No ban on teenage drinking

NST: PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry does not plan to ban alcohol consumption among those below 18.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said that while teenage drinking was a growing problem, there was little the ministry could do to prevent them from drinking.
Regulation 361 under Food Act 1983 only prohibits the sale of alcohol to those below 18, an offence punishable by a RM5,000 fine or two years’ jail. However, the Act is silent on a minimum age for alcohol consumption.
"It can be interpreted that they (those below 18) can drink. A ban on selling and a ban on consumption are different. And we think it is not feasible or practical as yet to prohibit drinking for those under 18," Dr Chua said yesterday after presenting excellence service awards to 316 ministry staff.
He was clarifying a report in a newspaper on Monday that the ministry would consider drafting new laws to ban alcohol consumption by minors, following an expose on the ease with which minors could buy alcohol.
"So, it is not true that we are considering a ban on consumption. It will be difficult to enforce," he said.
The ministry last month commissioned an eight-month study to be carried out by a local university on health habits, including drinking. "The study will cover Muslims and non-Muslims. We understand it is a sensitive issue, but the ministry feels it is better to obtain the information."
He said the last study on alcohol consumption was 10 years ago, and did not include Muslims. "The study 10 years ago no longer reflects the true picture."
The reasons why youths picked up drinking were likely peer pressure, following the habits of their parents and the "cool" factor similar to smoking, he said.
Asked about campaigns to discourage excessive drinking, he said the ministry had issued the "Code of Practice on Prevention and Eradication of Drugs, Alcohol and Substance Abuse in the Workplace", a set of guidelines to help employers tackle such habits at work.