Last update - 00:00 19/03/2008
Knesset bill: Buying alcohol for minors will be criminal offense
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent
The Knesset approved the first reading of a bill Wednesday that would turn the purchase of alcohol for minors into a criminal offense.
According to Shas MK Yaakov Margi who proposed the bill, the punishment for buying the alcohol to minors could reach up to three months in prison.
In explaining the need for the law, Margi said that there is a loophole in the current legislation as minors can ask an adult to purchase the alcohol for him.
Margi said that the drinking of alcohol by minors is a disease that is spreading among minors and that his bill is "another brick in the wall."
"Whoever purchases alcohol for a minor will have to answer to the law. While we can't totally eradicate this phenomena, we must try to diminish the trend as much as possible."