Teenager can buy beer or cigarettes way too easy

A group of 17 year olds did the last time, commissioned by the Ministry of Health, as if they wanted to buy drinks or a pack of smokes. This often worked: when buying alcohol passed nearly two-thirds of all attempts at tobacco was more than half of the purchases made.

The age limit for the sale of light alcoholic beverages and tobacco increased by January 1, 2014 from 16 to 18 years. But especially the compliance with the rules on the sale of liquor in bars and restaurants (26.6 percent) and sports canteens (16.7 percent) now still leaves to be desired.

Also in the sale of cigarettes, the hospitality industry is not good that the young people took 254 attempts to purchase tobacco from vending machines in cafeterias and restaurants. Only in 52 cases, the age limit was properly observed.

Deliver
The biggest culprits are home delivery services, which operate over the internet. Buying alcohol was only in 2 percent of cases asked for identification upon delivery. And the purchase of cigarettes by minors worked more than nine out of ten times.

Supermarkets and specialty stores adhere indeed much better to the sales ban for under 18 years, emphasized Minister Martin van Rijn. Again ,, sports canteens and restaurants remain far behind. I therefore ask municipalities to focus their local monitoring of poorly performing parties. "

Fall

Last night was the Trimbos Institute announced that the percentage of young smokers dropped from 6 to 3 percent daily between 2011 and 2015. The percentage of young people between 12 and 16 who drink alcohol has fallen from 38 to 26. This decline is partly caused by the new law.

The Secretary of State considers it a good thing that young people according to the survey less drink in recent years. But he calls it worrisome that many young people drink to get from parents, friends, brothers and sisters. ,, I wonder if parents really do not know that alcohol is bad for young people who are still growing. It is a mistake to think that there is such a thing as children learn to drink sensibly. ''

By Editorial AD Photo: Thinkstock