Thursday, 23 January 2014 - 04:31
Undercover kids not buying booze in Utrecht
The City of Utrecht has decided to stop the use of under aged "mystery guests" during alcohol checks in catering establishments, reported a spokesperson for the City, in response to an article from RTV Utrecht.
Starting January it is prohibited to sell alcohol to youth younger than 18.
So far one fine and several warning were issued.
Alcohol,
author unknown,
license: public domain cco An under aged "mystery guest" purchased alcohol in café "Stairway to Heaven" and the owner, Henk Westbroek, was fined 1,300 euros. He will not have to pay the fine because the method proved controversial. 'We asked lawyers to review the method and they concluded the under aged decoys would be punishable themselves for an illegal act,' said the spokesperson. It's different with super markets, where youth are still allowed to buy alcohol, but the stores are not allowed to sell it. The City of Utrecht is trying to think of different ways to enforce the new law. 'An option is to use 18-year-olds, who are allowed to buy alcohol, but still have to be carded. Meanwhile it seems the new law has not made it any more difficult for youth to buy alcohol. Max van Geuns (17) regularly buys alcohol in super markets, the cinema, café's, and liquor stores and has yet to be denied a sale. The teen claims his experience is shared by his friends and cites an example where one of his friends even showed her Facebook account once, where she is listed as being 18. At an Albert Heijn he got away with showing his bonus card. He used his cinema discount card that has his birthday on it to purchase a bottle of beer and the bartender never flinched. Despite an abundance of warning signs everywhere, reminding both seller and consumer that it is illegal to sell alcohol to customers younger than 18, the conclusion must be it still happens on a daily basis and the youth count on the government not being able to enforce the law.
author unknown,
license: public domain cco An under aged "mystery guest" purchased alcohol in café "Stairway to Heaven" and the owner, Henk Westbroek, was fined 1,300 euros. He will not have to pay the fine because the method proved controversial. 'We asked lawyers to review the method and they concluded the under aged decoys would be punishable themselves for an illegal act,' said the spokesperson. It's different with super markets, where youth are still allowed to buy alcohol, but the stores are not allowed to sell it. The City of Utrecht is trying to think of different ways to enforce the new law. 'An option is to use 18-year-olds, who are allowed to buy alcohol, but still have to be carded. Meanwhile it seems the new law has not made it any more difficult for youth to buy alcohol. Max van Geuns (17) regularly buys alcohol in super markets, the cinema, café's, and liquor stores and has yet to be denied a sale. The teen claims his experience is shared by his friends and cites an example where one of his friends even showed her Facebook account once, where she is listed as being 18. At an Albert Heijn he got away with showing his bonus card. He used his cinema discount card that has his birthday on it to purchase a bottle of beer and the bartender never flinched. Despite an abundance of warning signs everywhere, reminding both seller and consumer that it is illegal to sell alcohol to customers younger than 18, the conclusion must be it still happens on a daily basis and the youth count on the government not being able to enforce the law.
