Campaign Aimed at Tackling Youth Drinking Praised by Minister
Reducing youth disorder and street drinking are the targets of the ‘It’ll Cost You’ campaign which is aimed at adults who buy alcohol for under 18s.
The “It’ll Cost You” campaign was praised by Scottish Community Safety Minister Siobhian Brown MSP when she visited the latest roll-out in her home constituency of Ayr this week.
The campaign is delivered in partnership by the Scottish Alcohol Industry Partnership, Police Scotland and Community Alcohol Partnerships.
The event at the Morrisons supermarket in Ayr demonstrated the value of partnership working between the alcohol industry, retailers, Community Alcohol Partnerships and the police in tackling underage drinking and youth disorder.
Asking an adult to buy alcohol for under 18s is one of the most common tactics used by young people to access alcohol. It’s an offence in Scotland for an adult to buy or attempt to buy alcohol for someone who is under the age of 18. This is known as proxy purchase. Adults who buy alcohol for children may face a fine of up to £5,000. The campaign raises awareness of the damaging effects and criminal nature of buying alcohol for under 18s.
Victims and Community Safety Minister Siobhian Brown, said:
“This campaign helps to create safer communities for all and is a great example of partnership working to help tackle underage drinking. While some may think it is harmless buying drink for somebody under 18, the consequences can be wide-reaching – the underage person becoming vulnerable through drink, anti-social behaviour being committed and the risk to the person buying the drink of being fined or jailed. This campaign highlights these issues and will hopefully reduce all these instances.”
Inspector Julie Presslie, Police Scotland, said:
“It’ll Cost You” is a really important campaign that looks to address the various risks to young people associated with them gaining access to alcohol. Please remember, that buying alcohol for those who are underage is a criminal offence and could result in a fine, a prison sentence, or both.”
Luke McGarty, Scottish Grocers’ Federation, added:
“The success of initiatives such as Challenge 25 have helped reduce the number of direct sales of alcohol to under 18s, but young people are increasingly accessing alcohol by other means. Asking an adult to buy alcohol for them is one of the most common tactics used. The It’ll Cost You campaign helps to tackle this.”
Grahame Clarke, Community Alcohol Partnership Advisor for Scotland, said:
“Proxy purchase continues to be a challenge across Scotland. This campaign highlights the dangers and penalties that can result from adults buying alcohol for young people.”
Jim Moir, General Store Manager Morrisons, said: At Morrisons, we understand the importance of preventing proxy purchasing in our stores to help reduce underage drinking and anti-social behaviour in our communities. We provide regular training to our colleagues to help them spot and prevent proxy purchasing and also use Challenge 25 signage to raise customer awareness of the issue. We are happy to play our part in supporting this very important campaign.
