Drugs & Alcohol and the Law

Many of the substances covered within this toolkit are covered by laws. These can relate to supplying, buying, selling and using legal or illegal products, and the permitted age to purchase and/or use legal products (e.g. tobacco, alcohol, volatile substances).

Alcohol

  • Under 16, you are only allowed in a bar with and adult. You cannot buy or drink alcohol.
  • At 16-17 you can buy beer, wine or cider if it’s served with a meal in an area used only for eating meals. Apart from this, it’s illegal for under 18s to buy or drink alcohol.
  • At 18+ you can buy alcohol but the licence holder has the right to refuse to serve anyone. It’s an offence for an adult to buy alcohol for consumption by someone under 18 (apart from the exception above for 16 & 17 year olds consuming a meal). Many Local Authorities have bylaws which forbid the drinking of alcohol in public places. Police also have the authority to confiscate alcohol from under 18s. Challenge 25 – If you appear to be under the age of 25 you should expect to be asked to prove you are over the legal drinking age. A passport, EU photocard driving licence or PASS approved ID are the only acceptable proof.

Drink and the Driver

In Scotland the legal limit for driving is 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. This was reduced from 80mg in December 2014 by the Scottish Government. This brought Scotland in line with many other European countries. More information can be found on the  Alcohol Focus Scotland website.

Drugs

Know the Score provides information about drugs and the law.

  • You risk getting a criminal record or a fine, or a prison sentence if you are caught with illegal drugs
  • A drugs conviction can make it hard to get a job, or mean you lose your job. Some countries won’t issue visas for travel to people with criminal records.
  • For under 16s, the use of any drug, whether or not it’s controlled in terms of the Misuse of Drugs Act, can mean you have to go to a Children’s Hearing

Drugs and the Driver

Scotland’s drug driving regulations came into effect in October 2019. Further details can be found at Road Safety Scotland.

Tobacco

Tobacco and the Law Factsheet is a useful resource which has been produced by NHS Highland & Highland Council Trading Standards.

E-cigarettes

Read the NHS Health Scotland position statement

The Highland Smoke Free Service offers support to stop smoking, and is an e-cigarette friendly service.