Fags and booze easy to buy for underage teens, says new study

Teenagers can easily buy cigarettes and alcohol, especially via home delivery and at bars and restaurants, reports the AD.

The ministry of health commissioned a group of 17-year-olds to try to buy drink and cigarettes: the result was that two-thirds were able to buy booze and about half could have got tobacco.

But at the start of 2014, the age limit to buy both increased from 16 to 18.

The worst culprits, according to the research, were home delivery services: only 2% asked for identification on delivery and the teenagers were able to buy cigarettes nine times out of 10.

Around a quarter of bars and restaurants and about one in six sporting venue canteens was not following the minimum age rules. In the vast majority of cases, the teenagers were also able to buy cigarettes from vending machines in cafés and restaurants without being asked for proof of age.

Junior health minister Martin van Rijn told the AD: ‘Sporting venue canteens and restaurants are far behind. So I am asking municipal councils to focus on poorly-performing bodies.’