Alderman in favour of raising legal drinking age

The aldermen for Public Health in The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht want the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) to raise the legal drinking age from 16 to 18 years. The House will hold a debate on the subject in March. The impetus for the debate is a proposal by the Cabinet to make a change to the Dutch Alcohol Policy (Drank- en Horecawet).

The three aldermen would like to see a higher age limit for the sale of alcoholic beverages because drinking alcohol at a young age can pose a danger to a young person’s development.

Trial experiment

A change to the national law would introduce a trial experiment during which enable municipalities can decide on the legal drinking age (16 or 18 years) themselves. At present mildly alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine and low alcohol content spirits can be sold to people 16 years and older and high alcohol content spirits to 18 years. A decision to raise the legal drinking age throughout the country will be taken once this experiment is evaluated.

The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht are not in favour of this trial experiment because they say that young people will then choose to go elsewhere to drink. A national legal drinking age provides more clarity, they say.

Alcohol at a young age poses a health threat and has an influence on a young person’s development. The aldermen, Bert van Alphen (The Hague), Jantine Kriens (Rotterdam) and Rinda den Besten (Utrecht) have sent a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives.

Alcohol use

Research has shown that people in the Netherlands are starting to use alcohol at a younger age. Seven out of ten children have had their first drink before the age of 12. Dutch kids are called the ‘boozers of Europe’. Binge drinking (consuming huge quantities of alcohol over a short period of time) is clearly on the rise among young people.