Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-15-Speech-2-149"
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"en.20010515.6.2-149"2
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"Mr President, unfortunately, we all know that drunken driving is the primary cause of death among young people between the ages of 15 and 25, not forgetting that this figure does not include the number of people disabled as the result of road traffic accidents caused by drunken driving. The consumption of alcohol, especially at a young age, is becoming an increasing cause of concern to the public and experts alike. The problem appears to be more acute in northern Europe, where it is linked to an increase in the number of suicides.
Another worrying dimension is that younger and younger children, irrespective of sex or social class, are drinking more and more regularly. It would be helpful, I think, given that numerous, somewhat cloudy terms are being used, such as use, dependence, abuse, excessive use, if we were to use the term applied by the World Health Organisation, which talks of ‘harmful use’ and which refers to the amount, frequency, conditions, form and consequences of alcohol use by young people.
The Council recommendation should be more specific; what we want is uniform European legislation on this matter. What we need, first and foremost, is preventive intervention designed to limit use and I think that any reference to measures which restrict demand is important and that our policy should revolve around it. Access by young people to places in which alcoholic beverages are easily obtainable must be specially regulated, together with any other measures to control supply. The fact is that we need to be proactive and ensure that young people are correctly informed about the side effects of a drinking habit, as they are for other psychotropic substances, both legal and illegal. Special reference also needs to be made to the role of advertising. It is unacceptable that alcoholic beverage companies should direct advertising campaigns at young people, a group of consumers which is highly susceptible to the messages it receives. What we need to do, within the framework of the European Union, is to organise proper information campaigns and special training seminars for people who come into contact with young consumers.
Having extended its remit to other psychotropic substances, the European Drugs Monitoring Centre could play a decisive role both in this sense and in collating reliable and comparable epidemiological data.
To finish, I should like to express my hope that the European Commission has understood how serious this issue is and will introduce clear and specific regulations which deal effectively with such a serious issue, which concerns the health and security of our youngsters."@en1
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