Trade becomes scapegoat for underage excessive drinking

A NEW battle is raging against the licensed trade - as pubs and drinks companies are once again finding themselves the scapegoats for young people who are drinking and smoking too much.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) called for action last week to stop the spread of heavy drinking and smoking among young people as it published the results of a three-year study to a furore of media attention.

Its report, produced by a group chaired by Laurence Gruer, the director of public health science at NHS Scotland, believes alcohol needs to be tackled with the same urgency as hard drugs.

It proposes a range of ways to counteract drinking and smoking among younger people - including tougher drink-driving limits for under 25s, an increase in the legal limit to buy tobacco from 16 to 18, increased duty on alcohol, banning alcohol adverts on television and stopping drinks companies from sponsoring sports or music events watched by under-18s.

It claims that the youngest drinkers and smokers are under 10 years old and says that young people in Britain are the biggest drinkers in Europe.

The report, called Pathways to Problems, claims: "Younger drinkers are most likely to acquire alcohol from friends or relatives but by the age of 15 a substantial minority report buying alcohol from pubs, off-licences or shops.

"By the age of 16 or 17 most drinkers buy alcohol themselves, and 80 per cent of 16 to 24-year-old drinkers say they usually drink in a pub or bar."

However, many in the pub trade are concerned at the proposals, which put the onus of responsibility onto publicans and drinks companies to sort out the social ills of the world.

While the recent press reports see the organisation calling for a range of restrictions on alcohol it also indicates that the most important factors which influence whether they drink or smoke to excess are early life

experiences, family relationships and circumstances and parental attitudes and behaviours.

Mishmash of research ​

So why is the drinks trade getting the blame yet again? The report, which on further investigation is a mishmash of research from other sources and not actually a new survey, reveals where these youngsters are drinking.

Mark Hastings, communications director at the British Beer & Pub Association, says a lot of the data used is "irrelevant" to the current pub market as some of it is from studies done up to 20 years ago.

He says: "It doesn't differentiate between drinking in pubs or at home. While its recommendations are well-meaning they are totally misdirected and will not solve the problems."

He also argues that Britain already has one of the highest tax rates in Europe and this bears no relation to youngsters' drinking habits. In fact, he claims the restrictive regimes which treat alcohol as a type of "forbidden fruit" are more likely to cause problems as people fail to learn to respect alcohol at an early age.

"The idea of micromanaging and legislating for people to make better decisions is simply something that cannot work," he argues. "What drives that behaviour is something much deeper than pricing structure."

Licensee David Stocken of the Dolphin in Worthing, East Sussex, is concerned that a minority of bad operators who serve underage drinkers are causing problems for licensees.

He believes that the police and other authorities need to deal with underage drinking by tackling the main sources - off-licences, supermarkets and petrol stations.

"Kids stand outside supermarkets and get alcohol and nothing is being done about that. These kids are drinking on the streets. The general problem is that the authorities are tackling it in the wrong way," claims David.

"There is a massive problem with underage drinking but this does not go on in pubs. Most pubs are responsible. We don't want underage people in our pubs.

"If the police put a fraction of their effort into off-sales they would solve the problems."

He argues that children who go to pubs with adults are seeing responsible drinking in action and says this breeds a more responsible attitude to alcohol.

Nigel Pollard, head of PR and sponsorship at Scottish and Newcastle UK, agrees. He says: "I think there is little evidence that control theory stops people drinking."

On alcohol advertising he says the current OFCOM guidelines are very stringent and are actually working.

"What we have in place is working well and we need time for that to bed in," he adds.

He defends drinks company sponsorship for clubs and events saying it is "very important for funding those clubs".

He also argues that there are positive effects of drinks advertising. "Without adverts no-one would know about the Drinkaware Trust and we need adverts to reinforce positive images of drinking."

However, some of the recommendations have already been rejected by government ministers.

Schools minister Lord Adonis said the government was focusing on existing policies to combat a consumption rise. A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture Media and Sport said ministers had "no plans" to ban alcohol adverts or alcohol firms sponsoring events.

In addition, a proposal by the panel for a new lower drink-drive limit for young adults was immediately ruled out by ministers.

The problems...​

- The use of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis among 15-year-olds is one of the highest in Europe

- Among 6.8 million 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK almost 30 per cent drink more than twice the recommended alcohol limit at least once a week

- Of all drugs, alcohol has shown the most recent growth in use with the most recent alarming development being the growth in the number of young women drinking

- Factors which influence whether young people use alcohol and other drugs hazardously include difficult family relationships

- Young people have no difficulty getting hold of the products

- Drugs education has little impact on future drug use

And the solutions?​

- The government needs to do more to ensure more young people are aware of the hazards of alcohol

- The legal age to buy tobacco should be raised to 18 from 16

- A ban on alcohol advertising to cut drinking among young people

- The ending of drinks sponsorships of sporting events

- An increase in alcohol duty

- The reduction of the drink-drive limit from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol for those aged under 25

- More accessible services for young people with alcohol and drug problems should be developed