Alcohol to minors, it's a red alert. Girls rescued, tests ignored. Out of 345 young people, two hundred positive

In the heart of the Romagna summer, between crowded events, nights on the beach and full clubs, the worrying phenomenon of alcohol abuse among the very young is growing. An emergency that does not only concern public safety , but directly affects the health of minors , urban decorum and collective civic sense.

In recent days, the Local Police have had to deal with several alarming incidents. In Milano Marittima , on the night between Friday and Saturday, two girls aged 14 and 17 were rescued on Viale Gramsci in a state of serious alcoholic alteration. The staff, who intervened urgently, had to call 118 and the parents of the girls, who were entrusted to medical care. During the operations, a young man - now in the process of being identified - climbed onto the hood of the officers' service car: once identified, he will be banned from returning to the Municipality of Cervia for three years. On the same night, in Marina di Ravenna , a fifteen-year-old girl in an evident state of drunkenness was taken to the emergency room, after the alarm was raised by her father. The authorities are verifying who gave her alcoholic beverages, a practice prohibited to minors under 16.

Episodes that add to what happened on the evening of the Saraghina festival , where the volunteers of the National Carabinieri Association, engaged in the campaign against alcohol abuse, recorded disturbing data: 192 positive tests out of 345 controls with the alcohol blow , equal to 55.7%. A figure that reveals how widespread alcohol consumption is, even among very young people, in public and festive contexts. The attitude towards the controls is also worrying: many young people refused to undergo the test, fearing "being registered" or putting at risk their newly obtained driving license.

Of the 13 minors who agreed to voluntarily undergo the test, two were found to have high blood alcohol levels. The volunteers also reported young people on an empty stomach, a condition that amplifies the effects of alcohol. And there was no shortage of excesses: a drunk Spanish tourist, an English boy who claimed to have drunk 25 beers, a couple of minors removed from the “Matilda” club, and a forty-year-old woman rescued on the beach, unable to stand up. All this in a context also marked by little attention to urban decorum: only 40% of participants respected the rules of cleanliness, leaving waste everywhere.

To deal with this situation, increased controls have been arranged. On Saturday evening, the police carried out a “high impact” operation in Milano Marittima , involving the State Police, Carabinieri, Guardia di Finanza and Local Police. 150 people were identified, including 27 foreign citizens, 18 of whom had criminal records.

"The operation - declared the prefect of Ravenna, Raffaele Ricciardi - is part of a broader plan to guarantee safety and legality in tourist locations during the summer season. Control activities will continue to protect citizens and visitors, with particular attention to the youngest".

Lorenzo Privato