Should the drinking age be raised to 20?

Following the death of Blenheim teenager George Holland in a drink-driving incident, a coroner is calling for the Government to return the minimum alcohol purchase age to 20 – with no exceptions.

Holland was killed in the early hours of August 6, 2017, when he failed to give way at a one-way bridge in Marlborough, colliding head-on with a heavy truck and trailer.

Coroner David Robinson said the crash could have been prevented if Holland adhered to the zero alcohol level for drivers under 20.

Blood samples showed Holland had 133 milligrams of alcohol per

100 millilitres of blood – the legal limit for adults is 50mg – and MDMA (ecstasy) and cannabis in his system.

In Robinson’s findings, released yesterday, he referred to one study that found ‘‘significantly’’ more alcohol-involved crashes amongst

15 to 19-year-olds in the four years after the alcohol age was reduced in December 1999. While a more recent study found the number of alcohol-related crashes in this age group increased from 102 in 2014, to 142 in 2017.

‘‘There appears to be incontrovertible evidence of a direct link between the lowering of the alcohol purchasing age in 1999 and an increase in the incidence of injury and fatal accidents involving alcohol impaired drivers aged

15-19 years,’’ Robinson said.

In 190 countries, 61 per cent have a drinking age of 18 or 19. The United States and 11 other countries have set the legal age at

21, the highest MLDA of all the countries where it is legal to drink, although some areas of India have drinking ages as high as 25 and 30 years old. Alcohol is banned in 16 countries, all of them Muslim countries, although some have exceptions for non-Muslims.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the number of drivers aged between 15 to 19 caught using alcohol has dropped 68 per cent in

10 years. In 2016, 2118 young people got behind the wheel after drinking, compared with 6556 in

2006.

Professor Sally Casswell, a codirector of the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre at Massey University’s College of Health, said arguments were numerous on both sides but no single policy would solve the problems. ‘‘If you have a drug widely available, like alcohol is, you are going to have harm,’’ she told The Press. ‘‘We know 18 to 24 are the heaviest drinking groups in our country. When you look at the whole population, half of them use alcohol in heavy drinking occasions, but in the youth it’s over 70 per cent.’’

Casswell agreed New Zealand’s drinking culture needed a shake up, and the best way to change that was through legislation.

In 2016, a NZ Herald article listed the 20 corporations most likely to be profit shifting to avoid paying tax in New Zealand – three of which were transnational alcohol corporations.

When asked if the government would consider the coroner’s suggestion, Justice Minister Andrew Little said: ‘‘The Government is not looking at the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act at this point.’’

Professor Doug Sellman, of Otago University’s National Addiction Centre, urged the Government to listen to the coroner.

‘‘Coroners are ideally placed to witness the damage that alcohol is inflicting on New Zealand as well as be in the position to make informed and authoritative public comment.’’

Sellman said increasing the age to 20 would have a significant impact on the ‘‘disconnected heavy drinking culture’’ amongst young people.

‘‘We know 18 to 24 are the heaviest drinking groups in our country.’’ Professor Sally Casswell