There’s a new study by a researcher at UCD out today which shows that 50% of 15-19 year olds have used drugs, and a massive 86% drink alcohol.
I’m not surprised by this at all, and anyone who is surprised, quite frankly, needs to get out more.
This issue is a bit of a personal fixation of mine, particularly in the context of government efforts to try and reduce the numbers of young people drinking. It really bugs me that all the government ever tries to do is reduce the availability of alcohol across the board, or increase the price.
As I told Matt Cooper (The Last Word, Today FM) back in January, prohibition does not work, and any efforts based on increasing price and reducing availability will not work. Today’s study showing that 86% of young people drink, with 13 being the average age for starting, and drinking 6 pints at a go on average, definitively backs up what i have been saying.
I hope the new Minister for Justice takes this on board, and realises that making off-licences close an hour earlier and having alcohol in separate areas of shops won’t do anything to stop young people drinking. And if somehow they manage to stop young people from getting drink, they can easily get drugs instead. It’s time for the Government to have a look at the real world.
If they are really serious about tackling this issue (which they absolutely should be) then they need to takle the underlying factors which cause young people to want to binge drink or take drugs in the first place. Here’s a few ideas to start: ban alcohol advertising of sports. Get serious about providing youth facilities. And set a better example - anyone remember when Fianna Fáil (then) cabinet Minister Jim McDaid was caught driving extremely drunk the wrong way down the Naas dual carriageway? Not exactly a role model, eh? We could even suggest - shock horror - that parents don’t drink so much in front of their children? You can’t solve every issue by repeatedly throwing legislation at it, and with this issue in particular, there’s a huge element of personal and parental responsibility involved. And you can’t legislate for that.
