In many places, minors are still given alcohol without any problems. This has emerged from research commissioned by the sixteen municipalities in the North Holland North region and the GGD. In the regions of Alkmaar, West Friesland and the Kop van Noord-Holland, more than 60 percent of young people can buy alcohol. Sports canteens in particular score poorly.
Anyone who tries to buy a beer in the canteen after a workout will receive it in almost 90 percent of the cases, discovered mystery shoppers aged 16 and 17 who visited outlets between July and October of this year. That is a striking result, since in 2019 it turned out that only a quarter of young athletes could order a drink there.
But the sports canteen is not the only place where young people can easily get a drink. This also succeeds in more than 65 percent of the cafeterias and more than 70 percent of the catering industry. Where it is more difficult to get drinks, is at the liquor stores and supermarkets. This is especially complicated at unmanned cash registers: only 15 percent of minors manage to get alcohol there.
Before the corona pandemic, there was an upward trend: after each study, more was enforced on the age limit for alcohol than in the two years before. In 2019, 55 percent of young people were not given any alcohol. That has now dropped to an average of 37.6 percent.
Mayor Toon Mans van Castricum believes that the results of the investigation are disappointing. “It is still too easy to get alcohol under the age of 18. Let these results be an incentive for all parties involved, both municipalities and points of sale, to do more in terms of awareness, prevention and enforcement.”
Focus
The region indicates that it wants to invest in long-term campaigns to make young people, parents and alcohol providers aware of this age limit. The focus for the coming period will be explicitly on the sports clubs and their canteens.
Examples include information campaigns for young people and parents, activities at schools and advising sports canteens. It was also advised to monitor and enforce more effectively and to organize information meetings for points of sale.