Press Association
Saturday 11th February 2012
A youth panel is to call on the Government to ban alcohol advertisements from public places in a bid to "change Scotland's culture of alcohol misuse".
Scotland's first Youth Commission on Alcohol will make the recommendations to Public Health Minister Shona Robison after a year-long investigation into alcohol abuse.
Representatives will also recommend increasing alcohol education within the school curriculum, carrying out more research into the impact of passive drinking and providing leisure activities for children that don't involve drinking.
They will also call for widespread participation of young people in policy and decision-making. The findings will be formally handed to the minister on Tuesday and will be considered as part of the Scottish Government's Framework for Action on Alcohol.
The Youth Commission is made up by a panel of 16 people aged between 14 and 22 from across Scotland to find new solutions to the country's drinking culture.
It was commissioned by the Scottish Government and supported by Young Scot and launched in March last year.
The report contains 38 recommendations based around eight key ideas: accessibility and availability, changing culture through leisure and lifestyle choices, education, emotional support for young people, personal safety, regulating alcohol industry marketing and promotion, social marketing and young people influencing treatment services.
Youth Commissioner Ryan Leitch said: "It was fantastic being involved with the Youth Commission on Alcohol. It's great that young people have been given this opportunity to have their voice heard at the upper levels of government, hopefully there will be lots more commissions like this.
"We based our recommendations on the evidence we received from alcohol experts and the Scottish people. There isn't one answer so we have come up with a number of key approaches to improve Scotland's relationship with alcohol."
The National Youth Alcohol Commission report will be available for download from 2pm at www.youngscot.net from March 16 2010.
