@rgquote:In spite of studies that show that under-age users of alcohol are more prone to become addicted to alcohol, to use other drugs and to get involved in crime, 17-year-old student reporter discovered that it is alarmingly easy to buy alcohol in Hamilton. This is her report.

It was easier for me to buy alcohol at some Hamilton stores than it is to buy compact discs.

Five Hamilton liquor stores sold me rum, gin and trendy blue liqueur Hpnotiq without asking for any form of identification.

I was able to successfully purchase liquor from Queen Street Liquors, Gosling Brothers, Bermuda Wines and Spirits, Front Street Wines and Spirits and Court Street Liquors with no questions asked ? and without any hesitation.

While I may look and act older than I am, it seemed that people who are younger than me would have had few problems. Local studies of drug use by students confirm that. According to the 2000 survey of students conducted by the National Drugs Commission, 27.6 percent of students surveyed were regular users of alcohol. And the average age of first use was ten years, nine months.

?Studies have shown that the younger a person is when they start using a drug, the more likely they are to become addicted to it,? says Tawana Tannock from the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention (CADA).

She said research in the United States showed that 12- to 13-year-olds (grade seven or Middle School two) who experimented with or used alcohol were more likely to report smoking tobacco, marijuana use and involvement in criminal activities by the age of 23.

The same study done by the Centre for Substance Abuse Research in 2002 showed that many alcohol- and tobacco-using middle school students, initiated their use in elementary school and were more likely than non-drinkers to report substance use and criminal activity as young adults.

?As of September, 2004 CADA will be adding a ?TIPS? off-premise programme to the workshops that we have currently available,? said Ms Tannock. ?For more information on this programme the public may contact me at 295-5982.?

?The research findings clearly indicate why it is imperative that under-age youth have no access to alcohol and why establishments that sell alcohol to underage persons must be held accountable for their actions,? said Ms Tannock.

?The earlier that people start using drugs, the (greater) a problem it becomes in their later life.?

Minister of Health and Family Services Patrice Minors said under-age drinking and the sale of alcohol to minors was ?unacceptable ...and it is an issue that cannot go on without being dealt with?.

When contacted several weeks later at her residence Mrs. Minors told that she could not make additional comments. She was unable to tell what she planned to curb the problem.

?I was sleeping?, she told ?You can call the NDC, they deal with things like this...

?I?m sick. I?m on bed leave? said Mrs. Minors.