Think lowering the drinking age in the U.S. from 21 to 18 is a bad idea? In Great Britain, one health official says that 16-year-olds should be allowed to consume alcohol legally, the BBC reported Oct. 11.

John Ashton, director of public health at the Cumbria National Health Service (NHS) Primary Care Trust, said that most 16-year-olds are already drinking and that treating them like adults could promote responsible drinking and prevent problems like unprotected sex and antisocial behavior.

"Teenagers are drinking in risky circumstances," said Ashton. "They go to parks, open spaces, or out on the street. They get drunk and have unprotected sex.

"We need some creative solutions and what we haven't tried is to treat them like adults, and to expect them to behave like adults in return," he added. "We also have to find ways of setting realistic ambitions, such as not drinking every night of the week or drinking with food, rather than just to get drunk."

A recent NHS poll found that fewer teens in the U.K. were drinking, but those who did were drinking more heavily.

"There is a sense that alcohol is innocuous. Some parents are relieved that their children are only drinking and not smoking or taking drugs," said a spokesperson for the group Alcohol Concern. "We have to get over the cultural misconception that alcohol is safe."