Many young people have felt pressured to drink or have had their parties ruined because of alcohol. In the new campaign “More party – less alcohol”, Blue Cross Denmark focuses on the drinking culture of Danish young people with the message to raise the age limit to 18 years.

Danish young people drink more alcohol than other young people in Europe. At the same time, Denmark is one of the few countries where you can buy alcohol in supermarkets at the age of 16.

This is the culture and age limit that several organisations want to change. Among them is the social aid organisation Blå Kors Danmark, which helps adults with alcohol addiction and children and young people from families with addiction.

With the campaign “More party – less alcohol”, Blue Cross Denmark wants to focus on the downsides of the alcohol culture through a series of videos with different party scenes depicting themes such as drinking pressure, violent drinking and accidents.

“Drinking ruins the party for many young people. Every month a young person dies from alcohol-related accidents, for example, and many young people feel pressured to drink. We need to have a debate about the culture of drinking and partying. And not least with the message that a culture can be changed. We don’t want to be party killers, but instead focus on good parties where alcohol doesn’t get in the way of being together and having fun,” says Christian Bjerre, Secretary General of Blue Cross Denmark.

According to a Voxmeter poll, more than half of 18-34 year olds have felt pressured to drink more than they wanted to, while a previous survey of young people’s drinking habits found that two out of three have experienced a friend getting so drunk that it made the party worse for them.

Raising the age limit
Danish young people stand out from their European peers when it comes to alcohol consumption.

In Denmark, 47% of 15-year-old boys have been drunk at least twice, compared with 12% of boys in Sweden, according to the World Health Organisation’s comparative study of European drinking habits.

Denmark is also one of the few countries where young people under 18 can buy alcohol. Today, 16-year-olds can buy alcohol under 16.5%, while they have to be 18 for stronger alcohol.

Blue Cross Denmark and a number of organisations and experts are in favour of an age limit of 18 for all types of alcohol. The government put forward this proposal as part of a new health reform.

A Voxmeter poll shows that 65% of Danes support the proposal for an 18-year age limit, although the majority in Parliament has not yet managed to agree.

Find more from Blue Cross Denmark (Denmark, June 2022)