Alcohol abuse remains a big problem among Maltese 16-year-olds, according to an international study whose results reveal what an expert described as the failure to enforce the law on drinking age.
Over half of this age group admitted to an episode of binge drinking within the month prior to being surveyed. One in five said they got “very drunk” during the same period.
The 2011 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) ranked Malta second, out of 36 countries, for binge drinking: 56 per cent of 16-year-olds said they drank five or more drinks on one occasion within the previous month.
This was a one percentage point drop since 2007, when the last ESPAD study was carried out. However, 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 to 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.
“I’m disappointed with the results. I expected better… since the legal drinking age was raised from 16 to 17 (in 2009)… This shows a lack of enforcement,” said Manuel Mangani, the manager of substance abuse agency Sedqa.
He added that the cheap price of alcohol made it accessible to teenagers.
Mr Mangani was speaking soon after the launch of the results of the study that also looked into the use of tobacco and drugs by schoolchildren in 36 countries.
In Malta, 3,377 students from all schools, who turned 16 in 2011, answered a questionnaire, Malta’s researcher Sharon Arpa explained.
Francis Borg, permanent secretary within the Family Ministry, said that over the years he had seen a new culture emerge in which “young people are infested by alcohol”.
He gave the example of religious feasts where young people measured the feast’s success by how much beer was drunk.
There was better news when it came to smoking and drug-taking, with Malta registering drops in both.
About 22 per cent of those questioned said they smoked a cigarette within the previous month compared to 26 per cent in 2007 and the 28 per cent country average.
Regular use of illegal drugs – including cannabis, heroin, cocaine and others – was of 12 per cent, a drop of three per cent since 2007. The country average was 15 per cent.
Ms Arpa explained that this difference was due to lower cannabis use in Malta – of 10 per cent compared to the 17 per cent average in the other countries. If cannabis were taken out of the equation, drug use among the teenagers would be equal to the country average, she said.
Three per cent used tranquillisers and sedatives without a prescription, down from five per cent in 2007. The country average was of six per cent.
Malta, however, ranked quite high in the illicit use of inhalants, such as glue and lighter fuel, ranking in seventh place: 14 per cent reported use compared to the nine per cent average.
Sedqa clinical director George Grech described the results as positive and encouraging since the percentage use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco had gone down.
“Despite being small improvements, they mean a lot for people who work in the treatment services,” he said.
However, he said, alcohol abuse clearly remained a big problem and more effort was needed to tackle it.