Latvians push to tighten the cap
To address the longstanding problem of being among the countries with the highest alcohol consumption in the world, the Latvian parliament's Social and Labour Affairs Committee took decisive steps this week by voting to increase the legal age for purchasing alcohol from 18 to 20 years old. The committee also approved a proposal to reduce the hours during which alcohol can be sold in stores, cutting the window by two hours on workdays.
Along with Lithuania, Latvia has long struggled with high alcohol consumption, resulting in a concerning number of alcohol-related deaths. According to Uldis Mitenbergs, the World Health Organization's representative in Latvia, the toll is comparable to losing the population of Alūksne, a town of 6,000 in east Latvia, every year. Despite Latvian alcohol consumption only increasing in recent years, such measures in other EU countries, which have successfully reduced availability, offer hope that they could make a shift in Latvia's fight against excessive drinking.