Deputies of the Vitebsk Regional Council propose to close stores for six months for selling alcohol to minors

October 20, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Deputies of the Vitebsk Regional Council propose to toughen measures against business entities of all forms of ownership for selling alcoholic, low-alcohol beverages and beer to minors, as well as admitting minors to gambling and night entertainment establishments. If such facts are revealed, it is proposed to suspend the operation of the offending business entities for six months. This decision was adopted today as a basis at a regular session of the regional council, reports a BELTA correspondent. As noted by Tamara Olekhnovich, Deputy Chairperson of the Commission for Juvenile Affairs of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, more than a thousand adolescents abusing alcohol have been identified in the region since the beginning of the year. More than 900 minors have been brought to administrative responsibility for drinking alcoholic beverages in public places, over 300 adults have been fined for plying minors with alcohol, and facts of selling alcohol and beer to persons under 18 years of age have been revealed in more than 200 retail outlets. Of the 552 crimes committed by adolescents in January-September, 128 were committed while intoxicated, and the growth of drunken adolescent crime compared to the same period last year increased by more than 20%. -0-