The Melbourne Cup is in danger of becoming synonymous a binge drinking event that is inadvertently condoned”, claims Jo Baxter, Executive Officer, Drug Free Australia.

Most Australians love the ‘Cup’ and many people celebrate it in the spirit in which it’s intended, both here and overseas by ex-patriots. However, with heavy binge drinking now acknowledged as problematic in Australia, we should think seriously at the diverse causes of this phenomenon. This, combined with the fact that alcohol is often the common ingredient in poly drug use by many young people, makes the matter an extremely unhealthy trend for those who imbibe.

Governments should look seriously at the impact of raising the drinking age back up to 21, as one effective solution.

 In 1974 the legal age to consume alcohol was dropped to 18 in Australia. This was to bring the law into line with the voting age – hardly a valid link, when health concerns come into play. 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 Ms
Baxter.

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”. Wendy Herbert, Drug Free Australia Research Fellow,  contends.

 “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 33 years ago?”.