There are mixed re­ac­tions fol­low­ing Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar’s an­nounce­ment that her Gov­ern­ment in­tends to raise the le­gal age for al­co­hol con­sump­tion from 18 to 21 and for gam­bling and mar­i­jua­na use from 18 to 25. While some wel­come the move, oth­ers said it was mean­ing­less with­out prop­er en­force­ment.

Bar­tender Fabi­an Strive told Guardian Me­dia he doesn’t be­lieve the pro­posed age in­crease will make a mean­ing­ful dif­fer­ence, de­spite con­cerns about youth and al­co­hol con­sump­tion. He said stronger par­ent­ing and bet­ter so­cial sys­tems are more im­por­tant.

“If some­one is go­ing to be led astray or fall vic­tim to al­co­holism, the law is not re­al­ly gonna stop that be­cause peo­ple do il­le­gal things; they take il­le­gal drugs, they do all dif­fer­ent things. Whether it’s against the law or not, that does not re­al­ly stop it.”