It's a debate that has raged, on and off, since before Saskatchewan was a province.
Now the Saskatchewan Party has decided it wants to revisit Saskatchewan's legal drinking age.
At its convention two weekends ago, the government passed a resolution to take under consideration changing the legal drinking age back to 18 from 19.
No sooner had news of the resolution hit the streets than the debate was back in full gear.
At the heart of the argument against the move is the age-old temperance argument. The cost to society of alcoholism is too high to encourage youth to start drinking at an age when they are not fully prepared to deal with the potential consequences.
On the pro side, is the tried-and-true age-of-majority argument. On reaching their 18th birthday, persons can serve in the armed forces, vote and marry without parental consent. Surely basic fairness dictates they should also be allowed to tip a brewski or 12.
Of course, it's much more complex than that, and much more contentious.
Yorkton's newly-elected mayor, Bob Maloney, says nay.
"I don't favour that," he said. "To me, I think you let sleeping dogs lie. I don't know why they would want to stir that up."
Local Sask Party MLA Greg Ottenbreit explained they didn't necessarily want to stir it up.
"We're a democratic society," he said. "We have to look at it because it came through the resolution process."
Specifically, it came forward from the Saskatchewan Party Youth Caucus so it was automatically on the floor when the party held its convention. Ottenbreit said it passed by a slim margin.
"It was not an overwhelming majority, by any means," he said.
Ottenbreit would not say where he personally stands on the issue deferring to the public consultation process.
Minister Donna Harpauer, who is responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, openly spoke against the resolution at the convention, but is also ready to defer to the public.
"There's compelling arguments on both sides," she said. "This is a broad provincial discussion that needs to happen and I welcome that. We'll see where the majority of Saskatchewan wants to go."
What makes it really tricky for legislators is the way the school system works. Most kids turn 18 sometime in Grade 12. Opponents of lowering the legal age, including Harpauer, point out this makes it easy for high school-age kids to legally obtain liquor to share with their underage classmates. Consequently it becomes very difficult for school authorities and parents to enforce abstinence.
Proponents argue that most kids entering university, where alcohol is traditionally a rite of passage, are 18 making illegal drinking and student safety a major issue for university authorities.
Then, there are the extremists. Some argue legislating any legal drinking age is futile. Alcohol use by people of all ages is so ubiquitous in society that only education can prevent the social problems associated with it and this is not achieved by prohibition for minors.
In Canada, the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and British Columbia already allow consumption of alcohol by some minors (usually 16- and 17-year-olds) in private residences under parental supervision.
In Europe, many countries have very convoluted liquor laws. Some allow consumption of beer and wine, but not spirits, to people 16 years and older. In the United Kingdom, it is legal for children between the ages of five and 17 to consume alcohol in a private residence with the permission of a parent or guardian. And while drinking age in nations such as France and Italy are set, enforcement tends to be lax because of cultural acceptance.
In most of these countries it is still illegal for those under 18 to purchase alcoholic beverages.
Proponents of lower (or no) drinking age often point to lower rates of alcoholism in countries with the most liberal drinking laws. While it is true that countries such as Britain, France and Italy have lower rates of alcoholism than North America, the statistics don't always support this argument. Russia, for example, has no minimum drinking age and one of the highest rates of alcoholism in the world.
On the other side of the coin, there are those who would rather see a return to outright prohibition. While democratic governments are unlikely to go anywhere near this argument, there is medical evidence to suggest even 19 is too young to be drinking.
Some neurological studies suggest alcohol consumption interferes with the development of the frontal lobe of the brain. The frontal lobe is responsible for high-level functions such as decision-making and delayed gratification. Neuroscientists believe this part of the brain is not fully developed until around the age of 25.
Still, there is little evidence to suggest even a legal drinking age as high as 21 is an effective way of delaying underage drinking or alcoholism.
In the United States, the drinking age has been 21 since 1984. Setting the age is still the jurisdiction of individual states, but in 1984, the federal government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which withholds transfer funds from dissenting states. Outside of Muslim countries where alcohol is prohibited, the United States has the most restrictive drinking age laws in the world, yet many studies show it has been ineffective in delaying the onset of alcohol consumption or alcoholism later in life.
Internationally, the average age a person takes their first drink is 12 and a majority report regular drinking by the age of 15 according to the World Health Organization. This holds true in Canada, the United States and most European countries. There appears to be little difference in these statistics between countries regardless of the legal drinking age.
