Who sends alcohol to the mouths of juveniles？

As the incidents caused by alcohol are increasing and the risks of drinking become prominent， relevant departments of countries are not completely indifferent.

In China， the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors stipulates explicitly that alcohol cannot be sold to minors and relevant departments provide that a sign of “it’s illegal to sell alcohol to minors” must be displayed at every place of business selling alcohol. What’s more， the Ministry of Commerce of China also stipulates in the Measures for Administration of Alcohol Circulation that a 2000 yuan fine will be charged if sell alcohol to minors.

In the US， there are two laws in relation to the drinking of juveniles， which are National Minimum Drinking Age Act and Law on the Protection of Minors， which stipulate the social responsibilities of juveniles in drinking， and the obligations of juveniles as well as their guardians. Among which， it says juveniles under 21 years’ old shall not consume alcohol， and merchants shall not sell beverages with alcohol to juveniles under 21 years’ old.

Japan also stipulates in its Law on Prohibiting Minors’ Drinking that juveniles under 20 years’ old shall not consume alcohol， and their parents or guardian have the responsibility of preventing them drinking alcohol. Stores and restaurants that sell alcohol to juveniles will be fined by 500，000 JPY.

在曝出的諸多飲酒傷亡事件，和凸顯出的諸多飲酒風險中，各個國家相關部門也并非全然無動于衷。

在中國，《未成年人保護法》中明確規定，不得向未成年人賣酒，并且相關部門規定所有的酒類經營場所，必須放置“不向未成年人售酒”的標志。此外，中國商務部在《酒類流通管理辦法》中也提及，向未成年人售酒者，處以2，000元以下罰款。

在美國，有兩部涉及未成年人飲酒的法律，分別是《最低飲酒年齡法案》和《美國未成年人保護法》，其中既規定了在未成年人飲酒方面的社會責任，同時也規定了未成年人本身及監護人的義務。其中，21歲以下的年輕人不許飲酒，商家也不能向21歲以下的青年出售含有酒精的飲品。

日本也在其《禁止未成年人飲酒法》中規定，未滿20歲的未成年人不得飲酒，其父母或監護人有制止未成年子女飲酒的責任，凡向未成年人出售酒類的商店、飲食店，要受到最高50萬日元的處罰。

Similarly， other countries in Europe and Asia have the law on minimum age of drinking. For instance， Finland forbids juveniles under 18 years’ old to drink alcohol； the minimum age for drinking in Hungary and Poland are also 18. Since every country has its laws and regulations on preventing minors drinking， then who sends the alcohol to the mouth of minors？

During the reporter’s investigation， many retailers in big cities of China including Zhengzhou， Nanjing， Taiyuan didn’t display the sign of “it’s illegal to sell alcohol to minors”， and juveniles can buy alcohol so easily that even didn’t have to go with the excuse “shopping for fathers”. In the restaurants around the school campus， it’s very common to see juveniles carry dozens of beers to celebrate. Many staffs of the retailer shops didn’t even know the relegation that “it’s illegal to sell alcohol to minors”. Some of them said to the reporter， “I cannot say it’s ok to buy beers， but you have to present you ID first.”

Zhang Ming， who was mentioned in the beginning of this article， told the reporter， “My peers and I all have the experience of drinking with dads and playing drinking games.” Even worse， he mentioned that some elder members of the family think juveniles’ drinking as a “promising” matter， because “drinking ability means you are good at social stuff， and Chinese people emphasize connections and relationships with people， so drinking may help to maintain the relationships.” Zhang Ming also told the reporter that this traditional concept complies with what his father told him， and he even joked that “drinking should start with babies， and the earlier the practice starts the better.”

“In most cases， curiosity would also be a motive for juveniles to ‘have a drink’， and places like KTV and home are all closed spaces and blind angles of supervision. Classmates would kick up a fuss with each other， and the cups of drinks would be raised up by himself/herself.” some expert explained to the reporter.

同樣，歐洲、亞洲的其他一些國家也都有最低法定飲酒年齡的規定。例如，芬蘭禁止18歲以下未成年人飲酒；匈牙利、波蘭的飲酒最低年齡限制同樣也是18歲。既然各國都有對未成年人飲酒最低年齡作出限制的規定和法律，那么，又是誰把酒送到了他們唇邊？

在記者調查中，包括鄭州市、南京市、太原市等中國多個城市的煙酒店，很少能看到諸如“不提供酒給未成年人”的標識，青少年甚至不用打著“替父親買酒”的旗號就能輕易買到酒。而在大學校園周邊的飯店中，幾個青年人扛一捆捆啤酒以做慶祝用的身影并不鮮見。很多煙酒店的工作人員甚至并不清楚“不可向未成年人出售煙酒”的規定。其中，有人甚至對記者表示，“我總不能說買酒可以，但先出示你的身份證吧”。

開篇提到的張明，他也曾向記者表示，“我的同齡人都有和父親一起坐在酒桌上劃拳行令的經歷。”甚至，他提及長輩看待未成年人喝酒是一件“有出息”的事，“能喝意味著你會交際應酬，中國人都講究人情世故，喝點酒可以拉近人際關系”，張明表示，父親一度這樣教育他，還調侃“喝酒要從娃娃抓起，從小要鍛煉酒量。”

“在多數場合下，好奇心往往也會成為未成年人‘喝一個’的推動力。而KTV、家里又都是封閉的場所，也常常是監管死角。同學間互相起哄，酒會被他（她）自己端起來放在唇邊的。”有專家這樣向記者解釋。