Apparently in Scotland they’re about to announce that under 21 year olds will be banned from buying alcohol from off-licenses - you can hear the news item over on BBC

I’ve noticed for a while in supermarkets they say you have to prove your age if you look under 21, and recently there were suggestions it might become if you look under 25 - but you still have the right to buy it if you can prove you are 18.

I think it would be interesting to see a poll for 16 - 25 year olds to ask how many would want the right to buy alcohol at the legal age and how many would like the right to vote at 16 and compare the results!

Actually I’m listening to that BBC interview as I write and somebody’s just made the point that its ‘absurd’ that people old enough to vote won’t be able to purchase alcohol. It seems to be yet another inconsistency in deciding at what age young people actually become adults. Although of course its already accepted throughout the world that you don’t need to be an adult to have sex (see this post).

So soon the running order in Scotland for taking responsibilties will be:

• Have Sex
• Vote (a couple of years later)
• Buy booze from the local shop (3 years later)

Actually now it makes perfect sense - I can see that in Scotland soon no young people will be drunk so they won’t have irresponsible sex and they’ll take a greater interest in politics! Or has nobody noticed those drunk kids in the park on Friday nights aren’t actually 18 anyway?!

Having made the comparison between wanting to vote and wanting to drink, I wonder for how many people they felt the first time they were legally allowed to drink in a pub was their transition to adulthood and how many felt it was their first vote?