Luiz Fernando Toledo
Published at 'O Estado de São Paulo' newspaper and website
(Read it in portuguese: http://sao-paulo.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,apos-seis-anos-sp-reduz-fiscalizacao-e-autuacoes-pela-lei-antialcool-para-menor,70002252202)
SÃO PAULO - Six years after sanctioning the anti-alcohol law in the state of São Paulo, the number of inspections in places that sell or allow the consumption of alcoholic beverages by adolescents fell by 39.3%. Data obtained by O Estado de São Paulo indicates 10,800 exits for inspections last year by the State Health Surveillance, main responsible for compliance with the law. In 2012, there were 17,900. Until now, no place has been closed for breaching the law.
No bar or market has been closed for non-compliance with legislation. Photo: Alex Silva / Estadão
As a result, the number of place surveyed also decreased - 32%, from 256,900 in 2012 to 169,400 in 2017 - as well as the sanctions applied - 82%, from 849 in the first year to 150 last year. The government claims that they have trained 500 agents so that the municipalities also take responsibility, but not all have joined. São Paulo, for example, with 12 million inhabitants, must start training agents only this semester. The capital has today the work of 45 state agents.
Problems
The government also says that the reduction in assessments is "natural", since the bars are more adapted to the legislation. But complaints accumulate, as in the case of the Adventist school, a private school that has 1,800 students and is located at Rua Taguá, in Liberdade, central region of São Paulo. The school often denounces irregular bars in the area. "There is a high concentration of teenagers, many using drugs and drinking. We have already made many complaints, " the deputy director, Bruno Ferrarezi , told to O Estado de São Paulo . School students are prohibited from crossing the street when leaving the place. At least six employees monitor the gate.
The college entered with a representation in the State Public Ministry in 2016 to denounce the problem. The inquiry was closed. Realtor Aldo Ferreira de Assis, 58, has two children in school. "I have already filed a complaint in the City Hall."
O Estado de São Paulo was on the spot on two Fridays, March 16th and 23th. On the first day, in less than 20 minutes, we've interviewed six adolescents, aged 16 and 17, drinking alcohol. They all said that the RG was not required, which was confirmed by the newspaper in front of the bars.
"Do you think they're going to be asking everyone? They want to sell, "said one of the young girls. The Military Police said in a note that it had carried out a joint operation that day, including agents of the Health Surveillance and the City Administration, and that more than 40 approaches were made. But no one was warned. The following week, on the 23rd, we returned to the scene and the situation repeated itself, even with the intensified PM presence. "There's no way to tell how old everyone is," a police officer said.
The possible lack of supervision of the law is questioned by the State Public Ministry. O Estado de São Paulo identified and analyzed 19 civil procedures opened in the capital to investigate reported facilities. The Office of the Prosecutor of Childhood and Youth wants to question the inspections. "We want to open a single investigation to understand what the Health Surveillance is doing," says prosecutor Luciana Bergamo. "This inspection has yet to be intensified. The problem of alcohol is a cultural problem. It seems that there is a condescension with its use ", says.
A representative of Procon, which must also oversee the actions at the state level, admitted to the MPE "budgetary hardship, which implies a shortage of employees." The Military Police informed that it does actions in support of the municipal and state organs for the inspection "whenever necessary".
City Administration. The Public Prosecutor also looks to the City Hall for anti-alcohol inspections .A municipal law regulated in 2008 by former mayor Gilberto Kassab (PSD) foresees participation of the Municipality in both repression and awareness of alcohol consumption. The decree says that the Municipal Council for Public Policies on Drugs and Alcohol (Comuda) would be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the actions, something that, in practice, did not happen.
The City Administration says it did not carry out inspections because Comuda did not format the program of actions. The president of Comuda, Nathália Oliveira, says that she had resources from a municipal department at the beggining of the law, but that was extinguished.
Risk
The psychiatrist of the Brazilian Association of Studies on Alcohol and Other Drugs (Abead), Ana Cecília Marques, says that the law is good, but that only the inspection does not guarantee an efficient policy. "We need a whole policy. We can not just look at a measure and find that it solves the problem. There must also be prevention and treatment of abusers. "
She also points out that the prohibition for teenagers has scientific reasons. "They have areas of the brain that are not yet ripe. In addition, the risk of developing addiction is greater if the person begins drinking as a teenager. "
Health Surveillance Operation can not act on street consumption
Problems
The government also says that the reduction in assessments is "natural", since the bars are more adapted to the legislation. But complaints accumulate, as in the case of the Adventist school, a private school that has 1,800 students and is located at Rua Taguá, in Liberdade, central region of São Paulo. The school often denounces irregular bars in the area. "There is a high concentration of teenagers, many using drugs and drinking. We have already made many complaints, " the deputy director, Bruno Ferrarezi , told to O Estado de São Paulo . School students are prohibited from crossing the street when leaving the place. At least six employees monitor the gate.
The college entered with a representation in the State Public Ministry in 2016 to denounce the problem. The inquiry was closed. Realtor Aldo Ferreira de Assis, 58, has two children in school. "I have already filed a complaint in the City Hall."
O Estado de São Paulo was on the spot on two Fridays, March 16th and 23th. On the first day, in less than 20 minutes, we've interviewed six adolescents, aged 16 and 17, drinking alcohol. They all said that the RG was not required, which was confirmed by the newspaper in front of the bars.
"Do you think they're going to be asking everyone? They want to sell, "said one of the young girls. The Military Police said in a note that it had carried out a joint operation that day, including agents of the Health Surveillance and the City Administration, and that more than 40 approaches were made. But no one was warned. The following week, on the 23rd, we returned to the scene and the situation repeated itself, even with the intensified PM presence. "There's no way to tell how old everyone is," a police officer said.
The possible lack of supervision of the law is questioned by the State Public Ministry. O Estado de São Paulo identified and analyzed 19 civil procedures opened in the capital to investigate reported facilities. The Office of the Prosecutor of Childhood and Youth wants to question the inspections. "We want to open a single investigation to understand what the Health Surveillance is doing," says prosecutor Luciana Bergamo. "This inspection has yet to be intensified. The problem of alcohol is a cultural problem. It seems that there is a condescension with its use ", says.
A representative of Procon, which must also oversee the actions at the state level, admitted to the MPE "budgetary hardship, which implies a shortage of employees." The Military Police informed that it does actions in support of the municipal and state organs for the inspection "whenever necessary".
City Administration. The Public Prosecutor also looks to the City Hall for anti-alcohol inspections .A municipal law regulated in 2008 by former mayor Gilberto Kassab (PSD) foresees participation of the Municipality in both repression and awareness of alcohol consumption. The decree says that the Municipal Council for Public Policies on Drugs and Alcohol (Comuda) would be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the actions, something that, in practice, did not happen.
The City Administration says it did not carry out inspections because Comuda did not format the program of actions. The president of Comuda, Nathália Oliveira, says that she had resources from a municipal department at the beggining of the law, but that was extinguished.
Risk
The psychiatrist of the Brazilian Association of Studies on Alcohol and Other Drugs (Abead), Ana Cecília Marques, says that the law is good, but that only the inspection does not guarantee an efficient policy. "We need a whole policy. We can not just look at a measure and find that it solves the problem. There must also be prevention and treatment of abusers. "
She also points out that the prohibition for teenagers has scientific reasons. "They have areas of the brain that are not yet ripe. In addition, the risk of developing addiction is greater if the person begins drinking as a teenager. "
Health Surveillance Operation can not act on street consumption
O Estado de São Paulo also monitored an enforcement action with four agents of the State Health Surveillance in Augusta Street, on a Tuesday. Even earlier in the week, all the bars were open and full of tables.
The inspectors do not wear uniforms, but they go inside the bars with an identification badge and are obliged to introduce themselves to a representative of the place, alerting about the inspection. If drinking is taking place on the street outside the establishment's control area (except at bar or sidewalk bars), the agents can not make any kind of sanction. In Rua Taguá, for example, the most common is to buy the drink in the bars and consume it in the street. Almost nobody stays inside the places.
The standard procedure is to examine if there are areas of potential risk, with youngsters who "look" like adolescents. In this case, the agents need to catch the moment the drink is served. They can not approach the client, but ask a bar employee to ask for the "suspect" ID. If the establishment has not requested the identification of consumers, there is already a possibility of sanction.
In addition to preventing sales and consumption, Health Surveillance also monitors whether there is a physical separation between non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages and also if there is explicit visual communication about the prohibition of the sale of beverages under the age of 18 years. Failure to comply with any of these requirements may result in a sanction.
WHERE TO REPORT ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR: ouvidoria@cvs.saude.sp.gov.br
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