Happy teen yes, but we set drinking ages for a reason. Teenage alcoholism is an evil that we rightly should fight against. When a kid is trying to decide what they want to buy, Strongbow should not be the cheaper option than diet coke.
Worth noting that France has no legal alcohol consumption age, and Germany has it set to 14 if a guardian is present.
Alcohol is deeply embedded in French and German culture (and surely other nations) - I have seen a 3 year old sipping some beer in Munich in a beer house. Amusingly, neither of the countries really has binge drinking culture as the UK or US has so
