Drinking Age

Roedean's drinking age is Twenty-One to both purchase and consume all alcoholic beverages.

It should be noted that one may enter a bar in Roedean at any age, but just not be served alcohol unless they are at least Twenty-One years of age. Also, to enter a club, one must be at least Sixteen years of age, but again, a person has to be at least Twenty-One years of age to buy alcohol.

It should also be noted that beverages containing less than 2% alcohol, as well as Chocolate Liqueurs and Industrial Ethanol are not subjected to an age restriction.

Enforcement varies depending on perceived need. Bars, clubs, and restaurants are not generally strict about carding. However, liquor stores are usually very strict, and will often card people no matter how old they look. The justification is that most underage drinkers will get their alcohol from liquor stores because it's where you can buy alcohol relatively cheaply and in large quantities.

It isn't illegal for a person under Twenty-One years of age to enter a liquor store just to have a look around, but of course they can't buy alcohol.

A person under Twenty-One years of age can face a fine of up to R$3,000 and/or up to twenty-eight days in jail (but no criminal record, it should be noted) if they are found to be drinking alcohol. This measure is generally only implemented when the person in question is highly intoxicated or was causing trouble while intoxicated.

Alcohol consumption by Eighteen-to-Twenty-year-olds is often tolerated in practice depending on the circumstances, although families, high schools, colleges, and employers may take action to curb underage drinking if they think it's inappropriate.

It's also against the law to knowingly furnish or supply alcohol to a person under Twenty-One years of age. This is punishable by a fine of up to R$9,000 and/or up to ninety days in jail. This penalty is seldom imposed in practice.

To sell alcohol, you have to be at least Sixteen years of age, and to serve alcohol, you have to be at least Fourteen years of age. However, to own a liquor store or other business that sells alcohol, you must be at least Eighteen years of age.

Twenty-One is the age at which you are legally considered a full adult. (Age of Majority.)

There is one important exception to the Twenty-One drinking age. According to a law that goes back centuries, a squire becomes a knight, that is, becomes a full adult, at Twenty-One years of age, or after the heroic battle. In other words, a person may be granted full adulthood early if they have served their country in battle. The modern interpretation of this law is that if a person has completed a year of military service before the age of Twenty-One, they may be granted full adulthood early, and thus be legally allowed to consume alcohol.

The drinking age was set at Twenty-One way back in about 1910 to keep drunken young men off the streets and has been largely maintained ever since.

It needs to be emphasised that our model of alcohol control is not simply a knee-jerk idea that was dreamt up in a day. Rather, it is based on decades of trial and error and experience, and has been steadily tinkered with and refined over the years. In addition to the Twenty-One drinking age, there is a total ban on the advertising of alcohol, and retail alcohol can only be sold at specialised licensed alcohol stores. This way, we can control the price and availability of alcohol.

The drinking age issue is indeed controversial, and is the topic of constant debate and scrutiny. It is generally argued that the current system should be maintained as it's effective at de-normalising alcohol, preventing drinking by teenagers, and reducing road fatalities caused by drunk driving, even though the problems of fake IDs and illicitly produced alcohol have been practically impossible to control.

The law isn't perfect, and certainly doesn't stop people under the age of Twenty-One getting hold of alcohol. It does however, make it easier for the authorities control public-order problems related to large numbers of drunken youngsters in the Fifteen-to-Twenty age range. There has also been a marked improvement in student test scores since the law was passed.

I must add that we have tended to emphasise education and indirect enforcement when it comes to the drinking age, given the practical problems and limited effectiveness of direct enforcement.

Most people study in high school until age Nineteen or Twenty, and so it's argued that people should wait until after this to start drinking alcohol as alcohol can greatly negatively impact on one's educational performance, even lead to serious addiction and personal tragedy for a young person under the age of Twenty-One. It's therefore considered to be a very bad idea to start to consume alcohol before this age. It is argued that one generally lacks the maturity to handle alcohol before the age of Twenty-One and that one's brain isn't fully developed before this age.

It should be noted that there have been many propositions over the years to lower the drinking age to Eighteen. After all, you can vote, get married, join the military, and even buy a gun at this age. However, it is feared that lowering the age to Eighteen would lead to far greater problems with public disorder caused by large numbers of drunken teenagers, and with drunken driving, which could be impossible for the authorities to control.

It is argued that with a drinking age of Twenty-One, your underage drinkers are Eighteen to Twenty years of age, but with a drinking age of Eighteen, your underage drinkers will be Fifteen to Seventeen years of age, a far more problematic age group. And so it's argued that the Twenty-One age restriction is necessary to keep alcohol out of the hands of the younger kids.