西班牙：未成年人醉酒 父母或被罚款

为打击未成年人饮酒行为，西班牙政府考虑对因饮酒屡次入院治疗的青少年家长罚款。政府代表表示，以不作为来容忍或协助青少年过度饮酒其实是在虐待儿童，因为酒精会影响他们的一些能力，“我们必须时刻记得，酒精会杀死脑细胞”。西班牙卫生部正在考虑将对父母罚款这一项提议加入《防止未成年人饮酒法案》。据西班牙卫生部统计，过去十年间，因饮酒而入院接受治疗的西班牙未成年人数量增加了一倍，同时还呈现低龄化趋势。不过，对于此项提议，医疗界有不同意见。西班牙紧急医疗协会主席表示，对父母罚款不见得会减少青少年饮酒现象，这样的政策实施后很多青少年饮酒过多需要治疗时可能就不会去医院了。

Spain's government is considering a proposal to fine the parents of teenagers who are repeatedly found intoxicated in the latest measure to clampdown on underage drinking.

Parents of such drinkers who are treated more than once in hospital emergency wards could face financial penalties.

"Tolerating or assisting by inaction the repeated excessive consumption of alcohol is a form of child abuse because it affects their future abilities," said Francisco Babin, the government delegate for the National Drugs Plan (PND), unveiling the proposal.

"We must not forget that alcohol kills brain cells," he added.

Spain's ministry of health is considering the inclusion of such penalties in its draft Prevention of the Consumption of Alcoholic Drinks by Minors bill, announced in April.

The number of underage drinkers treated in hospital casualty departments across Spain has more than doubled in ten years, according to a recent report being studied by the Health Ministry.

"The age of those patients is also decreasing, indicating that recreational drinking of alcohol is starting at a younger age," wrote Dr Santiago Mintegi, the author of the report.

"Before, it was rare to find a case of alcohol poisoning among minors, but not now. Such cases arrive fairly frequently on a Friday and Saturday night."

However, there was immediate skepticism of the new proposal in medical circles. "I don't see how fining the parents will reduce teenage drinking," said Juan Gonzalez Armengol, president of Spain Society of Emergency Medicine (SEMES).

"It is more likely to mean that those suffering ill effects from alcohol are less likely to go to a hospital for fear of the consequences."

Half of Spain's 17 regions have already banned the "botellon" - a phenomenon that sees large groups of young people gather in parks or plazas to share cheap shop-bought alcoholic drinks and socialize through night.