By Akola Thompson

RECENTLY, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, commented upon a research study compiled by the Guyana Drug Information Network, which showed that children as young as 12 were regular users of alcohol, and stated that more needs to be done to curb this practice, as it is an “outrage.”Guyana, like many other countries, has laws governing underage drinking. Despite the legal age for the buying of alcohol and its consumption standing at 18, it is no strange occurrence for young children to go to a shop, licensed or unlicensed, and be sold alcohol.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in the year 2009, identified alcohol as one of Guyana’s greatest drug problems. It was stated that the consumption rates amongst teenagers, particularly young girls, were steadily rising, and this has resulted in the rise of many social ills.

In the year 2013, there was a 14% increase in children being sent to probation officers, and the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission stated that 51% of teenagers between 15 and 16 consume alcohol, while alcohol consumption was prevalent among 39.6% of this segment of the population in 2010. One can surely imagine that these daunting numbers have since risen.

Youths who drink before the age of 15 are four times likelier to develop alcohol dependence and two and a half times likelier to become alcohol abusers than those who wait until the age of 21.

Several people with whom I have come into contact over the years have commented upon the problem of underage drinking, and are of the opinion that raising the drinking age to 21 would resolve the issue. However, I always tend to disagree with this, because if the law as it currently stands cannot be properly maintained, then raising the legal age would only make it into another one of the many laws we have which are not implemented.

There is also the long-held myth passed down to youths that we are a people who can effectively monitor and moderate our consumption of alcohol. While there are a select few who can do this, this myth has seen the result of many lost opportunities, vagrancies, suicides, vehicular accidents and, too often, murder.

The alcohol industry is a multi-million-dollar one, which, in the face of lax regulatory laws, thrives on the culture of dependency passed down through generations by means of conditioning, socialization and peer pressure.

Concerted efforts for underage drinking to decline must be made by the Government, the business community, and individuals. Schools should play an active role in educating on the dangers that alcohol poses not only for the young, but also on their communities and country as a whole. Another area which should be looked at is having a constant string of community outreaches, in which counsellors must be included to further sensitize the public, particularly in rural and riverine areas.

The Government also needs to start cracking down on unlicensed roadside rum shops, while examining and strengthening the process by which alcohol licences are issued. Currently, a walk in any community would reveal a string of ‘bottom house’ rum shops filled with men and women, while most of them remain unlicensed.

A curfew on the advertisement of alcohol should also be implemented. Currently, there is a constant wave of alcohol beverages being advertised on a 24-hour basis, and while the banning of songs glorifying alcoholism from the public airwaves cannot realistically be considered, these songs should have limited airtime.

Finally, shop owners need to have a greater sense of responsibility when it comes to the selling of alcohol to minors, but the brunt of this responsibility lies with law enforcement officials. Unless concerted efforts to prosecute those who do not abide by the laws governing underage drinking are continuously made, children will continue to have easy access to alcohol, and society will continue to suffer for it.

While the problem of underage drinking will not dissipate overnight, slow concerted efforts can make all the difference between climbing negative figures and declining ones.