Shine OnShould Canada raise its drinking age to 21?
New U.S. research is adding weight to the argument that Canada should raise the legal drinking age to 21.
The Boston University study shows that the current legal drinking age in the United States saves lives by reducing drunk driving deaths and also lowering rates of underage drinking.
The researchers reviewed studies published since 2006 and compared them against drunk driving and underage drinking rates prior to 1988, when 21 became the official legal drinking age. Prior to this time, each state independently set their own drinking age at 18, 19 or 20.
"The evidence is clear that there would be consequences if we lowered the legal drinking age," says lead researcher William DeJong.
"This debate really should be declared over," he tells the Boston Herald.
There has been considerable debate around the topic in Canada with some special interest groups in favour of raising the legal drinking age to 21.
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The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health argued last year that raising the drinking age would reduce harms related to alcohol abuse.
And when Saskatchewan considered lowering the legal drinking age from 19 to 18 last year, Mothers Against Drunk Driving spoke out against it. The organization provides statistics showing a legal drinking age of 21 decreases drunk driving deaths.
Advocates in favour of keeping the drinking age at 19 or 18 suggest that increasing it will make alcohol more of a forbidden fruit and push underage drinking underground, while potentially increasing risky binge drinking among youth.
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Others argue that if someone is old enough to drive, vote and enlist in the military they should be old enough to drink alcohol.
What are your thoughts on the matter? Should Canada follow the lead of the U.S. and raise the legal drinking age to 21? Sound off in the comments below.
