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What does the law say about alcohol?
Alcohol is a drug, and can have harmful effects. Where young people are concerned, the law is designed to ensure that they are protected, as well as can be, against those harmful effects. If you have children under 18, this is how the law most commonly applies to you and them.
Alcohol is defined as something that has an alcohol content greater than 0.5% at the time of its sale. Liqueur confectionery isn't classed as alcohol, although it is an offence to sell it to somebody under 16 years old.
A child under 5 cannot be given alcohol, unless under medical supervision.
It's an offence to sell alcohol to somebody under 18 years old.
It's an offence for somebody under 18 years old to buy or attempt to buy alcohol.
It's an offence to buy alcohol on behalf of somebody under 18 years of age.
However, somebody who is 16 years of age can buy, or have bought for them, wine, beer, cider or perry, as long as it is served and consumed with a meal supplied on the premises.
So, legally, if you want to give your child alcohol, and they are over 5, you can. But, if a child asks you to buy alcohol for them, you can't. A lot of the underage drinking problems we face in Moray, result from alcohol being bought for children in this way. Grampian Police take this very seriously, and anybody found to have done such a thing will be reported to the Procurator Fiscal who will almost certainly prosecute.
You should also be aware that although you can give alcohol to your children without breaking any licensing laws, if you allow them to get drunk, or become ill, you could find yourself charged with having exposed them to danger. So, if you do allow your children to drink alcohol, you have an obligation to ensure that the drinking is appropriate and properly monitored.
If you want to report any offences relating to young people and alcohol, you should call Grampian Police on 0845 6005700, or you could call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.