11 April 2008
Charities have said there should be harsher penalties for adults who buy alcohol for teenagers and more engagement with young people, as the government announced the results of a half-term crackdown on underage drinking.
Announcing the results of a Home Office-funded campaign on April 9, crime reduction minister Vernon Coaker said over 44,000 pints of alcohol had been confiscated by police forces in England and Wales between February 8 and 24. Over 5,000 young people surrendered alcohol, 25% of whom were aged 15 or younger.
The government hailed the operation as a success, but alcohol misuse charities have continued to call for a look at the wider issues.
Alcohol Concern spokesman Frank Soodeen said teenagers were buying alcohol from smaller outlets in the face of tougher enforcement in bigger stores, and also relying on adults to buy it for them.
'There is a problem in terms of the gap between the fine an adult faces and the fine a store faces for this. That is something we should be talking about. The wider issues are also things like pre-watershed advertising and the ability to buy alcohol because it's so cheap,' he said.
A spokeswoman for the alcohol and drug treatment agency Addaction said where the agency had worked with police on engagement it had seen positive results.
'We want to see much more work done on engaging young people, as well as enforcement,' she said.
Coaker said that confiscating alcohol was just one part of the government's strategy on underage drinking.
'We are working across government to combine tough enforcement of the law with effective alcohol education for children and parents and to help young people find alternative things to do,' he said.
PFapr2008
