00:00We intend to raise the legal age for gambling and marion use to the age 25 and older.
00:11And the legal age for alcohol will be raised to 21 years and older.
00:18President of the Bar Keepers and Operators Association, Satish Munasar, says his association
00:24supports the move by Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bissessor to raise the legal age limit
00:29among young people for alcohol consumption from 18 to 21 years. But the association president said
00:36in order for the government's plan to work, the authorities need to crack down on illegal selling of alcohol.
00:43So in order to get the results that the Prime Minister is looking for, first, what needs to happen first
00:48is to have a crackdown on the illegal sales of alcohol. And then you could look at the legal
00:54standpoint. But the actual raising of the limit, so what the Prime Minister is looking to accomplish
01:01from it, is something that the association does not have a problem with.
01:05The association president explained what he meant by illegal sale of alcohol.
01:11There are places that are not licensed to sell liquor where he's selling liquor, like shops,
01:15parlors, minimarts, all kind of thing. And when people go at that restaurant, when it doesn't
01:20matter what age it is, they go and they are sold. And this is something that is illegal
01:25and not supposed to happen. It also happens in the term of gambling. I heard that the Prime
01:31Minister also said she wants to raise the gambling age to 25. But you want to raise the gambling
01:36age to 25, but all over the place you see illegal gambling happening.
01:40Former independent senator and psychologist Dr. Vama Diel Singh welcomes the
01:45Prime Minister's decision to raise the alcohol age limit, adding that there are many health risks
01:51involved.
01:52The human brain is still developing until you reach 26 to 27. So therefore, for us to allow our
01:59youths to be drinking from 18 years of age, we are now causing some problems with the development
02:06of their brains. The social reasons why we should support this. So therefore, the cancer link is also
02:13there as well as other medical problems as cirrhosis of the liver. And again, alcohol has been known
02:21to be the number one date rape drug.
02:24Former commissioner of police Gary Griffith also weighed in on the matter. He says enforcing the
02:29law is just as important as amending it. Presently, we have a law and the law states that persons must be
02:3618 years old or above to be able to purchase and consume alcohol. The same thing with cigarettes,
02:40the same thing with gambling. And it is not done anywhere in the country because we have a bad culture,
02:45the bad culture of parents, many parents allowing their minors to go out on a Friday night.
02:49Arapita Avenue is littered with more persons under 18 years old in bars and clubs and restaurants
02:54purchasing alcohol than persons over 18 years old.
02:58Sharla Kisto, TV6 News.
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