Fighting alcohol abuse by minors

It is indeed a perturbing reality that children aged 16 and under are managing to buy alcohol, particularly at places of entertainment. The results of a European survey released this week clearly show that the time is ripe for the government to step up its drive to curb the illegal sale of alcohol to minors.

The position taken by Minister Dolores Cristina over the past days proposing that alcohol consumption by under-16s should be illegal is definitely a concrete measure to tackle this serious problem.

The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs carried out in 2003 among 16-year-olds in 35 countries has ranked Malta 14th insofar as alcohol consumption is concerned. Only 6.4 per cent of 16-year-olds, which indicates a slight increase over the previous survey, had not consumed alcohol at least once in their lives.

The survey also shows that 51 per cent of those who had consumed alcohol reported doing so on 20 or more occasions, an obvious proof of the constant consumption of alcohol at such a young age.

Ms Cristina's proposal, if put into practice, will undoubtedly help the police authorities to fight this social problem and will also serve as a deterrent against the consumption of alcohol by minors. Evidently, it is easier to catch a minor drinking alcohol than to catch a person selling alcohol to minors.

Catching bar owners selling alcohol to minors is not an easy task and the government should indeed consider measures adopted in other countries to narrow the level of abuse by bar owners/attendants who continue to sell alcohol to minors.

In certain parts of Britain, for instance, a campaign launched this year tackling under age drinking has been hailed a success after a number of bar attendants were caught trying to sell alcohol to under-aged boys and girls. The British authorities managed to conduct a very successful operation engaging minors under the age of 16 as test purchasers to act as under-age clients asking for alcohol at the bar. The authorities were thus able to tackle directly those who sell alcohol to minors.

It is a good idea to make minors accountable and aware that their actions will be taken more seriously and that drinking alcohol at a young age is not only unadvisable but illegal. However, we should not shift the responsibility of such abuse from those selling alcohol to the children who are consuming it. Alcohol consumption by minors should be rendered illegal but the authorities should also take a close look at what other countries are doing to fight those selling alcohol to children.

Blunkett's resignation

Last week British Home Secretary David Blunkett resigned after he was accused of "fast-tracking" a visa application for his ex-lover's nanny. Mr Blunkett has denied allegations that he abused his position to help Mrs Quinn's nanny to obtain a British visa.

Mr Blunkett's resignation undoubtedly shows the power of the British media, as well as an increasing high level of intolerance for interventions by ministers or junior ministers in the British political system to 'help' or 'assist' people close to them or within their constituency.

Perhaps the Maltese should reflect on Mr Blunkett's saga, especially since we habitually turn to our politicians or their staff whenever we find a stumbling block in our administrative and political system.

I would go as far as to say that an intervention similar to the one that allegedly took place in Mr Blunkett's case would be considered legitimate had it taken place in our political and social environment. A large number of Maltese still believe they have the right to ask their MP or minister to intervene at various levels whenever they find hiccups at an administrative or political level.

Time to switch off

Maybe one of the few positive aspects of our political system is indeed that the Budget is presented close to Christmas, which means that whether they like it or not, politicians, unions, employers and the media will, we hope, keep quiet for some time, at least with regard to the Budget.

It is impressive how we have to make an issue out of everything in this country, which very often leads to prolonging important decisions and postponing tackling certain issues, such as the proposed changes to the pension system. At least, one should hope that we have two silent and peaceful weeks ahead of us.