• 18% of 15-21 age group drinking alcohol 
• Proposes adoption of Cabinet-approved NATA Act amendments 

A survey on alcohol and tobacco use in Sri Lanka conducted by the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) has found that despite the fact that the sale of tobacco products to those below the age of 21 is prohibited, 11.6% of survey participants that smoke were between 15 and 21 years.

In this context, the ADIC recommended that even if the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act specifically prohibits tobacco sales to underage individuals, the effective implementation of the NATA Act needs to be ensured. The ADIC urged that steps must be taken to implement the ‘Tobacco-Free Generation’ policy initiative as recommended by the Sri Lanka Medical Association, where the sale of tobacco is banned for all those born after 2010.

These recommendations were presented in the Trend Survey on Tobacco Use in Sri Lanka last year (2024), issued yesterday (18). The survey had focused on smokers in the Colombo, Kalutara, Galle, Puttalam, Jaffna, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura, Ampara, Matale, Kegalle and Badulla Districts.

Among the other recommendations presented to curb smoking among underage individuals were prohibiting subtle and direct promotions by the tobacco industry through traditional and social media, which specifically target children. Noting that the majority of the initiations have occurred at social gatherings, the ADIC report further urged the introduction and implementation of a national-level prevention programme to reveal the tactics of the tobacco industry and to emphasise smoking as a purposeless and harmful behaviour.

Meanwhile, a similar survey on alcohol consumption, titled Trend Survey on Alcohol Consumption in Sri Lanka 2024 and focused on the same districts, had identified that 18% of the survey participants that consume alcohol were in the 15-21 age group. Recommending to enforce the existing laws and policies to reduce alcohol use and promotion, the ADIC urged to expedite the adoption of proposed amendments to the NATA Act which was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2019.

In addition, it was recommended to implement a national prevention programme aimed at children and youth to discourage the use of alcohol, with the goal of preventing initiations among these vulnerable groups. Preventing interventions by the alcohol industry to weaken existing policies and block the introduction of new ones were also among the ADIC’s recommendations.

However, both reports suggested an overall decline in tobacco and alcohol consumption. While 36.5% of the survey participants had quit smoking and 20.9% had reduced smoking, 27.9% of the survey participants had quit alcohol.