Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Lawmakers have mootedmaking drink-driving a criminal offence, whether they cause an accident or not.

Sung A Hong, National Assembly (NA) deputy fromnorthern Dien Bien province, made the suggestion on May 23 duringdiscussions on a draft law on alcohol harm prevention.

Parliamentarians agreed on the need for stifferpenalties on drunk drivers, as currently the law only allows for fines or alicence suspension for drink-driving without causing an accident.

According to Nguyen Thanh Hai, head of the NA’s DeputyOmbudsman Committee, every year about 30 percent of social disordersis caused by drunk people, while up to 70 percent of criminaloffences are committed by drunk people aged 16 to 25.

Vietnamese people spend nearly 100 billion VND(roughly 4.2 million USD) per year on alcohol. The State collects 50 trillionVND (about 2.1 billion USD) from taxes from alcohol sales each year, but spends65 trillion VND (2.6 billion USD) on healthcare expenses and other consequencescaused by drunk drinking.

NA deputy Pham Khanh Phong Lan from HCM Citysaid punishments on drunk drivers should be extended to stricterpunishments like forcing violators to do community service, increasing the costof their vehicle insurance, or even temporary detention of drivers in extremelydangerous cases or in cases of repeated violations.

The blood alcohol levels of suspecteddrink-drivers must be tested to ensure equal punishments in each case, deputyNguyen Thi Phuc from Binh Thuan province said.

Deputies proposed the NA issue a resolution ondrunk-driving punishments, adding that solutions to improve public awarenessand public campaigns to condemn drunk drivers must be used as wellas laws.

Lawmakers also expressed concern over howalcohol advertising affects young people.

Deputy Pham Thi Minh Hien from Phu Yen provincepointed out that alcohol consumption can lead to criminal actions.

“Anyone can become victims of alcohol, or evencommit crimes if alcohol’s impacts are not controlled,” she said, raising fearsthat alcoholic drinks will become even more popular among young people ifnothing is done to curb advertising and sales.

Several alcoholic drinks are advertisedas soft drinks or fermented juice, Hien claimed, without giving anyexamples.

Hien proposed limiting the number ofchildren exposed to alcohol advertisements and controlling advertisementcontent to ensure children are not encouraged to drink.

A change to the draft regulation regardingonline alcohol sales also caused controversy.

A previous iteration of the draft proposedbanning sales of alcohol stronger than 15 percent online, however the versiondiscussed yesterday did away with this limitation and would allow sales of allkinds of booze online. Internet alcohol sales are currently largelyunregulated.

Deputy Pham Trong Nhan from Binh Duong provincesaid the regulation would pave the way for more young people to buy drinksonline, especially as more and more young people have access to theinternet.

Other deputies noted that law enforcement isimportant but must ensure public health and the benefits of alcoholproducers and sellers.

According to the World HealthOrganisation, Vietnam’s beer consumption amounts to billions of litres peryear.-VNS/VNA