A report released by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is recommending that Ontario raise its minimum legal drinking age to 21 to reduce alcohol abuse and harms caused by alcohol.
With Americans continually flocking to Windsor’s downtown, enticed by the current legal age of 19 – the legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21 nationwide – some are not pleased with CAMH’s recommendation.
“I don’t agree with it at all. I think it stimulates the Canadian economy, especially Windsor because when you look at how many people come over once they turn 19, they put in so much money,” said Christian Michalik, 20, who came from Michigan with a group of friends to celebrate a 19th birthday Saturday.
“When you look that the United States, you can go fight in a war, but you can’t drink a beer, which is absolutely ridiculous,” said Tyler Van Norman, who joined Michalik and agreed a 21-year-old legal drinking age is not good.
The report suggests increasing the age to 21 could help reduce drinking and driving incidents, delay the onset of drinking and ultimately keep youth safer.
Tayla Anderson, who has been a manager at Honest Lawyer for about a year, said she sees a lot of 19-year-old Americans partying at downtown bars on the weekend. But although they boost business, she said she would support increasing the legal age to 21.
“I just feel more comfortable serving a little bit of an older crowd,” said Anderson, adding most fights or problems that occur in the bar involve patrons that are 19 or 20 years old. “It’s just you feel more comfortable when there’s a little bit more maturity. Those two years definitely make a difference.”
Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association chairman Larry Horwitz said if the minimum legal drinking age were increased to 21, there would be little impact on business in the city’s core.
“I think the effect on downtown Windsor would be minor. I don’t think it would affect our businesses that much,” said Horwitz. “I think that downtown is transforming itself. There’s very few bars that cater to people at a younger age.”
Horwitz said stricter passport laws that came into effect in recent years has deterred Americans from coming to Windsor at all anyways.
“Many of the young people that age that come across don’t get passports and don’t really look at Windsor as that same destination that it was in the early 2000s,” said Horwitz.
Read the full story in Monday’s Star.
