Daily BrewAddiction report urges Ontario to raise legal drinking age to 21
Canada's patchwork of legal alcohol consumption ages could see a slight change, should Ontario side with a new recommendation to increase its age of consent.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) released a report this week that suggested the province's legal drinking age be increased to 21 — two years older than its current mark and three years older than several other provinces.
The CAMH report says the province can decrease the $2.9 billion price tag attributed to alcohol use through a series of changes that would make obtaining booze more difficult and punishment for abusing it more drastic.
"While there are policy measures in place, there is still work to be done in various areas, such as alcohol pricing and advertising in order to address drinking behaviours that can be harmful," Dr. Norman Giesbrecht said in a statement.
Among that list of recommendations is the suggestion that Ontario consider boosting its legal drinking age 21, which matches the United States but is higher than anything currently seen in Canada.
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Unlike in the U.S., where the legal drinking age is 21 across the board, Canada's provinces have varied benchmarks. Alberta, Quebec and Manitoba each allow drinking at the age of 18, while the rest of the provinces hold fast at 19. Ontario originally lowered its drinking age to 18 in 1971, but the mark was raised to its current 19 following complaints of high school students getting drunk.
The new age would put Ontario in line with the U.S., although the debate to lower the drinking age occasionally breaks out south of the border.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving says that more than 25,000 lives have been saved in the U.S. due to its 21 minimum legal drinking age. Public health researcher James C. Fell argues that young adults react differently to alcohol, getting drunk faster and being less likely to know when to stop.
The debate for reducing the legal drinking age, meantime, frequently points to the raft of other responsibilities given to youths at a younger age. Canadians can drive, vote and enlist in the military before they are old enough to drink in Ontario.
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Others suggest increasing the legal drinking age will simply push more drinking underground. Regardless of the age, it is up to parents to instill responsibility in teens and young adults.
The last time Ontario considered a change was in 2008, when a board of health officially requested the province increase the drinking age to 21. Then-premier Dalton McGuinty rejected the idea as unnecessary.
"If you're going to rely on the law to ensure that your kids aren't drinking underage, then you don't have a good understanding of human nature," he said at the time.
"While we have a law in place which I think has struck the right balance, it's also really important for parents to take a real interest in what their kids are doing, to try to impress upon them the dangers associated with drinking alcohol."
Not much has change since that time. The argument for a higher age hasn't gotten any stronger. In fact, Saskatchewan recently considered lowering its own drinking age, although it decided not to.
Raising the drinking age may not catch on, but a few other CAMH recommendations are likely to find some level of support. The centre suggests maintaining the government's liquor store monopoly, adjusting prices to keep pace with inflation and cutting back on store hours.
