The legal drinking age should be raised to 18, according to Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato, who believes this is widely considered to be the “threshold of maturity”.

Her appeal is being supported by Sedqa, the national agency on drug and alcohol abuse, which also “strongly recommends” that the minimum drinking age be raised by one year from the present 17.

Ms D’Amato made her appeal in a memorandum sent to the Justice Reform Commission and is one of a series of proposals to change various laws that fall under her remit. The last time the minimum age for consuming alcohol in bars was raised was in October 2009 when it was increased by one year to 17.

When contacted, the Children’s Commissioner said there was ample evidence that alcohol consumption among youngsters was on the rise.

The fifth European Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (Espad) for Malta, dating to 2011, quotes studies that point to links between alcohol misuse among young people and short- and long-term health risks, the use of illicit substances and poor school performance, among other variables.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is defined as “every human being below the age of 18 years”.

56

the percentage of 16-year-olds who said they drank five or more drinks on one occasion within the previous month

Ms D’Amato explained that the consumption of alcohol impinged on minors in two ways. With its intoxicating and dependence-inducing effects, alcohol tends to inhibit minors’ physical and mental maturation process.

Moreover, she said minors might be less able to control and restrain their drinking behaviour.

“Their susceptibility to peer pressure is one important factor that makes adolescent people especially exposed to uncontrolled alcohol consumption and its dire consequences on their developing physical and mental health,” she said.

She quoted the Espad study which, she insisted, showed “a worrying picture of alcohol consumption among 16-year-olds in Malta”.

According to this study, 56 per cent of 16-year-olds said they drank five or more drinks on one occasion within the previous month.

This was one percentage point drop since 2007, when the previous study was made, but the 36-country average was far lower than Malta’s figure, at just 39 per cent.

A total of 86 per cent said they had consumed alcohol within the past year, (87 per cent in 2007) compared with the average of 79 per cent, while 68 per cent said they had done so within the past month, a drop of five per cent since 2007.

Twenty per cent reported alcohol intoxication, mentioning staggering when walking, throwing up or not remembering what happened.

Ms D’Amato, however, warned against raising the legal age without accompanying it with enforcement.

“Raising the legal age threshold for the consumption of alcohol to 18 will not have the desired effect unless it is accompanied by stronger enforcement of the law.

“It is also vital that adolescents are educated about alcohol so that they do not use it before they turn 18 and to use it safely and responsibly once they do.”

A Sedqa spokesman said when contacted that the minimum drinking age should be 18 years,in accordance with the World Health Organisation and other health organisations.

Over the past two years, the number of people going to Sedqa for alcohol problems increased.

While there were no statistics on the prevalence of alcohol abuse among adults in Malta, people “on the ground” noticed an increase in women seeking treatment.

Younger people were also asking for help, either because they had an addiction or they were regular binge drinkers.

While binging is not seen as an addiction, it could develop into one and lead to liver damage among other health problems.