00:00You can smoke a cigarette as a 19, 20 year old and you are telling me as soon as this
00:05comes into act, that person is now liable for a fine of $50,000. That does not add up Mr.
00:15Speaker.
00:15MP Hans De Beans was the first member of the opposition to contribute to the House of Representatives' debate of
00:22the bill meant to increase the age limit for the consumption of alcohol and tobacco from 18 to 21 years
00:28of age and the age limit for cannabis and gambling from 18 to 25 years of age.
00:34And we are united on the fact that alcohol abuse destroys lives. Gambling can devastate individuals and their families. Marijuana
00:45and drug dependency also destroys lives. And tobacco addiction can cause enormous harm. We are united on that. So this
00:56debate is not about whether we should protect our young people. We know we should.
01:01MP De Beans made reference to the Attorney General who piloted the bill.
01:06On the other side, the person that is moving this motion is the person that this least affects because they
01:13are not in the age group or even near to the age group that this is affecting. This is not
01:19something that is going to affect him and his livelihood. There are no consultations that have been done with those
01:27between the ages of 18 to 24.
01:30The young people who this affects do not have a voice in this legislation.
01:36MP De Beans highlighted some of the new penalties that are being proposed in the bill.
01:41Under the proposed amendment to Section 38 of the Children Act, a child over the age of 10 who is
01:48found in the specified circumstances involving alcohol, tobacco, cannabis or dangerous drugs can commit an offence carrying a fine of
01:57$50,000 on summary conviction.
02:01Mr. Speaker, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14-year-old, where are they getting $50,000 from?
02:08What we always need to remember is a child in these scenarios is a victim. A child is a victim
02:16and not a criminal.
02:18Defense Minister Wayne Sturge later responded to some of the concerns raised by the opposition.
02:23So they used their discretion and they started the lowest. So do you think the court is going to watch
02:28a 10-year-old and say, well, I'm going to fine you $50,000?
02:31It doesn't work. If you go to court, you see the courts do not do that.
02:38So if you are convicted and you don't have to be in this bill, the emphasis is not on conviction.
02:44If you are convicted, you can get even a reprimand and discharge, which means no conviction.
02:50But even before you reach there, right in this bill, there's a separation between those who should know better, the
02:57facilitators, and those who are the intended victims.
03:02Once the bill is passed by the lower house, it will go to the Senate.
03:07Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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