In late 2006 and early 2007 the Spanish Ministry of Health proposed a new law about health protection and alcohol consumption prevention for underage people.

Adolescent drinking is an increasing problem in Spain as it is in the rest of the European Community. The number of minors drinking alcohol at early ages is increasing, and binge-drinking patterns have become more and more frequent over the last few years.

This project of law addressed measures focused on health protection for minors, prevention of alcohol-related harm, education and healthcare interventions. Since an increase in the availability and enhancement in cues for drinking alcohol have contributed to this problem, limitations concerning advertising and sponsoring in cultural, sportive and leisure time circles were proposed.

The project of law created a large-scale debate about the possible differences between types of alcoholic beverages, depending on their alcohol content. Several amendments to the project of law were proposed in an attempt to exclude beer and wine from the law. In view of great controversy, in March 2007, the Ministry of Health finally decided to withdraw the project of law rather than change its content, and wait for a more favourable opportunity in the future.

Another important problem related to alcohol drinking in Spain is the injuries and mortality related to traffic accidents. Since 1998 a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.5 grams per litre has been established for general drivers and 0.3 grams per litre for professional and learner drivers.

Another important change in Spain was the introduction of a penalty point system in 2006. The implementation of this new regulation was followed by a fast decrease in traffic accidents and in the corresponding mortality rate in its first year of validity. However, traffic accidents and mortality have increased again this summer, not to the degree observed prior to this regulation but somewhat higher than in summer 2006.  

Furthermore, statistics to date for 2007 suggest that Spain might have undergone a significant increase in cannabis and cocaine consumption, continuing a tendency observed in previous years.  Could this possibly be related to the high rates of alcohol consumption among the Spanish population? Nobody has yet hypothesised on such a possible relationship, but it may be worth investigating as consumption of cannabis and cocaine in our setting is generally associated with alcohol drinking.

Josep Guardia (M.D.)
Vice-president of the Spanish Scientific Society of Studies on Alcohol, Alcoholism and Substance Abuse – SOCIDROGALCOHOL.