Should There Be Tougher Laws on Convenient Stores for Selling Alcohol and Tobacco to Underage Pupils - Essay Example

Running Head: SHOULD THERE BE TOUGHER LAWS ON CONVENIENT STORES FOR SELLING ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TO UNDERAGE PUPILS Should there be tougher laws on convenient stores for selling alcohol and tobacco to underage pupils (Your Name) (Your School) SHOULD THERE BE TOUGHER LAWS ON CONVENIENT STORES FOR SELLING ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TO UNDERAGE PUPILS Introduction Underage drinking has grown to be a major problem not only in the US but also in the whole world. While the problem of binge drinking has been growing to be a health issue in the nation, underage drinking has made it difficult for the authority to deal with the alcohol problem. Substance abuse in the young people has been a growing problem with grown up and it is rapidly affecting the young people as well. Although there are many efforts that have been put towards addressing this issue, it still remains a big problem as there is not effective legal framework that can be used to regulate selling of liquor to the young. Lacks of legal framework coupled by moral decay in the society are the two main barriers to mitigating the problem of underage drinking. Prevalence of underage drinking The number of young people engaging in underage drinking has been increasing with time. Everyday there are more than 5,000 kids in the US who are aged 16 and below who have the first full alcoholic drink. Statistics have shown that alcohol is the most abused substance compared to other like tobacco, marijuana, or other hard drugs by the young people. The average age of drinking has been set ad 12 to 17 years although the average age at which kids are introduced to alcoholic drinks is at 13 years. The episode of binge dirking has also been increasing with time. It is shown that the level of binge drinking by young people has increased by more that a half compared to the level in 1990s. Between 1993 and 2001 studies have found out that more than 56% of the kids aged between 13 and 20 had at least one binge drinking occasion in the past 30 days. A recent study has show that more than 10.8 million persons between the age of 12 and 20 reported to have been drinking alcohol in the past one month. Almost 7.2 million of them were binge drinkers. (The Center for Alcohol Marketing, 2008) There are many reasons that have given by the young drinkers as to why they find it easy to abuse alcohol compared to other substances. They have given a variety of reasons but the availability of alcohol and lack of restrictive laws on the use of alcohol has been given as the most prevalent factor why they abuse alcohol than other drugs It has been shown that alcohol is readily available and can be purchased without restrictions unlike other substances. But a good number of them also showed that there is little apparently control. Even when they go to their home drunk, they are not reprimanded by their parents. This is perhaps the greatest factor that has contributed to increased number of underage drinking as compared to other reasons that can be given. It shows an intricate moral decay and lack of parental control on underage drinking. On the issue of availably of the drinks, the convenient suitor have been criticized for promoting under age drinking they have been providing drinks to the kids even without need of identification. While there are strict government laws regulation the sale of alcohol in other areas, these rules have not been well enforced in convenience stores. The fact that there are not official to look at what kids are drinking makes it more complicated to control underage drinking. However it may be difficult for the convenience stores to put in place control measures that will ensure that underage drinkers don't purchase drinks since it has been shown that some of them come in company of their parents and purchase the drinks. The issue of underage drinking has been tackled using a variety of tactics. The state security machinery including the police force has been directed to deal firmly with the problem. But the underage drinkers have always found a way to get their drinks even with such a high alert from the authority. It is not that there are no efforts to fight the problem but it is the state of moral decay and lack of parental responsibly that has complicated the situation. Putting more laws on convenience stores will not help We have to accept that there are laws that have been put in place to deal with t problem of accessing alcohol but the problem has been growing day in day out. There are laws that are allowed there but it seems that there are other problems that are compounding the situation. Imagine that you are that cashier at one of the convenient store. It is on a busy day and you are busy serving the customer. The young one comes with a few things to pay and you note that there is an alcoholic drink. What can you do at such a situation Would you first stop serving the customer on the queue and reprimand the young one Do you if it was the parent who had asked for the drink Increasing laws to regulate the sale of alcohol by the convenient stores will not help to deal with the problem. There are strict laws that have been put in school and elsewhere but the problem is still growing big. Even with these laws in place the number of underage drinkers has been increasing and in great numbers. This means that there are a number of problem that we have to sort out first before we think of putting more laws on the convenient stores One of the questions about this issue is how these laws can be made different from the existing laws. We accept that there is a problem of easy access to alcoholic drinks from the convenient stores but is it only the convenient stores that sell these drinks What about the drinks that parent stock at home The convenient stores are in their line of business. Selling alcoholic drinks is one of the lucrative sections of their sales. If there are stricter laws that can be developed, they may the laws that will remove the drinks from the shelves. This would be a great injustice not only to the supermarkets but also to the other people who would legally like to purchase these drinks. The police acknowledge they have been doing their best in dealing with the problem but it has continued to deteriorate. They have been carrying out various camping aimed at reducing the access to alcoholic drinks but they will at the end find their own way to access these drinks. Marshal University Police Chief Jim Terry acknowledges that fact that they have been doing their best to deal with the problem but at the end there are a number of underage drinks accessing alcohol. Tery says, "You know that underage students are going to drink. You just tray and be responsible and stay on top of it as best as you can." (Fields, 2007) The police department has been given the mandate to look at the enforcement of the laws. This means that t hey has been doing their best in order to deal with the issue but it is still getting out of hand. Police work under the frame work of laws. But even these laws seem to have failed to deal with the problem. This perhaps shows us that the problem of underage drinking is more complicated that we perceive it. It is interwoven with various issues that need to be addressed but certainly it may not involved coming up with strict law. There are issues of moral responsibility and parental responsibility that need to be taken care of before we think of dealing with laws to regulate convenient stores. The society and the parent have a duty to deal with the problem of underage drinking rather that running to put in place regulation. Joe Lackey who is the president of Indiana Grocery and Convenient Store association in reacting to Bill HB 1250 said that "the bill has nothing to do with retailing underage drinking. It's all about liquor stores trying to limit unwanted competition. As if underage drinkers only get their alcohol from grocery stores and convenient stores. Underage drinkers are far more likely to purchase their alcohol from a friendly liquor store than a grocery store or convenient store but they are even more likely to get it from their parent stash or from an of-age friend." (Advance Indiana, 2006) This long statement tries to expose the moral issues that have been facing the introduction of more laws to regulate the sale of alcohol in convenient stores. Joe shows that it is not only from the convenient stores that the young ones can get their drinks. There are other stores where they can get the drinks as wee. He points out that the parents and other members of the society can also be used by the underage drinker to obtain drinks. Therefore putting strict laws on convenient stores will hurt their operation while the number of underage drinkers will continue to increase. The society and the parents in general have a big role to play in curbing underage drinking. Putting law in place to curb selling of liquor in convenient store will not help if the parent has abandoned their parenthood duties. Parents have a duty to play in ensuring that they restrict their children from accessing the liquor drinks and teaching them the effect of alcohol. This stars from the practice at home. Parent is preventive and the duty that parents can play in helping their children to avoid underage drinking cannot be taken over by the law. The laws acts just as a guide line but it are the people who implement the drafted law. Without the will to implement the laws in whole, it cannot be effective. Therefore parent should first take an early approach in enforcing astrictive dirking rules in the framework of the existing laws before we think of putting more laws for the convenience stores. (Wang, 2004) Conclusion The problem of underage drinking has continued to increase with time. The number of underage drinkers has increased in the recent past which has been attributed to various factors. First the parents have failed in their duties in restraining their children from underage drinking. Second there has been increased access to alcoholic drinks by the young which has been attributed to lack of legal framework to govern sale of alcoholic drinks. The police force acknowledges that they have been doing their best to target underage drinkers but at the end the number has been increasing. Therefore the problem is not lack of laws but is the failure by the parents and the society in general to restrain underage drinking. Putting more laws on selling of alcoholic drinks in convenient stores will not help to deal with the problem. Parents need to take position and play their duty. Reference Advance Indiana (2006): Curtailing underage drinking or curtailing competition Retrieved from http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2006/02/curtailing-underage-drinking-or.html on 30th May 2008 Fields, B. (2007): Police continue to target underage drinking. Retrieved from http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/specialreports/x523808829 on 30th May 2008 The Center for Alcohol Marketing (2008): Prevalence of underage drinking. Retrieved from http://camy.org/factsheets/index.phpFactsheetID=5 on 30th May 2008 Wang, C. (2004). Children's conception of smoking addiction; Health Edu; Res, Vol. 28 Read More