Most Indians not aware of legal drinking age

New Delhi: A public survey conducted by the Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD) revealed that 98.1 per cent of respondents were aware that the legal drinking age is 25 years and 88.8 per cent youth still consumed alcohol before the legalised age in the national capital.

The survey was conducted between September and December last year by the CADD to assess the prevalence of underage drinking, alcohol consumption, and procurement patterns among the youth.

The survey highlighted the ease with which the youth are able to purchase and consume alcohol at various places without any checking system in place. CADD founder and road safety expert Prince Singhal informed that research was conducted outside 50 prominent liquor vends, bars, and restaurants of Delhi among 10,000 people. All the 10,000 respondents were below the age of 25 and nearly 23.1 per cent respondents were below the age of 18. As many as 64.7 per cent of respondents have tried alcohol as opposed to 23.1 per cent of youth who tried cigarette, which is almost thrice the number of youth who tried alcohol as compared to tobacco. This is because cigarette is often viewed as less disruptive and can be customised to suit one’s taste or liking in view of the wide variety that is available. Almost half of the respondents also agreed to drunken driving as the most common behaviour after alcohol consumption.