Portugal’s under-18s are to be banned from buying alcohol from July 1st in a government attempt to reduce long-term alcohol dependency.
The law now published in the Government Gazette makes it illegal for under-18s to purchase spirits, wine and beer. Current regulations allow those over 16 to buy wine and beer.
The government’s new objective is not ‘punish or penalise behaviour’ but to lower the alcohol consumption among teenagers by raising the legal age for buying booze.
If shops or bars are caught selling drink to under-18s after next Wednesday, they face the inevitable range of fines, these ones are from €300 to €30,000, and outlets will be monitored by the feared ASAE whose power over the lives of Portuguese residents is further extended.
A simple ID system will be insisted on, all Portuguese citizens should carry photo ID at all times anyway, so bars and supermarkets have no excuse if they are caught.
ASAE officers will have the help of the Public Security Police and the GNR in policing this new law.
The reasoning behind this clamp down on teenage alcohol consumption is the government’s belief that the nation’s children are trying out alcohol at an earlier average age each year and that the earlier kids start, the greater the likelihood is that they will become dependent on alcohol as time passes and behavioural patterns are established.
The government talks of a “better measure of protection for minors” by making 18 the legal age for alcohol consumption but this is by an outright ban rather than by using restrictions and education.
The reality is that those who wish to indulge in drugs or alcohol at 16 will find the means and the opportunity to do so. By limiting the opportunity by making alcohol illegal to under-18s the government treads a fine line as often making something illegal increases the thrill and mystique.
Tourists in the 16 to under-18 age bracket also will think twice before coming to Portugal for a break, which may not be a bad thing.
