- Germany’s Marburger Bund medical doctors’ association called on Sunday for the sale of alcoholic spirits to be confined to specially licensed outlets.
Germany’s Marburger Bund medical doctors’ association called on Sunday for the sale of alcoholic spirits to be confined to specially licensed outlets.
“The sale of drinks with a high alcohol percentage should take place only in licensed specialist sales points,” the association said during its annual meeting in Hanover.
Supermarkets, filling stations and kiosks should no longer be allowed to sell strong drink, it said.
The association justified its calls by noting that the consumption of alcohol represented one of the largest avoidable health risks in Germany. Young people needed better protection, it said.
Consumption patterns established at a young age had been shown to increase the risk of later dependence, along with health and social consequences, it said.
The association also said it was backing government plans to abolish so-called “accompanied drinking” – a provision in German law that allows young people from the age of 14 to drink beer and wine in public when accompanied by their parents.