Caledonian University Students' Association | SNP's Age restriction defeated

SNP's Drinking Age Restriction defeated

Glasgow Caledonian University Students’ Association is pleased to tell you that the SNP’s proposals to raise the legal off-sales alcohol purchasing age to 21 has been defeated in a Parliamentary debate and vote.

The Coalition Against Raising the Drinking Age in Scotland (of which GCUSA is a supporter) worked tirelessly since April to raise awareness of the SNP’s plans and to get a petition together with 10,000 signatures on it to oppose the SNP’s policy. This along with a student demonstration outside the Scottish Parliament on the 2^nd October that attracted widespread media coverage lead to the SNP proposals being defeated by 72 votes to 47 in the Parliamentary vote. CARDAS’s opposition to this proposal was supported by the Conservaties, the Labour Party, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.

CARDAS and GCUSA strongly support efforts to tackle Scotland’s alcohol problems and encourage sensible drinking, but did not support raising the legal drinking age to 21 as this implies that the 18-21 age group is the only Scottish group that have a problem with alcohol, and therefore unfairly discriminates against this age group.

For more information please visit http://www.cardas.org.uk/ or http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7646859.stm

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