Old enough to drink?

As the news of the recent killing of a young father in Paceville made the rounds, we shook our heads in horror. And the subsequent arraignment of a 15-year-old charged with the murder sent shock-waves through Maltese society.

In the ensuing soul-searching, questions about life-styles and standards of conduct of young people were raised. Inevitably, the role of alcohol in what is being consistently perceived as dangerously unacceptable behaviour on the part of teenagers and young adults came under scrutiny.

For quite a number of years, sedqa, and others, have been trying to establish the facts about the influence of alcohol on young people`s behaviour, by sifting reality from the chaff of myth and impression.

In 1995 and 1999 sedqa participated in the Europe-wide ESPAD project, which sought to establish patterns of drug and alcohol use among 16-year-olds.

On both occasions, the census of the whole cohort of Maltese 16-year-olds yielded interesting, if rather worrying, results. We now know that Maltese 16-year-olds indulge in binge-drinking (defined as drinking more than five standard drinks in one session) more frequently than their peers in any other European country.

Perhaps tellingly, despite this penchant for over-the-top consumption, our 16-year-olds reported getting drunk less frequently than their continental counterparts. Is it because inebriation is as hazy a concept as its effects, and no one was sure what "drunk" actually meant? Perhaps respondents` faculties were not functioning well enough to realise that they had drunk more than their fill? Or was it because, alarmingly at that age, they were already hardened to the effects?

The effect of alcohol on behaviour, especially on individuals who are still physically and emotionally maturing, can be disproportionate to the amount drunk. We speak of "safe limits" or "low-risk drinking", but these standards apply to adults, not to youngsters whose bodies are still forming, and whose personality is still in the making.

In fact, nobody knows what the "safe limit" is; how even "small" amounts can affect the liver and the pancreas of a growing adolescent. Nor do we know what quantity it takes to contribute significantly to the release of impulses which lead to aggressive or depressive behaviour, or to sexual behaviour which one later regrets.

What the research shows, however, is that this sort of behaviour is, unquestionably and incontestably, occurring.

Moreover, there is strong evidence to back up the suspicion that the earlier one starts to drink, the higher the chances of that person developing serious dependence problems in future.

So, what is to be done? Societal response to the latest tragedy, which took the form of a police presence in Paceville that actively sought to ensure compliance with the law regulating the sale of alcohol to adolescents, was belated but welcome. But the law in this respect, if not quite an ass, is hardly a paragon of logic and common sense.

It is illegal for bars, discos and similar establishments to sell alcohol to persons under 16 years of age; yet a 10-year-old may freely buy alcohol from a supermarket or a grocery shop. And in any case, any person of any age may consume alcohol with impunity.

For a long time sedqa has been recommending radical changes in legislation regulating alcohol sale and consumption. Two years ago, together with the Health Promotion Unit, we prepared an outline of a National Alcohol Policy. The legislative measures suggested include the establishment of a minimum drinking age at 18 years, and the banning of the sale of alcohol to all persons from any outlet to persons under that age.

This would bring Malta in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation. More importantly, these legal provisions (and their enforcement) would afford a measure of protection to our teenagers, a large number of whom are regularly succumbing to the temptation to misuse alcohol, to their own and other people`s detriment.

Any move to curb teenage alcohol use through control on the supply side is bound to provoke resistance from those whose interests are vested in the status quo. A stock argument against the provisions mentioned above is that such measures would be unnecessarily repressive, once other Mediterranean countries have fixed their minimum drinking age at 16, rather than 18.

However, we believe we should be looking at our own situation with its own particular characteristics and idiosyncrasies. Many of those who work daily with the realities of alcohol abuse in its various forms are now convinced that unless drastic legislative and enforcement measures are taken soon and in earnest, the problems associated with local teenage alcohol abuse will soon reach very serious proportions.

And, incidentally, Spain, which is also facing a serious problem of teenage alcohol misuse has signalled its intention to raise its minimum drinking age to 18.

To believe that merely by legislating against teenage drinking, and enforcing the law, we would eradicate the problems associated with adolescent alcohol abuse would be naïve. But it would be criminally stupid not to recognise that tough supply-side measures restricting the availability of alcohol are essential if we really wish to give our teenagers better life-chances.