The Health Bureau (SSM) said in a statement yesterday that it recorded three cases of minors being sold or provided with alcoholic drinks in public places in the first six months of this year.
The new Law on the Prevention and Control on Minors’ Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages took effect in early November last year, according to which it is illegal to sell minors, i.e., those under the age of 18, alcoholic drinks or provide them with such drinks at public venues either for commercial or non-commercial purposes.
According to the statement, two of the three cases were detected by the bureau’s anti-alcohol inspectors, while one was detected after a Public Security Police (PSP) officer provided assistance to a drunken minor.
The statement said that the first case occurred in a restaurant where family members of a minor let him or her drink red wine that they took to the restaurant to consume when dining there.
In the second case, the statement said, a restaurant failed to take proper measures when providing a buffet so that a minor was able to take alcoholic drinks.
The statement said that in the third case, a PSP officer found that a supermarket was selling minors alcoholic drinks after providing assistance to a drunken minor.
The genders of the three minors were not released.
Including the three cases, according to the statement, the bureau recorded a total of 22 cases of violating various rules listed in the law in the first six months of this year.
According to the law, those selling alcoholic beverages to minors in public places face a fine of 20,000 patacas. The 20,000-pataca fine also covers those providing alcoholic drinks to minors in public places for commercial purposes.
According to the law, those providing alcoholic beverages to minors in public places for non-commercial purposes face a less heavy fine, ranging between 1,500 patacas and 20,000 patacas.
According to yesterday’s statement, other violations recorded in the first six months of this year included the respective public places’ failure to display notices about the legal ban on selling or providing alcoholic drinks to minors, and failure to display warning messages that excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages is harmful to health when displaying advertisements for such beverages.
According to the statement, the violations also included retailers or other businesses’ failure to clearly define areas where alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks are displayed.
According to previous SSM announcements, the bureau did not record any cases violating the Law on the Prevention and Control on Minors’ Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages in the first quarter of this year.
Illegal smoking cases up 29.9 pct
Meanwhile, yesterday’s statement also said that the bureau’s anti-smoking inspectors fined 1,990 people for illegally puffing away in the first six months of this year.
The 1,990 cases of smoking illegally recorded in the first half of this year represented a year-on-year increase of 29.9 percent from the same period of last year, when 1,532 cases were reported.
In addition, the bureau also fined 55 travellers for bringing e-cigarettes into or taking them out of Macau in the first six months of the year, the statement said.
This undated handout photo released by the Health Bureau (SSM) yesterday shows its anti-alcohol staff inspecting a shop selling alcoholic drinks.
