Following the budget, the issue of under-age drinking is again in the spotlight. The government has decided to raise the legal age limit of alcohol consumption by one year from 16 to 17.
This legislation follows a similar pattern overseas, with the USA having the highest age limit at 21. Unbelievably, according to the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprise - GRTU, a sizeable section of the local entertainment industry that caters for the 16- to 18-year-old market has complained that they will lose 30 per cent of their market. As too often happens, narrow commercial concerns seem to cloud the civic responsibility of certain members of the business community where the profit motive seems to be the one and only consideration.
As is so well documented, alcohol dependency often leads to drug taking and Malta faces a soaring increase in drug use among its young people. Prof. Richard England, who is a member of a lobby group of parents concerned about teenage alcohol consumption, shared the opinion of many when he expressed disappointment that the age limit has not been raised to 18.
The higher age limit is a step in the right direction but again enforcement is the crux of the matter. There is no point legislating tighter controls when not even the ones in place are made to work. An indication of the inability of the government to control law breaking was the decision to reduce the excise duty on spirits from next January. The purpose was to curb unfair competition due to the illicit trade from Sicily. As was to be expected, this measure was warmly greeted by representatives of the GRTU.
The chief executive officer of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Joe Gerada, complained that tax reductions in this case only mean that the responsibility to curb illict trading has been shirked. He insisted that raising the cost of alcohol is a time proven and effective deterrent, adding that even WHO encourages governments to raise the tax on alcohol as it discourages consumption.
The budget measure of launching an intensive awareness campaign on the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption and devoting a sum of €100,000 to enforce drinking laws came as a surprise to Mr Gerada, who is hoping his agency will be asked to help devise such a campaign. No doubt, it will be interesting to know how this sum will be spent but it is disheartening that these measures appear to have been hatched without consulting government agencies and NGOs working in the difficult field of controlling alcohol abuse among young adults.
Besides, education is too often another soft-soap approach which evades the harder and more effective discipline of law enforcement. Too often, when faced with brazen law breaking, the government sidesteps its real responsibility and takes the easy way out. In the long run this ends up being more costly and less effective.
Mr Gerada raises other concerns such as the need for more draconian measures to reduce the legal threshold of alcohol in the blood of drivers and a contribution towards educational campaigns by those who make profits on alcohol.
The former concern is linked to the overriding issue of law enforcement and the latter seems to be rather naïve. Bar owners are well aware of the consequences of alcoholism in their young patrons.
All in all, public opinion cannot be expected to be overenthusiastic about the prospects of these new budget measures making any marked improvement in the drinking problem facing our youth.