i think leave the drinking age at 18 i say u can vote leave home i say should able 2 buy achool

#101 - Well NZ ISN'T a third world county...

The rape/molestation incident stats have raised significantly since lowering the age. Young woman are leaving bars intoxicated and being taken advantage of. Of course everyone should be liable for their own responsibility, but I think lowering the age certainly didn't help. I'm 23 - I think 20 is a more reliable age for people to begin taking responisbility for actions when drinking. Whilse not all 18 year olds tend to get smashed - it is the younger ones rather than the older who tend to drink more in nightclubs these days.

haha everyone acts as though if the age is set at whichever level that no-one under that age will drink... if a 16 year old wants to get drunk they will find a way. stop wasting time with this trivial issue.

if you stop trying to tell young people what is best for them and let them figure it out for themselves everyone is alot happier and there will be far less problems.

you act like new zealand isnt a 3rd world county...

@Pete#41

Anglo-Saxon's may have a problem forming words after a few drinks but that rarely comes with a softball bat over the head for your wallet, or 6 mates lurking in the bushes ready to hold you down while another 6 take turns using your head as a rugby ball. I'll take the unintelligible conversation with a shy Anglo-Saxon any day thanks.

Alcohol incites cowardice for those who are inclined to behave like cowards. Crimes of self-indulgent opportunity and other yellow-belly offending has increased sharply in the past 10 years because of easier access to alcohol from a younger age. The crime statistics illuminate where the majority of offending is occuring and it is those statistics which need to be singled out and addressed.

The problem isn't exclusive to age, it's the age of those who are more likely to indulge criminal offending while under the influence of alcohol. This country needs to start "confronting" it's real issues rather than wasting time exhausting all other options to avoid the dealing with the truth.

We all know what the truth is, and it's only a matter of time before society is forced to deal with it. So lets raise the age to 20 or 30 and that'll keep those who can't see the wood for the trees quiet for another 10 years.

But what comes after that's failed, ban alcohol completely?

IMO, it's quite simple. At the age of 18 you are considered an adult. You can vote, get married, join the army, drive and so on (many of these things even earlier). Adults can legally drink in this country (subject to certain rules). It's that simple.

How come no-one talks about banning drink for men aged 30-50 (myself in that category)? They're the ones who have the highest drink driving occurence

@ peter fox #83

There's plenty of problems with your comment. A very high proportion of all people that get in trouble with the law are drug or alcohol fueled, not just teenagers. There's not necessarily a high proportion of drug or alcohol fueled teens getting in to trouble with the law either, something I've never seen researched (too hard for the wowsers I suspect).

Compulsory Conscription? Are you trolling? Unless you're 70 or you lucked out in a ballot I doubt you had to do Compulsory training so if all the previous generations turned out ok with out it then todays youth don't need it either.

Maybe you wouldn't come across packs of drunken youths swearing and carrying on like idiots if people like you hadn't taken away everything else they liked to do. Everything from the slightly obtrusive loud music, noisy cars and house parties to the completely innocent skateboarding in public has been stamped out or driven in to the shadows by people like you.

These days teenagers pretty much only have 2 practical options for entertainment: play World of Warcraft or get drunk. That's why you only see drunken teenagers, all the rest are inside playing on their Playstation, XBox or PC because it's all they have left to do!

Theres plenty of evidence out there to say it should be raised to 21 at least . A very high % of teenagers in trouble with the law are alcohol & drug fueled . Of course there will still be plenty of idiots over 21 but at least it gives a bit of time for some however few to develop some maturity & commonsese . The youth of today are out of control , no disipline, no manners , no morals, no itellect. we badly need conscription for a min of 3 years . Its hard to go anywhere without confronting packs of drunken youths , swearing and carrying on like idiots it spoils a family day out .

raising the drinking age is not going to change the binge drinking culture. young people have older friends who will go and buy them alcohol, its just the same for miners if there is a will there is a way! theres not point! people just need to start getting a grip on their drinking, there comes a point where enough is enough. people just need to wise up!

What I don't understand in the mentality of those individual's who say that raising the drinking age won't help, and that NZ it self needs to change it's outlook, um... were you born in a tent ? The outlook on any situation takes into consideration almost everything at that time, past experiences, knowledge etc... so by saying that lowering the drinking age isn't going to help at all, is a weak and pointless statement to make. NZ does need to change it's attitude and tolerance towards the binge culture we have come to enjoy, and one method to achieving that is by increasing the drinking age.