Addiction experts warn too many young people buy alcohol illegally in Switzerland

Too many young people in Switzerland are still able to obtain alcohol illegally. According to Addiction Switzerland, more than a quarter of all sales of beer, wine and spirits are illegal. Online purchases are particularly problematic. Out of more than 13,000 test purchases made in 2023, 27.3% were illegal, a rate identical to that recorded in 2022, the organisation active in addiction research said on Tuesday. In 78.2% of cases, sales staff explicitly asked for age and/or identification. Do you want to read our weekly top stories? Subscribe here. Petrol stations had the lowest rate of offences, with 17.6% of illegal sales, followed by chain shops and large retailers (27.4%) and cafés/restaurants (28.5%). The infringement rate is highest at events (44.2%). There are major shortcomings in the application of youth protection laws to online commerce. Nearly 90% of the 156 test purchases of alcohol made from restaurant ordering and delivery sites resulted in illegal sales to young ...