Tough action called for on youth drinking
The binge drinking epidemic has prompted calls for tougher action to protect children and teenagers from being caught up in the unhealthy drinking culture. An article in the journal of a leading think tank with close links to the Labour Government argued that the minimum age for buying alcohol should be raised to 21, while Alcohol Concern proposed that supplying alcohol to adolescents aged under 15 be made a criminal offence. Both proposals provoked considerable controversy and appeared to divide opinion in the public health field, and both were rejected by the Government.
Legal drinking age of 21?
Writing in the magazine of the left leaning Institute for Public Policy Research, columnist Jasper Gerrard argued that “society has lost its sense” when it comes to alcohol. He said that “society is increasingly reluctant to tolerate passive smoking, so why passive boozing - which is what innocent people experience when a drunken, clunking fist attacks them on a Saturday night?”
Citing evidence that the UK has one of the highest rates of teenage alcohol drinkers, and teenage drunkenness, anywhere in the world, Gerrard argued that current regulations are failing to tackle the growing trend of underage and binge drinking.
By raising the age threshold, he claimed: “It is at least possible that those in their early and mid teens will not see drink as something they will soon be allowed to do so therefore they might as well start doing it surreptitiously now. Instead they might come to see it as it should be: forbidden.”
Alternatively, all 18 year olds could be issued with smart cards which would record how much they drank each night, and making it an offence to serve more alcohol to anyone under-21 who had already consumed more than three units (one and a half pints of beer, or a large glass of wine).
Additionally, Gerrard argued that taxes on alcopops should be increased, and that there should be harsher sentences for those who sell alcohol to under 18's.
A government spokesman responded: “The majority of people drink sensibly and responsibly and the government has no plans to raise the minimum drinking age. Instead, we are using a combination of effective education and tough enforcement to change the behaviour of the minority that don't.”
‘Prosecute parents’
In responding to the Gerrard article, Alcohol Concern, the national agency on alcohol misuse, agreed that further action was needed, but did not think raising the legal drinking age would help. Later, however, it made a proposal of its own which appeared to be even less well received than Jasper Gerrard’s.This was to make it a criminal offence to supply alcohol to under-15s.
Srabani Sen, director of Alcohol Concern, said that binge drinking by children can have serious consequences for brain function, significantly raises the risk of alcohol dependency in later life and diminishes their life chances. She said that not enough was being done to protect our children from alcohol and that what was needed was to limit the access children and teenagers have to alcohol and and to challenge more aggressively the drivers of underage consumption. Srabani Sen listed a number of initiatives Alcohol Concern would like to see implemented:
“Make it illegal to provide alcohol to anyone under the age of 15. Currently it is legal to provide children as young as five with alcohol in a private home. Raising the age limit to fifteen would send a stronger message to parents of the risks associated with letting very young people consume alcohol.
“Enforce the law around underage purchase. Data from the most recent Home Office AMEC (test purchasing) campaign showed that 29% of underage participants were able to buy alcohol in pubs and bars, while 21% did so successfully in off-licenses. Local police forces and trading standard units must devote more resources to identifying and prosecuting those outlets in breach of the law.
“End advertising of alcohol on TV before the watershed and in cinemas when films with ratings below 18 are shown. The European Court of Justice has already refuted advertisers’ arguments and ruled, it is in fact undeniable that advertising acts as an encouragement to consumption. Reports show that supermarket alcohol promotions are shown twice as often before 9pm (which is when children are more likely to be watching TV) compared to after. Furthermore, 82% of films shown in cinemas featuring alcohol adverts have ratings of 15 or below.”
“Make alcohol education part of the National Curriculum. Inappropriate use of alcohol by young people has been shown to have an impact on school performance. Alcohol is a factor in many school exclusions and suspensions. Around 14% of pupils excluded from school were suspended for drinking alcohol at school. The PSHE components of the National Curriculum should provide an important opportunity for conveying to young people the risks associated with bingeing.”
The Alcohol Concern proposals received extensive media coverage but limited support, even from within the public health field. Professor Martin Plant, director of the Alcohol and Health Research Trust at the University of the West of England, described the proposals as “very strange”. He said: “The bottom line is the number of alcohol related deaths is connected to the affordability of alcohol. Alcohol education is a complete waste of time as is drug education. These are politically cowardly get-outs”.
Most of the media and political comment, however, focused on the proposal to raise the legal drinking age to 15, an idea which most seemed to see as undesirable or unworkable. The consequences of such a move in relation to the prosecution of parents were generally regarded as particularly unappealing.
Public Health Minister Caroline Flint said “I don’t think passing a law to ban alcohol for those under 15 would be enforceable or necessarily effective’’. Ms Flint added that there were signs the problem of underage drinking was reducing: “Recent figures show there has been a 5 per cent drop between 2001 and 2006 of young people aged between 11 and 15 who had drunk alcohol in the previous week. We are working closely with the alcohol industry to encourage the responsible production and sale of alcohol…The new alcohol strategy to be published this summer will continue to drive reductions in alcohol related offending and harmful behaviour through a combination of education, treatment and tough penalties.”
Ms Flint also defended the Government’s record by citing restrictions on alcohol advertising that could appeal to under 18s introduced in 2005. She added that alcohol education is already part of the National Curriculum.
Police also call for no alcohol for under 21s
Merseyside Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe has asked the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown to increase the legal age for buying alcohol to 21. Writing in the Liverpool Daily Post, Mr Hogan-Howe outlined his case for tough action.
Last week, I asked the new Prime Minister to consider some legislative changes. The ideas around alcohol sales were aimed at helping the fight against anti-social behaviour.
Each year Merseyside Police deals with 2m calls for help: 250,000 of those are about antisocial behaviour. In the hot-spot areas, where we get repeated calls about serious criminality, the main aggravating factors tend to be similar time and time again.
There is either a street level drug market in the area or there is a particular problem with the illegal sale of alcohol or the consumption of alcohol by young people. My suggestions are to restrict the sale of alcohol to young people through off-licences and to come down hard on adults who go into off-licences to buy alcohol for youngsters.
The relative cost of alcohol has come down, while the number of off-licence points of sale has increased significantly. There is no longer a test to see whether an area "needs" a new offlicence. The control of the sale of alcohol is then left in the hands of young and low-paid staff.
They have to challenge young people late at night, often alone and when dealing with a crowd of potential customers. Would you challenge that crowd? I have suggested reducing the points of sale, increasing prices and allowing home deliveries only during the day. If we reduce the sugar content in some drinks, then we may change the binge drinking culture.
Alcoholic drinks should not be made to appeal to young people by appearing more like everyday soft drinks. With the medical profession alerting us to the high level of chronic liver disease in the young, we need to do something. We can make a difference. Anti-social behaviour is not new. Twenty-three years ago in his annual report, Sir Kenneth Oxford said: “As everyone knows, the biggest problem today is young people causing annoyance.”
What has changed is people now have easy access to communications with mobile phones and are more able to report incidents as they are happening. That gives us a clearer picture of the size of the problem our communities are facing. Most importantly, the availability of alcohol and drugs has significantly changed young people's behaviour. In my view, we need to do something about it.
I believe my suggestions are considered and balanced.
Meanwhile Durham Police called on licencees to sign up to a ‘21 or over’ scheme which only allows those 21 and over to buy alcohol. The move is an effort to reduce the problem of young adults buying alcohol for under 18s. Speaking for the trade about the deal, John Hudson condemned the idea as ‘draconian’. He said the licencees would be unable to administer the scheme effectively and it would cost them a lot of money.