Critics find overhaul of Italy's drinking laws hard to swallow

A government proposal to raise Italy's legal age for buying alcohol from 16 to 18 is going down like a corked wine with bar owners, scientific experts and some critics in the very government that came up with the idea.

To the surprise of restaurant, bar and nightclub proprietors who think they should have been consulted beforehand, the proposal was included in the draft 2007 budget issued this week by the centre-left government of Romano Prodi, prime minister.
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Article 90 of the budget sets fines of €3,000-6,000 for anyone caught selling alcohol to people under 18, a punishment that seems intended to deter late-night teenage drinking that sometimes leads to traffic accidents. The article also foresees a complete ban on the sale of alcohol at motorway service stations and restaurants.

Livia Turco, health minister, said the measure would align Italy with other European Union countries. In fact, the legal age for purchasing most or all types of alcohol in France, Germany and several smaller countries is 16, though it is 18 in the UK and 21 in the US.

Some members of Mr Prodi's coalition say they knew nothing in advance about the proposals on drink, and they will fight to get them removed from the budget before it receives final parliamentary approval by the end of December.

"It sends a repressive and prohibitionist message to young people, and it could have the opposite effect to that intended - making the abuse of alcoholic drinks more attractive," said Gennaro Migliore, a communist legislator.

Also frothing with indignation is the Italian Federation of Trading Concerns (Fipe), a group representing 80,000 bars and cafés, 60,000 restaurants, 20,000 pizzerias, 7,000 nightclubs and discotheques, and numerous other spots favoured by teenagers.

"I wonder if it's really true that you can change people's lifestyles with prohibition," said Lino Stoppani, Fipe's president.

Many critics have pointed out that Italians learn to drink moderate amounts of wine or beer at a relatively young age - under 14 - because of the tradition of leisurely family meals at the weekend in restaurants.

"What are we doing? Are we forbidding 16-year-olds or 17-year-olds from drinking a beer in a pizzeria? If so, things will go as they did in the 1970s in England, where lads waited outside pubs for their friends to bring them something to drink," said Professor Enrico Tempesta of the Rome-based Permanent Observatory on Youth and Alcohol.

It is widely recognised in Italy, however, that the high level of traffic accidents is related to alcohol consumption. About 200 Italian teenagers die every year as a result of accidents involving drinking and driving.

Nevertheless, the budget's proposals on alcohol seem in apparent conflict with the much more liberal approach that some government ministers are considering on drug use.

Paolo Ferrero, social solidarity minister, says he plans to reverse the existing law, passed by Italy's former centre-right government, which made it a criminal offence to possess all but the smallest amounts of marijuana and cocaine.

Financial Times