've not got enough imagination to do anything except drink. It's our culture, like... to coin the phrase of another group when wrongdoing goes on....

Jonesy3110 · 01-06-2007 12:56PM

We've not got enough imagination to do anything except drink.

I think thats hitting the nail on the head. We are a drinking
culture, but theres also a fighting culture.

Hey.... I wonder is there a connection hmmmmm

Drinking age to 21?

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