Is 18 too young to get pissed?

An influential think tank has released a paper calling for the British drinking age to be raised to 21. I'm not sure that this is either desirable or necessary. By the time young adults get to be 18 they ought to be capable of making decisions for themselves and if we prohibit them from drinking they will still do so anyway if they wish.

Unsurprisingly a publicans' industry group think it's a bad idea.