UnderageDrinking Laws

rangaz · Post by **rangaz** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 5:25 am

After a recent post I was reminded how divided the forum is on underage drinking and was curious as to other countries laws towards the topic.

I'm almost certain these laws apply to the entire of Australia as well but in western Australia, it is illegal for a minor to be sold alcohol in a bottle store or to be sold a drink at a licensed place such as bar or restaurant. Despite this, it is completely legal for a minor to consume alcohol on private property, given the permission of the owner (i think or it might just be an adult supervisor).

At underage parties, the police here focus on stopping gatecrashing and street drinking rather than trying to stop underage drinking. Drug Education also focuses on mitigation rather than prevention.

I hope not to offend anyone, I'm just curious as to foreign laws and attitudes.

Post by **Tater** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 6:34 am

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 11:54 am

according to that site, in belgium the minimum age is 16, for as far I know, thats correct for wine and beer, but I think you have to be 18 to drink the distilled stuff

Aidas · Post by **Aidas** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:56 pm

Lithuania is 18 for everything -- beer, wine, hard liquor. It's a strict liability law (no exception for private property). Enforcement is, unfortunately, lax.

Aidas

hornedrhodent · Post by **hornedrhodent** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 4:00 am

When I was a teenager - many tears ago - the drinking age was 21 - then 18 - We got called up at 20 - to fight with our 2nd WW empirical masters - in an asian country that had no relevance to us. Different states had different drinking ages, and American R&R [ (Rooting & regretting ) from the point of view of a lot of Aussie women. ( perhaps a bit of crying wolf about the regretting) ] which created a lot of underage interstate debauchery. This has persisted as a tradition with daylight saving - where 18 YO teenagers could drink legally in Tweed Heads (NSW) 1Hr earlier than they could in Coolangatta (QLD). Thank GAWD for uniform drinking laws. Although I'm too old now to benefit from them now.