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Scandal in Salzburg: 14-year-old buys vodka from vending machines without hindrance!
In Salzburg, a 14-year-old was able to uncontrollably buy vodka from a vending machine, which raises questions about child protection.
Scandal in Salzburg: 14-year-old buys vodka from vending machines without hindrance!
In Salzburg, an incident caused a stir when a 14-year-old was able to freely purchase vodka from a vending machine shop using her children's ATM card. This raises important questions about the protection of minors, particularly given that vending machine shops are becoming increasingly common in urban areas and allow 24-hour purchases using a debit card or cash. The young person affected is the daughter of SPÖ state parliament member Karin Dollinger, who would like to draw attention to this critical security gap.
The shop operator explained that an ID card reader was installed, but was temporarily not working due to a system update. The incident prompted the Salzburg city administration to carry out random checks, which revealed that there was no personal age check. This makes it much easier for minors to access alcoholic beverages. The legal situation regarding the sale of alcohol and cigarettes in vending machine shops remains unclear, which could trigger a discussion about the need for improvements in the protection of minors. According to kosmo.at, there is agreement between the state and federal government that the technical verification of a card alone is not sufficient to protect minors.
Regulations on the sale of alcohol from vending machines
Another aspect concerns the general regulations for the sale of alcohol, especially from vending machines. In another case, a business was banned from offering alcohol from a vending machine on a public street. The regulatory authority decided that offering alcoholic drinks to the public violates the Youth Protection Act (Section 9 Paragraph 3 Sentence 1 JuSchG). The court confirmed that the distribution of alcohol from vending machines poses a significant risk to public safety and ruled out a proposal by the trader to limit sales to people over 18 years of age. Further legal steps to restore the suspensive effect of the objection were also rejected, underlining the strict regulations that apply to the sale of alcohol in public, according to weka.de.
According to the provisions of the Youth Protection Act, the needs of young people must be better taken into account. Young people under the age of 16 are not allowed to purchase or consume alcohol, while those aged 16 and over are permitted to consume beer, wine or champagne as long as they are not visibly drunk. However, it is still prohibited to purchase or consume hard drinks, including mixed drinks. The aim of these laws is to protect children and young people from the negative influences of alcohol consumption, as kenn-dein-limit.de describes.
The current incidents and the legal framework make it clear that the protection of minors in the context of alcohol sales in vending machines still needs considerable improvements. The discussion about appropriate measures is therefore more topical than ever.