Britons' penchant for pints leads to health, safety issuesHowever, Britons' fondness for alcohol is causing ever more serious health and safety problems, including a wave of liver disease and violent crime. In response, some doctors and politicians are calling for measures to reverse the trend, such as raising the drinking age to 21 from 18.
Nine out of 10 Britons older than 14 drink alcohol, the government estimates. And they're drinking more. In 2005, they drank 1.7 billion gallons of alcohol, with average consumption per person doubling since 1960.
Particularly problematic is a rise in binge drinking, defined as having five or more drinks in one sitting. Britain has a greater percentage of regular binge drinkers, 24%, than other European Union nations except the Republic of Ireland and Finland, among 25 countries surveyed by the European Commission earlier this year.
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