Alcohol is available to everyone, including minors, despite the fact that there are two restrictions in their way – the Consumer Protection Act and the Law on Public Order and Peace. Data from the Batut Institute also confirms this and says that every other minor tries alcohol for the first time on average at the age of 13, and every 10th drinks it once a month.
The fact that children easily have access to alcohol was confirmed by the news from last week when twelve children ended up in detox at the Military Medical Academy after poisoning themselves at a party. As Dr. Ivan Leković of the Emergency Medical Service of the Military Medical Academy announced, doctors received 26 people that night, 12 of whom were under the age of 15. It was determined that some of them had as much as 2.8 per mille of alcohol in their systems.
Mediji su tada preneli, da je do trovanja došlo u jednom beogradskom klubu. Međutim, iz uprave ovog kluba su se oglasili istog dana na svom Instagram profilu gde su naveli da oni nemaju veze sa događajem i da su prostorije te večeri bile izdate za privatnu proslavu.
Due to numerous reports in the media, the Public Prosecutor’s Office immediately issued a statement. They stated that the Chief Public Prosecutor, Nenad Stefanović, ordered the formation of a case related to this incident, so that after an investigation decision would be made about the qualification of the criminal offense and the prosecution of the perpetrators.
The highly publicised case resulted in Minister of Health, Danica Grujičić, announcing on TV Blic that the young people that night had been poisoned with ethanol, and that there was no presence of any psychoactive substances in their systems. She held the organizers responsible for allowing children access to alcohol by not checking their identification, which is beyond the scope of the Ministry of Health.
With all this in mind, the question arises – who in the chain of responsibility did not respect the law, what are the consequences, and what penalties are imposed because someone gave alcohol to minors?
What do the laws say?
Minors are not only prohibited from purchasing alcohol by law, but they cannot even enter a club, let alone reserve it for a party. However, there have not been any confirmed penalties for the illegal sale of alcohol to minors in recent years, which is forbidden by the Consumer Protection Act, writes RTS.
Irregularities can only be identified when the inspection is in the field, and if the inspector notices something that is not within the protocol, said the Ministry of Tourism for Euronews Serbia.
Advocate Milan Popović, added that this falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Trade, which has the power to control the sale of alcohol to minors.
Appending the opinion of the two doctors confirmed the serious dangers of alcohol consumption for minors, emphasizing the need for zero tolerance until the age of 18. They both stressed the importance of parental responsibility and the need for proper communication between parents and children.
