Across the world a key aim of alcohol policy is to delay the age at which alcohol is first drunk, most obviously with legal minimum purchase ages.1 A key rationale for such policies is that an earlier age of first drinking (AFD) makes alcohol problems in adulthood more likely. For example the US Surgeon General's Call to Action on underage drinking states that; “approximately 40% of individuals who report drinking before age 15 also describe their behaviour and drinking at some point in their lives in ways consistent with a diagnosis for alcohol dependence. This is four times as many as among those who do not drink before age 21” (Ref. 1, p. 12). Similarly, the official UK guidance on alcohol consumption, which advises against any drinking before the age of 15 years, is supported by the statement that “early age of drinking onset is associated with an increased likelihood of developing alcohol abuse or dependence in adolescence and adulthood”(on page 52).2
