Drinking age 'should be raised to 24'
A leading biologist has argued that the legal drinking age in the UK should be raised to 24 after linking alcohol consumption to poor brain development.
Dr Aric Sigman, a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, claimed that "modest teenage binge drinking" can lead to poor performances in IQ tests in later life, as reported in today's Daily Telegraph.
Sigman also criticised parents' continental-style attitude to alcohol, saying a "sycophantic adoration by the British middle classes for the way in which the French drink has not worked in our children's favour."
The comments are made in a new book — Alcohol Nation: How to protect our children from today's drinking culture — in which Sigman makes reference to the "myth" that introducing children to alcohol early prevents heavy drinking and alcoholism later on.
