Sale of Alcoholic Beverages to Minors: Public Policies in Brazil and Around the World

Public policies in Brazil and in various countries have focused on restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors, aiming to protect children and adolescents from the harmful effects of alcohol. Most countries set a legal minimum age for purchasing and consuming alcoholic beverages, usually 18 years in the majority of nations, except in countries like the U.S., where the minimum age is 21 years.

Despite the laws, minors’ access to alcoholic beverages still happens frequently. The most recent PeNSE (National Student Health Survey), released by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) in 2021, showed that among students who consumed alcohol, most drank at parties (29.2%), while 26.8% said they bought it at a market, 17.7% obtained it from friends, and 11.3% at home, with someone from their family. This alarming data suggests failures in enforcement and a social tolerance for selling and offering alcohol to young people, reinforcing the need for more effective public policies.

Historical Evolution of Legislation in Brazil

The legal concern with the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors in Brazil is not recent. Already in the mid‑20th century there were rules prohibiting this practice. The Law of Criminal Misdemeanors (Decree‑Law 3,688/1941) classified the act of supplying alcoholic beverages to persons under 18 years old as a misdemeanor, providing a penalty of simple imprisonment from two months to one year, in addition to a fine. This was one of the first legal tools to curb alcohol provision to children and adolescents in the country. Years later, the Code of Minors (Law 6,697/1979) maintained protective guidelines for childhood, and in 1990 the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA) came into force, consolidating a series of rights and protections for minors under 18. According to article 81 of the ECA, the sale or supply of alcoholic beverages to children and adolescents was expressly prohibited, making the illegality of this conduct clear. However, although the practice was forbidden, initially the ECA did not establish a specific criminal sanction for those who violated this prohibition. In the absence of a defined crime in the statute, cases continued to be treated under the old misdemeanor law of 1941, resulting in relatively mild punishments (simple imprisonment, usually converted into a fine or alternative sanctions).

Over subsequent decades, several bills of law sought to toughen penalties and close gaps in the legislation. For example, in 2007 Bill 2658/2007 was processed in the Chamber of Deputies proposing to amend the Law of Misdemeanors to double the sentence for anyone who serves alcoholic beverages to minors, raising the maximum punishment from 1 year to up to 2 years of detention. The bill also proposed to cover not only commercial sale, but any act of making available or allowing consumption of alcohol by adolescents, recognizing that it is not enough to punish direct sale, but also other forms of providing. Similar initiatives appeared in the following years, including Bill 6869/2010 (originating in the Senate), which aimed to make the legal response more stringent against those who facilitate young people’s access to alcohol. However, for various political and legal reasons, these proposals did not immediately become effective laws.

The decisive milestone came a few years later. In March 2015, after growing pressure from civil society and health agencies, Law No. 13,106/2015 was sanctioned. This law amended the ECA to explicitly criminalize the sale and supply of alcoholic beverages to persons under 18 years old. From then on, anyone who carries out this conduct commits a crime, subject to imprisonment from 2 to 4 years, in addition to a fine. The new legislation also established more severe administrative sanctions: establishments that violate the prohibition are subject to fines between R$ 3,000 and R$ 10,000, and may be shut down until the applied fine is paid. This change significantly raised the level of punishment, which had previously been limited to the misdemeanor of lesser offensive potential. Before the 2015 law, selling alcohol to minors was treated only as a misdemeanor, punishable by simple imprisonment from two months to one year or by a fine, a punishment considered mild and insufficient to deter the practice.

It is worth noting that the new wording given by article 243 of the ECA covers all forms of supplying alcohol to minors, not just commercial sale. It became a crime to sell, supply, serve, administer, or deliver, even if free of charge, an alcoholic beverage to a child or adolescent, or a product that may cause physical or psychological dependence, except for just cause (for example, medicinal use). In other words, even offering alcohol for free to a minor, or handing it over by any means, constitutes the offense. This extension closed loopholes through which suppliers could argue that they did not “sell” the product.

After 2015, Brazil came to have one of the most explicit federal laws against the sale of alcohol to minors. Even so, the challenge remained: how to ensure effective enforcement of the law and reduce alcohol consumption among young people?

Increase in Penalties Under Discussion (2024‑2025)

In recent years, the National Congress has revisited legal adjustments to make punishment for those who supply alcohol to minors even more severe. In 2023, the Chamber of Deputies introduced a bill (942/2024) with the goal of aggravating the penalty provided in the ECA for these crimes. The bill, authored by Deputy Laura Carneiro, was approved by the Chamber of Deputies and is awaiting a vote in the Senate. The main innovation proposed is the addition of a cause for sentence increase: if the child or adolescent actually consumes the alcoholic beverage or substance delivered, the imprisonment term (currently 2 to 4 years) could be doubled. In other words, cases in which the minor actually ingests the alcohol would receive harsher treatment than situations where there was only the offer without consumption. The amendment to the law would therefore be a concrete response to social concern over the early onset of alcohol consumption and drug use among adolescents.

Consequences of Alcohol Use in Youth and Importance of Enforcement

Adolescents and children are more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol, both physiological and psychosocial. Consumption during this stage can impair neurological development, as well as be associated with risk behaviors. Studies indicate that the earlier alcohol initiation occurs, the greater the probability that alcohol-related problems will appear later in life, including episodes of binge drinking, development of dependence, and other alcohol use disorders. An adolescent who starts drinking very early has significantly greater chances of, in adulthood, facing difficulties with alcohol abuse, even when other psychosocial risk factors are controlled.

Besides the long‑term risks, alcohol consumption by minors brings serious immediate consequences. There is direct impact on health (poisonings, injuries, impairment of developing liver and other organs) and a strong link with accidents and violence. Therefore, public policies that seek to delay or prevent minors’ access to alcohol are also policies of public safety and preventive health.

An analysis published in 2025 found that multidimensional strategies combining limitation of availability (for example, restricting points and hours of sale), strong enforcement of minimum age laws, and awareness campaigns led to reductions in alcohol consumption rates among minors. Therefore, it is not enough to have laws on paper: there must be active oversight so that merchants and adults in general comply with prohibitions.

There are concrete examples that show the positive impact of intensive enforcement. In the United States, some communities implemented frequent compliance checks in convenience stores, bars, and markets. In an experiment conducted in the state of New Hampshire, reinforcement of inspections and undercover operations resulted in a 64% reduction in alcohol sales to minors by local establishments. This ongoing law‑compliance effort not only decreased direct sales, but was accompanied by declines in alcohol consumption and binge drinking rates among high school students in the region. In other words, reducing retail availability was reflected in fewer young people drinking and getting intoxicated. This case shows how the combination of strict law plus effective enforcement can change behavior and protect youth in a tangible way.

From the first legal prohibitions in the last century to current initiatives to toughen penalties, it is clear that Brazil has been strengthening its public policies to protect young people from alcohol’s harms. Thus, ongoing changes, such as increasing the penalty in cases where the minor consumes the alcohol, represent not only a technical adjustment in the law, but a deepening of the Brazilian State’s commitment to protecting its children and adolescents.

However, it is essential to recognize that having stricter laws alone does not guarantee changing the reality. The effectiveness of these policies will depend on their practical implementation. Society, for its part, also needs to support these measures and understand that preventing the sale of alcohol to minors is not “exaggeration,” but rather an action grounded in public health interest and the welfare of future generations.

References:

1. BRASIL. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar: 2019. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 2021. 162 p. Disponível em: https://www.ibge.gov.br/estatisticas/sociais/justica-e-seguranca/9134-pesquisa-nacional-de-saude-do-escolar.html
2. Brasil. Lei nº 8.069, de 13 de julho de 1990. Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília (DF), 16 jul 1990. Disponível em: https://www.gov.br/mdh/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2021/julho/trinta-e-um-anos-do-estatuto-da-crianca-e-do-adolescente-confira-as-novas-acoes-para-fortalecer-o-eca/ECA2021_Digital.pdf
3. Brasil. Lei nº 13.106, de 17 de março de 2015. Altera a Lei nº 8.069, de 13 de julho de 1990 (Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente). Diário Oficial da União, Brasília (DF), 17 mar 2015. Disponível em: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2015-2018/2015/lei/l13106.htm.
4. Brasil. Câmara dos Deputados. Projeto de Lei nº 942/2024, de 22 de março de 2024. Cria causa de aumento de pena para o crime de vender, fornecer, servir, ministrar ou entregar bebida alcoólica a criança ou adolescente, quando houver consumo. Brasília (DF): Câmara dos Deputados; 2024. Disponível em: https://www.camara.leg.br/proposicoesWeb/prop_mostrarintegra?codteor=2399334&filename=Tramitacao-PL%20942/2024.
5. Esposito, S., Campana, B. R., Argentiero, A., Masetti, M., Fainardi, V., & Principi, N. (2025). Too young to pour: the global crisis of underage alcohol use. Frontiers in public health, 13, 1598175. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1598175
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2004). Enhanced enforcement of laws to prevent alcohol sales to underage persons--New Hampshire, 1999-2004. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 53(21), 452–454.