Less suicides if drinking age raised

RAISING the minimum legal age for drinking alcohol from 18 to 21 years can prevent suicide, a study has shown.

A New York-based adolescent psychiatrist said the Government should seriously consider raising the legal age to 21, with US research showing it reduced the suicide rate by 12%. "It should, particularly, given the very high rates of alcohol consumption and the fact that the suicide rate here is going in the opposite direction from the rest of the world," said Prof David Shaffer. He suspected that Ireland's high alcohol consumption rate was a prime suspect. He also believes the country's secularisation must have also played a role in allowing what was previously forbidden behaviour.

"I think you can see that in the relatively low rate of alcohol consumption among older people, who are still bound in some way to earlier customs." The US study showed that the suicide rate decreased by 8% among 18 to 20-year-olds and by 6% among 21 to 23-year-olds. This was because raising the legal age for drinking meant they didn't start consuming alcohol until later in life.