Following today’s road toll statistics released by the RAC in Perth, Drug Free Australia spokesperson, Wendy Herbert, has called for the WA government to take the lead, and raise the drinking age back up to 21.

“This is a solution that has worked in the United States and today’s WA road carnage statistics  mean that its time to take a real stand against alcohol abuse.  In 1974 the legal age to consume alcohol was dropped to 18 in Australia. Since then we have seen a generation of young Australians who have grown up thinking that it’s safe to drink to excess – that it’s a ‘right of passage’.

“Raising the drinking age back up to 21 was a successful strategy in the United States.  This is a country that has a far greater population base and diverse legal system to contend with, than we do in Australia. The research from the US (from its National Traffic Safety Administration) has revealed that by raising the drinking age back up to 21, 16,409 lives have been saved from road death in a sixteen year period. The estimates from the study show that the raised minimum age drinking laws in all states have reduced traffic fatalities in 18 to 20 year olds by 13%.

“Apart from reducing road carnage, raising the drinking age is one of the key issues to reducing overall alcohol and drug abuse. Alcohol is the main gateway drug. When people delay the start of alcohol use to 21 they rarely develop dependency or addiction to alcohol or any other drug”, says Jo Baxter, Drug Free Australia’s  Executive Officer.

Delaying the onset of alcohol use also falls in line with the latest research on the development of the adolescent brain. The thirteen year long US National Institute of Mental Health study confirms research that shows a delay of drinking (and its likely gateway into other drugs) till 21 reduces the harm from these substances. This 13 year longitudinal study using MRI has produced no other counter research.

“By  allowing a substance-free maturity of the prefrontal cortex and the development of a fully functioning brain, capable of understanding consequences of decisions, the risk of dependence and addiction to drugs and alcohol for those who delay drug and alcohol experimentation till 21 is considerably minimised”. Ms Herbert explained.

This is backed by a recent international comparison of underage alcohol use, conducted by Australian and US researchers and involving 6000 children, has found rates of binge drinking are up to three times higher among Australian Year 9 students compared with equivalent American teenagers.
Australian parents often introduce their children to small amounts of alcohol early, in the hope this "harm minimisation" strategy helps them learn to control their behaviour in later life. By contrast, US attitudes tend to emphasise a zero-tolerance approach, and the legal drinking age is also higher - 21 compared with 18 in Australia.

The study's authors said the findings of higher binge drinking rates in Australia will be "counter to the expectations of harm- minimisation advocates", and showed the Australian approach was not working.

John Toumbourou, one of the co-authors of the study, due to be published in the US journal Health Education & Behaviour, said the rising rates of Australian teenagers being admitted to hospital for alcohol-related injuries made the findings of serious concern.

“How much longer must we sit back and allow the destruction of young lives to continue, simply because  of unwise decision-making by our law-makers 30 years ago?” said Ms Baxter. “We will certainly be asking the question at the Perth Women’s Forum at the University  of WA, tonight”.