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Show ARTS & CULTURE OFF CAMPUS 8 Utah gas stations separate alcoholic beverages from the rest of their products because of laws limiting the age of accessibility. The legal age to buy alcohol in Utah is 21, but in other places across the globe that age can be as low as 12 or even 14 years. Alcohol age limit inconsistencies across GLOBE AFFECT INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS STEPHANIE BROWN-RICHARDSTAFF REPORTER S binge drinking on five or more days in the past month. Utah law states that individuals must It was Ashley Dechants first night in be at least 21 years old to purchase, posUtah. She didnt have many friends, but sess, or be provided with any alcoholic she, was with a group of four boys and beverage. In other places across the globe, four girls who piled into a car to drive the age limit tends to be lower. In Canato a University of Utah fraternity party. da and Africa, for example, the legal age They didnt know which house it was, to consume alcohol is 18. In France, one so they went around back to see if they must be 18 to purchase alcohol but concould see anything. sumption often begins much younger. I came from Canada in August when They found a girl in the backyard surrounded by other drunk friends, who were I had just turned 18 in July, Dechant shoving a toothbrush down her throat so said. It was weird and it sucked because shed throw up. Shed been drinking too I could go out and party with friends much and they didnt want her to get and then immediately left for college in Utah and now I had to wait again until alcohol poisoning. When someone suggested taking the girl to the hospital, this I was 21. idea was immediately rejected because Dechant explained that for half of the others didnt want her to get a fine Canada, the drinking age is 18 and for for consumption of alcohol by a minor. the other half its 19. When she spent from Canada the summer at home after turning 19, she Dechant, a double majoring in finance and marketwas able to go to more places that served ing at Westminster College, said at that alcohol across Canada. But when she returned to Utah again, she had to refrain. moment she thought, Americans are inBecause the drinking age is lower sane. "Then, they took the drunken minor in Canada, underage drinking starts to the hospital. SurAccording to the 2015 National younger, too, Dechant said. Theres still underage drinking in the U.S., but Use and Health (NSDUH), vey on Drug 37.9 percent of college students ages its way less because its more controlled. 18 to 22 reported binge drinking in the People dont start until about 18. Underage drinking cost the U.S. econpast month. An additional 12.5 percent reported heavy alcohol use, defined as omy $249 billion in 2010. Excessive 20-year-- old drinking contributes to more than 4,300 deaths among people below the age of 21 in the U.S. each year, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Where Im from, nothing from your alcohol or groceries gets taxed or goes to the state only imported goods, said from ZimRozanne Ziehl, a babwe. We have a lot of local beers and other alcohol. Although drinking under the age of 21 is illegal in the United States, people aged 12 to 20 drink 11 percent of all alcohol consumed. More than 90 percent of this alcohol is consumed through binge drinking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ziehl said she started drinking when she was 16 but said she was able to go the grocery store at 12 or 14 years old to buy alcohol for her dad. She said the law enforcement of alcohol was not as strict as it is in the U.S. Coming here was a rude awakening pretty much a slap in the face, Ziehl said. I started drinking at a much younger age, so being 21 now is nothing. It takes away the awe of being able to drink because Im used to it and I already see myself as an adult. According to the 2015 NSDUH, 33.1 percent of 15 year olds report theyve 21-year-- have had at least one drink in their lives. About 7.7 million people aged 12 to 20 (20.3 percent of this age group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month (19.8 percent of males and 20.8 percent of females). There is not really a drinking age in France, which means you can drink if you are even 15, said Oscar Faulconnier, first-yea student at Westminster. If you want to buy alcohol, you have to be 18. He said he started drinking champagne and beer when he was 14 or 15 with his parents at Christmas and special events. When he first came to Utah, Faulconnier said, I felt like I was 14 or 15 again. I could buy alcohol since I was 18, and here I cant even enter a bar. In France, even if you are 16 you can go into bars and drink alcohol because they dont check your ID. Faulconnier said it wouldnt be as big of an issue if the law was more chill, and said alcohol feels taboo here, which he disagrees with. To be honest, I feel like the drinking age Is not really a good thing, he said. A lot of American students want to drink because they dont have access to it. Its forbidden, so they want to do it like a rebellious thing. 20-year-- ar |