00:00Amendments have been included in the miscellaneous provisions bill which will increase the ages
00:06for alcohol consumption, tobacco use, cannabis use and gambling.
00:10I am moving an amendment to include vaping and I am also moving an amendment to require
00:24the use of IDs, IDs, identifications, in respect of the purchase of tobacco, in respect of possession
00:40of cannabis, in respect of entry into gambling establishments and in respect to the purchase
00:48of alcohol.
00:51Attorney General John Jeremy, Senior Counsel, piloted the bill in the lower house he spent
00:57the majority of his time justifying government's move.
01:01The policy intent of this administration is not confined to the protection of minors, adolescents
01:10or youth as traditionally defined.
01:15We are equally attentive to a critical developmental stage recognized in contemporary academic thought
01:26as emerging adulthood spanning the ages of 18 to 25.
01:35This period, though legally within the age of majority in this and in many jurisdictions,
01:46is characterized by continuing biological and psychological development.
01:53During this phase, Jeremy says emerging adults may be susceptible to harm.
01:58The fact is that alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and gambling are not ordinary commodities or ordinary activities.
02:15They are subject to regulation precisely because they carry risk.
02:22Citing alcohol use, he said global studies show alcohol use within the 18 to 25 age group is unacceptably high
02:32at 22%.
02:34Beyond the immediate, the question, therefore, is not whether an 18-year-old is an adult.
02:44The question is whether reaching adulthood, the age of majority, by definition,
02:54confers an automatic identical legal entitlement to every substance and every society, every activity that society regulates.
03:10According to the amendments, the legal age for alcohol consumption and tobacco use moves from 18 to 21,
03:17while cannabis use and gambling increases from 18 to 25.
03:22Urvishita Mwari, Rupnarain, TV6 News.
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