Children in the spotlight

The issue of underage drinking again received intensive media coverage as it came to light that a 10 year old child, believed to be a girl, had been referred to the Cumbria Alcohol and Drug Service having acquired a taste for alcopops.

It also emerged that in 2004, 1,600 children, some of them very young, called Childline for help with alcohol problems, in many cases caused by their own drinking.

Paul Brown, director of the Cumbria Drug and Alcohol Advisory Service, was in charge of the case of the 10 year old. He has previously spoken of girls as young as seven reporting drinking alcopops. He said: “Giving a child one of these drinks is like handing them a double shot of gin. Alcohol used to be an acquired taste. It took you a while to get used to the bitter taste. Alcopops have done away with that.”

Commenting on the case, Dr Guy Radcliffe of the Medical Council on Alcoholism, said: “The beverage industry cannot seriously expect us to believe that these drinks were introduced for any other reason than to attract younger people.”

Dr David Regis, of the Schools Health Education Unit, agreed but said: “It’s extraordinary a 10-year-old should have enough access to alcopops to develop a problem.”

However, the cases reported by Childline suggest that even young children having access to alcopops is not that unusual. ChildLine’s Brendan Paddy, speaking to the Daily Mirror, said most young drinkers who called were between 12 and 15 but some were under 11. One reported case is that of a 13 year old girl who phoned the helpline and said she thought she was an alcoholic. The girl said she had been drinking for two years and went on: “I have a drink in the morning before I go to school. I have more at lunchtime then drink after school until my grandparents get in.” She added “I get moody when I haven’t had a drink”.

The Mirror also reported a hotel worker as saying that children as young as six had been caught drinking alcopops at weddings. But he added: “When the drinks were confiscated we were confronted by angry parents demanding a refund.” Parents are the main source of alcohol for children of these ages, perhaps not always intentionally. Recently, the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff produced a report ‘From Lollipops To Alcopops’, describing how alcopops were often bought for and served to children at family parties and BBQs by their parents.

The researchers spoke to parents and to children aged from nine to 13-years-old at five schools in South Wales. Focus groups showed that although parents see illegal drugs as dangerous, many accept alcohol as ‘safe’.

Dr Bev John, who led the research said, “The thinking behind it was we wanted to develop ways of giving youngsters ways to develop sensible attitudes to alcohol. We were quite surprised when we interviewed a lot of children and parents and found there is a lack of awareness of what alcopops really are. We are concerned at the way parents normalise alcohol because they are so frightened of illegal drugs.”

A recent survey for the alcohol industry’s Portman Group found that almost one third of adults reported being asked to buy alcohol for someone aged under 18, and over a third of those who had been asked had actually done so. A substantial proportion of adults said that they did not know that the proxy buying of alcohol for minors was illegal.

Illegal sales to the underage

Under 18s appear to have little difficulty buying alcohol for themselves. The Government inspired ‘sting’ campaign that took place over the summer of 2005 found that over half (52 per cent) of the on-licensed premises tested sold alcohol to the underage. This compared to just over one third (36 per cent) of the off licences. However, just under one half (48 per cent) of the supermarkets sold alcohol to the underage, and figures obtained by The Sunday Times suggest that Tescos is the biggest culprit. Over half (52 per cent) of Tesco stores tested sold alcohol to the underage, compared with 42 per cent of ASDA stores and 30 per cent of Sainsburys.

Government crackdown

Tackling underage drinking was a major theme of the package of measures announced again before the coming into force of the new Licensing Act at the end of November.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke launched a nationwide campaign by police and trading standards officers to target those who sell alcohol to under 18s, bars and clubs that promote irresponsible behaviour and drunken individuals who cause violent disorder. All of the measures included in the campaign had already been announced previously, some being provisions of the new Licensing Act. The Government pledged £2.5 million to boost a range of specialist operation including: issuing of fixed penalty notices for alcohol related disorder; test purchasing activity to target underage sales; early intervention using CCTV to diffuse potential disorder; closure of premises using existing and tough new power in the Licensing Act 2003; and multi-agency enforcement action against problem premises/retailers.

Helping to launch the crackdown, Ron Gainsford, Trading Standards Institute Chief Executive, said, “We in Trading Standards are constantly staggered by the volume of illegal alcohol sales to under 18s. There can be no excuse for retailers, no matter what their size, selling to youngsters. Under age sales easily lead into binge drinking, anti-social behaviour and crime and disorder. The health and welfare of young people and communities are too important to ignore - that is why it is imperative we stop alcohol passing across the counter to the hands of vulnerable minors.”

Measures against underage drinking contained in the new Licensing Act include increased penalties for selling alcohol to children (up to £5000) and making it possible for courts to suspend or forfeit personal licences at first offence and not only on second conviction as under the old licensing regime.