Health Ministry looking at new legislation to combat alcohol use among minors.

Health Minister Leoš Heger has agreed with spirits manufacturers on a joint approach to preventing alcohol use among minors. A new bill on addictive substances is to cover prevention among minors, alcohol sales methods and modify health controls and fines. The Health Ministry said that under the proposed bill, those who sell alcohol to minors could face not only the current financial penalty of up to three million crowns, but could also lose their licences. The Ministry is giving its proposals to a inter-ministerial coordination group that the government created on Wednesday. The group has two weeks to submit the new legislation to the government which will also enable authorities to crack down more on bootleg producers. The move comes in the wake of a serious outbreak of methanol-related deaths from bootleg liquor, which estimates say makes up 20 percent of the spirits market.