Why Aren't Scottish Teenagers Getting Drunk Anymore?

From its penchant for Buckfast to its booming whisky industry to its plentiful renditions of late-night drunk-friendly food, Scotland certainly seems to have a thriving drinking culture. Scotch is, after all, its second-largest export, and by all appearances Scotland is heavily populated with pubs and distilleries.

So why are Scottish teenagers cutting back on their boozing?

A new report from SALSUS (the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle And Substance Use Survey) shows major dips in the percentage of Scottish teens that are hitting the bottle, to the tune of a 45 percent decrease. In surveys conducted last year, 19 percent of Scottish 15-year-olds self-reported that they had consumed alcohol in the past week, down from 34 percent in 2010—a mere three years prior. Similarly, the number of 13-year-olds who drank alcohol in the past week was 14 percent in 2010, but a mere 4 percent claimed to have done so in the recent survey—a 72 percent decrease. Both newer statistics represent a 24-year-low in terms of teen drinking. More than 30,000 students were surveyed between September 2013 and February 2014 for the study.

Where did the party go?

In 2008, Scotland published an extensive (80-plus page) report called "Changing Scotland's relationship with alcohol: a discussion paper on our strategic approach." The foreword, written by Deputy First Minister for Health & Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon, outlined how alcohol abuse was a significant factor in prohibiting Scotland's "social and economic growth," costing it a whopping £2.25 billion each year.

One of the primary initiatives of the report, and the measures contained within, were to address and prevent the "misuse" of alcohol by young people and within families. It cited figures, current at the time, that 40 percent of 15-year-olds and 15 percent of 13-year-olds had consumed alcohol in the past week. (Though these numbers sound high, they're similar to 2011 underage drinking figures from the US, which counted past-month alcohol usage at 40 percent for 12th-graders and 13 percent for 8th-graders.) One of the approaches most explored in the game plan was to attempt to delay the onset of drinking in youths, which has been proven to reduce the risk of adult alcoholism.

The report also outlined numerous ways to deal with the rampant alcohol abuse that was apparently crippling Scotland and costing it billions, including raising alcohol prices, implementing stricter control and distribution of booze, and even increasing the drinking age to 21. The latter move, attempted in 2008 and again in 2010, caused a great deal of controversy but ultimately failed due to public outcry. But avid campaigns from the Scottish government to raise awareness and education about alcohol abuse, at least according to these new statistics, had very measurable effects.

Public health minister Maureen Watt commented on the findings, "This demonstrates real progress in protecting our young people … However there is still work to be done. Our alcohol framework contains over 40 measures to tackle alcohol misuse."

Recently, other European countries, such as France, have also been amping up their efforts to address rampant alcohol abuse in young citizens; in the past five years, the French government raised its alcohol purchase minimum age from 16 to 18, outlawed the 24-hour-sale of alcohol at motor stops, and even implemented heavy fines for the incitement of binge-drinking.

Everybody go home; your government wants you to cut back on the booze.