A mystery-shopping study to test enforcement of minimum legal purchasing age in Lithuania in 2022

doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckad027

. 2023 Apr 1;33(2):317-322.

doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad027.

A mystery-shopping study to test enforcement of minimum legal purchasing age in Lithuania in 2022

Laura Miščikienė^{1

2}, Alexander Tran³, Janina Petkevičienė^{1

4}, Jürgen Rehm^{3

5

6

7

8

9

10

11}, Justina Vaitkevičiūtė¹, Lukas Galkus¹, Shannon Lange^{3

5

6}, Mindaugas Štelemėkas^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Health Research Institute, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
² Department of Health Management, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
³ Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
⁴ Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
⁵ Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
⁷ Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
⁸ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
⁹ Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy & Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Longitudinal Studies (CELOS), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
¹⁰ Center for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research (ZIS), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany.
¹¹ Program on Substance Abuse, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Program on Substance Abuse & designated WHO CC, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain.

PMID: 36840664
PMCID: PMC10066479
DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad027

A mystery-shopping study to test enforcement of minimum legal purchasing age in Lithuania in 2022

Laura Miščikienė et al. Eur J Public Health. 2023.

. 2023 Apr 1;33(2):317-322.

doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad027.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Health Research Institute, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
² Department of Health Management, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
³ Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
⁴ Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
⁵ Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
⁷ Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
⁸ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
⁹ Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy & Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Longitudinal Studies (CELOS), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
¹⁰ Center for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research (ZIS), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany.
¹¹ Program on Substance Abuse, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Program on Substance Abuse & designated WHO CC, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain.

PMID: 36840664
PMCID: PMC10066479
DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad027

Abstract

Background: According to the Lithuanian law to prevent the sale of alcohol to customers below the legal minimum purchasing age of 20 years, young adults below 25 years must be asked to show an age-verification document when purchasing alcohol. The aim of this study was to assess whether off-premise outlets comply with the law.

Methods: In 2022, mystery-shopping study was carried out in three consecutive phases: (i) in a representative sample (n = 239) of off-premise alcohol outlets covering all Lithuanian district centres, (ii) after lifting the requirement to wear a mask and (iii) after warning the outlets that a mystery-shopping study was ongoing. Phases 2 and 3 were held in two cities. The mystery shopping involved attempts by young, but legally eligible customers to purchase alcohol. Across the three study phases, we compared compliance with the law by measuring overall success of purchase attempts and included situational characteristics (working day or weekend), time of day and number of customers in line as an additional predictor.

Results: Out of 239 attempts to purchase alcohol from off-premise outlets in the main phase of the study, 107 (or 44.8%) were considered to be successful (visits in which staff were willing to sell alcohol). There was a significantly higher chance of success to purchase alcohol with no ID request if a mystery shopper was the only customer in a queue and on weekends.

Conclusions: The results indicate an insufficient level of age-verification control in Lithuania, and that additional action is needed to increase compliance.

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Impact of the WHO "best buys" for alcohol policy on consumption and health in the Baltic countries and Poland 2000-2020.
Rehm J, Badaras R, Ferreira-Borges C, Galkus L, Gostautaite Midttun N, Gobiņa I, Janik-Koncewicz K, Jasilionis D, Jiang H, Kim KV, Lange S, Liutkutė-Gumarov V, Manthey J, Miščikienė L, Neufeld M, Petkevičienė J, Radišauskas R, Reile R, Room R, Stoppel R, Tamutienė I, Tran A, Trišauskė J, Zatoński M, Zatoński WA, Zurlytė I, Štelemėkas M. Rehm J, et al. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2023 Aug 31;33:100704. doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100704. eCollection 2023 Oct. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2023. PMID: 37953993 Free PMC article. Review.

References

1. Miščikienė L, Goštautaitė Midttun N, Galkus L, et al.Review of the Lithuanian alcohol control legislation in 1990–2020. IJERPH 2020;17:3454. - PMC - PubMed
1. Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Approach of Prevention and Control Measures on Tobacco Products and Alcohol Consumption. Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department under the Government of Republic of Lithuania, 2020. Available at: https://ntakd.lrv.lt/uploads/ntakd/documents/files/Ataskaita.pdf (31 January 2023, date last accessed).
1. Hingson RW, Heeren T, Winter MR.. Age at drinking onset and alcohol dependence: age at onset, duration, and severity. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2006;160:739–46. - PubMed
1. Alcohol and Public Policy Group. Alcohol: no ordinary commodity - a summary of the second edition. Addiction 2010;105:769–79. - PubMed
1. Babor TF, Casswell S, Graham K, et al.Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity: Research and Public Policy, 3rd edn. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2022.

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[1] Miščikienė L, Goštautaitė Midttun N, Galkus L, et al.Review of the Lithuanian alcohol control legislation in 1990–2020. IJERPH 2020;17:3454. - PMC - PubMed

[2] Miščikienė L, Goštautaitė Midttun N, Galkus L, et al.Review of the Lithuanian alcohol control legislation in 1990–2020. IJERPH 2020;17:3454. - PMC - PubMed

[3] Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Approach of Prevention and Control Measures on Tobacco Products and Alcohol Consumption. Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department under the Government of Republic of Lithuania, 2020. Available at: https://ntakd.lrv.lt/uploads/ntakd/documents/files/Ataskaita.pdf (31 January 2023, date last accessed).

[4] Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Approach of Prevention and Control Measures on Tobacco Products and Alcohol Consumption. Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department under the Government of Republic of Lithuania, 2020. Available at: https://ntakd.lrv.lt/uploads/ntakd/documents/files/Ataskaita.pdf (31 January 2023, date last accessed).

[5] Hingson RW, Heeren T, Winter MR.. Age at drinking onset and alcohol dependence: age at onset, duration, and severity. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2006;160:739–46. - PubMed

[6] Hingson RW, Heeren T, Winter MR.. Age at drinking onset and alcohol dependence: age at onset, duration, and severity. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2006;160:739–46. - PubMed

[7] Alcohol and Public Policy Group. Alcohol: no ordinary commodity - a summary of the second edition. Addiction 2010;105:769–79. - PubMed

[8] Alcohol and Public Policy Group. Alcohol: no ordinary commodity - a summary of the second edition. Addiction 2010;105:769–79. - PubMed

[9] Babor TF, Casswell S, Graham K, et al.Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity: Research and Public Policy, 3rd edn. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2022.

[10] Babor TF, Casswell S, Graham K, et al.Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity: Research and Public Policy, 3rd edn. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2022.

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A mystery-shopping study to test enforcement of minimum legal purchasing age in Lithuania in 2022

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A mystery-shopping study to test enforcement of minimum legal purchasing age in Lithuania in 2022

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

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Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous