Rationale
Research shows that the younger people start regular drinking, the more likely they are to experience problems from heavy drinking at a later age (Hingson et al. 2006). Young people experience more harm than adults from drinking the same amounts (Habgood et al. 2001;
Wyllie et al. 1996). Recent research also shows that alcohol can have adverse impacts on adolescent brain development (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism 2004/5).
Medical associations in Australia and the United Kingdom now recommend no alcohol at all for those under age 15 years and no more than a very minimal amount for those ages 15 to 18 years (Department for Children 2009; National Health & Medical Research Council 2009).
Legislation that sets a minimum age at which alcohol may be sold to young people, and at which they may buy it, has been found to be an effective policy for reducing harm. This may also be the minimum age for drinking, as in some American states.
Setting the minimum age in licensing legislation means that selling to minors may result in the loss of a licence to sell alcohol and/or prosecution by police in court. A requirement to check proof of age is often included in the granting of the licence. The legislation may also make it a prosecutable offence for underage drinkers to buy alcohol or to show false identification.
But the main focus of such legislation is prohibiting adults – licensees and their staff or other adults – from selling or supplying alcohol to underage drinkers.
Issues to consider
What age?
Most countries set a minimum age of 18 years or 21 years for the legal purchasing and drinking of alcohol. China and Cambodia do not currently have a minimum age for the sale of alcohol. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has no minimum age for takeaway alcohol and Malaysia has no minimum age for takeaway beer (World Health Organization 2004). Mongolia has a drinking age of 21 and no one aged under 18 years may work in any aspect of the
There is currently a debate in the developed alcohol markets of New Zealand, Scotland and Ireland about whether 18 years is high enough, given evidence of increased drinking and disproportionate harm among older teenagers and young adults. When New Zealand reduced the minimum age from 20 years to 18 years in 1999 there was a marked increase in the proportion of 18 to 19 year olds involved in traffic crashes and requiring emergency room treatment. There was also a spill-over effect: an increased proportion of younger teenagers drinking larger quantities (Huckle et al. 2005). When American states put their minimum age back up to 21 in the early 1980s, similar harm statistics improved (Wagenaar and Toomey 2002).
From 2008 Viet Nam prohibited the sale of alcohol to all children and juveniles under the age of 18 years. Previously, juveniles between 16 years and 18 years of age could be sold alcoholic beverages that were less than 14% ABV.
A young minimum purchase age can increase supply to under-age teenagers, as friends or siblings just old enough to purchase alcohol may underestimate risks and be more willing to supply than older adults. The evidence from the United States of America and elsewhere shows that countries wishing to reduce alcohol-related harm among their young people should set a high minimum age for the sale and purchase of alcohol.
Secondary supply to a minor
Legislation makes it an offence for adults to supply alcohol to a minor. Exceptions to this principle make enforcement of the minimum age complex, and may send a mixed message to young people.
Some legislation in Australia and New Zealand makes an exception to allow a parent or guardian to give alcohol to their own child or take them into age-restricted premises. A few Acts also exempt purchase for a minor by a spouse aged over 18 years or a responsible adult but recently enacted legislation does not. A few laws allow supply to a minor by any adult if it occurs in a private social setting. For example, New Zealand police find themselves unable to prosecute adults for irresponsible supply of large quantities of alcohol to out-of-control teenage parties if they are on private property.
Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland recently prohibited the supply of alcohol to an underage person on private premises without the direct approval of the parent or guardian. In New Zealand, the debate is underway as to whether to require parental permission, or parental supervision of any drinking, or to fully remove these exemptions from prosecution for the offence of supplying alcohol to a minor.
The supply of alcohol to minors by adults, perhaps just above the minimum age themselves, and without the knowledge of parents, is a serious public health issue, but laws are under-enforced. To change this situation, legislation needs to be clear, simple and easily enforceable.
A few well-publicised prosecutions raise awareness and may help prevent the serious harm that comes when some teenagers are supplied with large quantities of alcohol by adults.
Age verification
It is often a defence against a charge of selling to a minor or allowing a minor into age-restricted premises if the seller has seen an evidence of age document. These documents should be defined in the legislation and are typically a driver’s licence, passport, or other officially authorized identification card (and it should be an offence for purchaser to present false documents). Checking identification is an important host responsibility practice.
Expressing this practice in legislation as a defence mechanism may not be sufficient to enable monitoring agencies to require it to be done.
Ontario makes it an offence to serve people known or appearing to be under the age of 19, while Manitoba’s regulations require licensees and staff to request proof of age from all young-looking persons. In New Zealand, where seeing proof of age is a defence, supermarket chains themselves adopted a policy of requesting identification from everyone who looks under 25 years – which has been acceptable to customers. In late 2009, Scotland introduced an amendment to its licensing Act to make it a condition of the licence to have an in-house age verification policy. This is a management policy that steps are to be taken to establish the age of a person attempting to buy alcohol if it appears to seller that they may be less than 21 years of age or such older age as may be specified in the policy.
Monitoring and enforcement
Legislation on licensing the sale of alcohol makes it an offence for licence holders or their staff to sell alcohol to minors, and this may also result in loss of the licence. New Zealand and Scotland both require the district court to notify the licensing authority of any convictions.
In some jurisdictions, police now undertake controlled purchase operations to test whether bars or retailers are selling to minors without checking their age. In this test, a minor attempts to purchase alcohol without identification but does not lie about their age if asked. The purchase is made using a cash or credit card, which fails (avoiding the problem of what to do with the alcohol). This may require the law to exempt minors who purchase alcohol to assist police. Police publicize the names of businesses caught selling to minors and may prosecute (Alcohol Advisory Council 2004; Huckle et al. 2008a; Montgomery et al. 2006).
A disadvantage of prosecuting sales to minors in the courts is that magistrates or judges may have low awareness of alcohol issues, consider these offences to be quite minor and impose very low fines. New Zealand police, for example, prefer to apply for variation, suspension or cancellation of the licence to sell alcohol (Lopdell 2002; Webb 2005), and any prosecutions must in any case be reported to the licensing authority. Licensing is the appropriate system for weeding out poor or irresponsible operators.
Licensing legislation also typically addresses other supply of alcohol to minors, making it a prosecutable offence to:
• buy alcohol if you are under the minimum age;
• present false evidence of age; and/or
• supply alcohol to a minor or purchase alcohol on their behalf.
Offences by young people usually carry fairly small fines. Countries such as New Zealand and Victoria, Australia, have amended their legislation to allow police to issue infringement notices (small instant fines) for under-age alcohol offences.
Monitoring and enforcement issues, including monitoring for sales to minors, are also discussed in the next section.