Legal Drinking Age in England
Posted by Drinking - 26/01/09 at 09:01 pmLegal Drinking Age in England
Other countries, especially the United States, view legal drinking age in England to be extremely lax and quite underage. This is probably because, in UK, a five year-old can have a taste of liquor if within private premises and with parental consent. Many teens from other countries often argue about this point. What they don’t seem to understand is that those 5-year old children take only a sip and not a whole glass as teens are prone to want.
A rundown of legal drinking age in England, also known as the United Kingdom is: 5 years old - provided that they are with their parents, in private property (mostly at home), and will be allowed to take only a little bit of liquor which should be enough to be tasted and enjoyed but not enough to get drunk on; 16 years old - if in a restaurant, limited only to a glass to complement the meal, and with adult supervision or 16 year olds can also partake of shandy (beer mixed with lemonade or ginger beer) in local pubs; and 18 years old otherwise. For purchasing age, the age is set to 18 however buying liqueur chocolates are allowed for 16 year olds.
A cause of concern though is the margin of responsibility with underage drinking. This is where On-premise retail sale and Off-premise retail sale or Off-licenses come in. For both technicalities, 18 is the legal drinking age in England. However in case of accountability, for On-premise, although the customer is responsible for himself, the one serving him is also liable for his well-being. There is actually a law that it is illegal to serve any alcoholic beverage to someone who is already drunk; this was done to prevent alcohol poisoning. For off-licenses though, the responsibility lies with the customer alone as the clerks have no way to monitor the consumption.
