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Students support raising rum, weed, gambling age

Secondary school and university students across TT have voiced their support for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's plan to increase the legal age for alcohol consumption, the use of marijuana and engaging in gambling. Speaking at a UNC public meeting in Penal on July 7, Persad-Bissessar said gambling, marijuana and alcohol legislation would be coming to Parliament. "We intend to raise the legal age for gambling and marijuana use to age 25 and older. The legal age for alcohol will be raised to 21 years and older." Currently, the law prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from buying alcohol, gambling or using marijuana. The news, while met with mixed reactions by some segments of the public, was almost unanimously supported by the cross section of students who spoke with Newsday on July 8. Some, though, raised concerns over the state’s ability to ensure the laws would be properly enforced, while others noted the economic effect of the changes. Satesh Lutchman told Newsday he saw no problem with Persad-Bissessar’s announcement. “The changes (from 18 to 21) is reasonable for alcohol. I suppose it is fine for marijuana as well.” He added he believed the changes were necessary given the effect of particularly alcohol and marijuana if they were not consumed responsibly. “When young people start engaging in those things at a young age they don’t necessarily know how to control themselves. “It is better they reach a (later) stage in their adulthood before they start so they can make better decisions.” A group of students from Lakshmi Girls High School said they believed the implementation was going to be beneficial to the future of TT and the youths of TT. “I think gambling encourages people to engage in illegal activities so this measure is very effective.” [caption id="attachment_1166377" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A player tries his luck on a slot machine in Port of Spain. July 4.- File photo by Ayanna Kinsale[/caption] “In regards to drinking,” said another student, “A lot of youths engage in drunk driving so by implementing this measure we are going to reduce the number of drunk drivers. “As youths we all think this is effective for the future of TT.” With current laws in TT similar to those in his country, Jamaican national Zaire Graham said he believed the decision would result in a “net positive” change. “Nothing bad can come from raising the age of alcohol consumption which as we know has caused the death of many people due to drunk driving. “Along with moving the age limit for gambling and marijuana consumption to 25, I think nothing negative can come from that.” One UWI student, though, noted there could be some economic fallout from the decision, especially as it related to marijuana. “A lot of younger people are usually the ones to farm marijuana and having the age limit at 25 could exclude a lot of young entrepreneurs from the potential market when it does come online,” said Kyle Gross. He urged the government to consider how that might affect people involved in growing the plant or manufacturing marijuana-based products when the industry became fully legalised. “That is something that should be considered and how it could affect granting licences to people to grow it commercially. “So it should be lowered when it comes to commercial production to include entrepreneurs who might be affected.” He also disagreed with the limit on the alcohol adding, “If you are old enough to vote, you should be old enough to drink. “If you have a say in the nation’s future you should be able to partake in all the things that are legal in the country as well.” A woman who gave her name only as Ms John said she was worried about the ability to police the law when it was eventually implemented. She said there had to be a “follow up.” “It can’t just be that the age is raised and there is no kind of application or responsibility for enforcing the law. The law must be implemented fully and there must be enforcement.” Two teenagers accompanied by their mother said a change to the law would not make any difference. “Let’s be real! Either way you could still go in the grocery and buy alcohol. They don’t ask for ID. It only really depends on how you are looking.” Her brother argued the increased age for marijuana use was also useless as many people secured their marijuana through illegal means. “The pusherman by the corner don’t care about your age. I sure he don’t ask that.”   The post Students support raising rum, weed, gambling age appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.