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  • 6 months ago
As the government signals its intention to increase the legal age limit for the consumption of alcohol, marijuana and gambling, there are concerns that it can have a far reaching impact.
It's coming from the Owners Dealers Association. One aspect is as it pertains to employment for young people.
Alicia Boucher has more in this report.
Transcript
00:00Increasing the legal alcohol consumption age isn't necessarily something that Owners Dealers Association is against,
00:07but its president, Rival Chattagoon, is questioning the reason behind it.
00:12I'm not sure, really, what is the science behind raising it,
00:18but the moral and compass of it seems to be a good one,
00:23that you want to raise it for a different maturity of people, and I will support that.
00:27But the consultations in terms of our industry, and our industry will spill off to supermarkets,
00:34to bars, to merchandisers at the grocery, to lorry men, and so on, who are part of the sale of alcohol.
00:42Now, if one encompasses all of that, you're looking for tens of thousands of people
00:47who will probably not have a first job in our industry, or these people could be on a bread line.
00:55That's if the age limit is also adjusted for those involved in the sale of alcohol to customers.
01:01As it pertains to his industry, which represents service station owners,
01:06he believes that the vast majority of employees fall below the age of 21.
01:10I will say probably 60 to 75 percent, maybe in that age bracket.
01:17Now, I would assume that the government of the day says that, hey, look, we have a problem.
01:23We have a problem with people under 21 are becoming alcoholics, or committing crime, or being reckless.
01:30And I assume on that platform, well, then we should do something about it.
01:35But no such thing has been stated.
01:37Chattagoon points to a possible impact on tourism as well, in particular for carnival festivities,
01:43where alcohol is usually in high consumption.
01:46And in the absence of knowing what percentage of that tourist population falls under the age of 21,
01:52it leaves room for more questions to be asked.
01:55Once there's a huge portion of tourists, that is, a big portion is in that age,
02:01and it will definitely affect us.
02:02But I do not have the science.
02:04All what we're saying is that you need to look at the entire picture rather than just a pinhole.
02:14For it to be effective, Chattagoon tells us, there would have to be additional monitoring by law enforcement,
02:19who are already strapped for resources.
02:22In that regard, he states that despite legislation banning the smoking of marijuana in public spaces,
02:28it is frequently done.
02:29I do not know if people are being charged.
02:32I do not know every 28 grams of each police station have a scale.
02:37Chattagoon believes if alcoholism is a problem among the youth,
02:41then it would require additional rehabilitation resources to treat with that.
02:46Whether there would be a differentiating closed bottle policy allowing the sale of closed alcohol to be sold,
02:52either to or by those over 18 but under the age of 21 is also something Chattagoon says should be fleshed out.
03:00The Owners Dealers Association is looking forward to consultations with stakeholders in moving forward.
03:06Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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