A campaign to tackle underage drinking and youth disorder has been launched across Scotland after a successful Lanarkshire pilot.
The award-winning “It’ll Cost You!” programme is a collaboration between Police Scotland, local authorities and alcohol producers and retailers.
It aims to raise awareness of the damaging effects and criminal nature of buying alcohol for those aged under 18.
Successful pilots across Lanarkshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow by the Scottish Alcohol Industry Partnership showed a drop in street drinking and anti-social behaviour.
Asking adults to purchase alcohol is one of the most common tactics used by young people to access it.
The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 states that it is an offence for a person to “act as an agent for a child in purchasing or attempting to purchase alcohol”.
Analysts at Police Scotland have reported that youth disorder incidents were reduced by 10 per cent during the North Lanarkshire pilot.
Superintendent Hilary Sloan, Police Scotland, said: “This campaign highlights the multitude of issues which can be caused through underage drinking and by buying alcohol for teens.
"We want to help keep our young people safe from alcohol-related harm, as well as reduce anti-social behaviour and crime in our communities. Additionally, proxy purchasing is an offence, which could result in a prison sentence.
"The lighter evenings of the summer will see an increase in police patrols around Scotland to reduce attempted purchases of alcohol for under 18s.”
In addition to 38 adults being reported for buying alcohol for children, the campaign also led to two stores being reported for repeatedly selling alcohol to under 18s.
Adults who buy alcohol for children may face a fine of up to £5000. Depending on the circumstances, those guilty of doing so could also face a prison sentence of up to three months and a criminal record.
Gavin Randall, retail operations director of Scotmid, said: “As a responsible retailer, Scotmid is delighted to support the ‘It’ll Cost You’ proxy purchase campaign.
"Reducing underage drinking and anti-social behaviour linked to alcohol fits in perfectly with Scotmid’s core purpose ‘to serve our communities and improve peoples’ everyday lives.”
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