In Denmark, young people have the right to start drinking alcohol from the age of 16. But the country is starting to worry about the growing popularity of alcoholic parties and nicotine sachets to suck. The Ministry of Health therefore announced this Tuesday the restriction of these products.
“Children and young people start drinking much too early and they drink too much,” Minister of the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde said at a press conference, also deploring that young people are drinking more in addition to snus, which comes in the form of nicotine sachets to suck. To counter these phenomena, the sale of drinks containing more than 6% alcohol will be prohibited to 16-18 year olds, who were until now allowed to buy drinks containing up to 16.5%. In France, the sale of alcohol is prohibited to minors.
One in four young people drink every week
In addition, the tax on sachets of sucking tobacco or nicotine will be doubled, increasing on average the price of packets by 12 crowns (1.6 euros), making it equivalent to that of a packet of cigarettes. It will also be prohibited to offer “‘seductive’ flavors and perfumes in tobacco substitute products,” the ministry said.
According to the high national health authority, at 15 years old, 22% of young girls and 27% of young boys drink weekly. In 2019, a study by ESPAD (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) estimated that 40% of young Danes aged 15-16 had already been drunk in the last 30 days, the highest proportion in Europe, where the average is 13%.