LIQUOR AMENDMENT BILL
L A G E L E H T G N I S I RA ! Y A W O N ? E G A G DRINKIN
Foundation, t ke ar M ee Fr e th at er gal research Martin van Staden, lein tyrannical. Here’s why… d an g nd ce es nd co ’s says it
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overnment appears intent on steaming ahead with the Liquor Amendment Bill, which will, among other things, raise the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. This is as condescending as it is tyrannical, and South Africans should resist this and other programmes by government to take freedom away from the people and vest itself with paternalistic powers.
South Africa’s recent swing back to authoritarianism, with expropriation without compensation, threats of disarming law-abiding citizens, and raids on investigative journalists who expose corruption, should not be supplemented by also confirming the position of the South African citizen as a perpetual minor. As government oppresses us, it should at least treat us like adults.
People the government deems mature enough to vote, marry freely, choose careers, drive cars, and enter into contracts, will no longer be allowed to drink with friends or at a meal or even at their own weddings if this Bill is adopted. Individuals currently between 18 and 21 who consume alcohol will be criminalised. But, as is the case almost universally, this new law will be ignored, becoming a needless leech on the taxpaying wallet of South Africa.
Current under-18s drink illegally, and widely so. The difference between them and those who are over 18 is that they drink in secret, where their parents and other responsible adults are not present. By raising the drinking age even more, everyone under 21 will continue to drink – shocking – but will now do so in uncontrolled environments, exposing them to the same danger to which underage drinkers currently are exposed.
www.spotongmag.co.za
Prohibitionists enjoy linking crime rates with heavy drinking, and, with South Africa’s violent crime problem especially among youths, it would apparently be prudent to raise the drinking age. The average rate for heavy drinking among drinkers in the most peaceful countries on Earth is 25.76%, ranging from a high of 52.4% in Austria to a low of 5.6% in New Zealand. South Africa, in comparison, has a rate of 25.6%. Twenty-three countries qualify as among the “most peaceful” according to the 2015 Global Peace Index, yet violent, crime-prone South Africa has a heavy drinking rate that is below 10 of the most peaceful countries and comparable with another three of them. Heavy drinking doesn’t seem linked to how violent or peaceful a country is.
