A 16-year-old loses her life in Gazi from excessive alcohol consumption. Just a few days later, a teenage girl in Santorini collapses after abusing alcoholic beverages, while another young boy is transported to a hospital after excessive drinking in Lechaina, Ilia. The successive incidents in our country are deeply worrying and show that alcohol is the number one danger for young people.

Despite the official ban on serving alcohol to minors, children—even from the best families—drink as if there is no tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the government announced three new measures to protect minors from the sale of alcohol, tobacco, and vaping products, which come into effect via gov.gr and the gov.gr wallet. The aim is to protect young people at student-organized parties in clubs by blocking the sale of alcohol and tobacco to minors, while a special app will also verify age. The three digital tools presented by the Ministers of Health Adonis Georgiadis and Digital Governance D. Papastergiou are: registration of the event (place, duration, name of organizer, etc.), registration of entrepreneurs at alto.gov.gr until January 31, 2026, and digital age verification.

From now on, business owners will enter events.gov.gr and declare their business with Taxisnet credentials, stating which venue is hosting the private event, when it starts and ends, and the organizer’s name and tax ID, so the organizer can accept it.

The second tool is “the registry of digital and physical stores selling alcohol, tobacco products, or vaping products.” Papastergiou explained that all business owners in the sector “must enter alto.gov.gr by January 31, 2026, and declare the stores and the products they sell.”

Finally, the third tool is digital age verification. “Whoever wants to buy alcohol or tobacco will have to show the new ID card, and there will be a notification on the Gov.gr wallet enabling an age-check option. The seller will not need to log in. A QR Code will be generated, and if someone is a minor, a red signal will appear to show that the potential buyer is under 18.”

Data that raise concern

92% of 16-year-olds in our country say they consider it “fairly” or “very easy” to obtain alcohol if they want to. Nearly 9 out of 10 (86%) have consumed an alcoholic beverage at least once in their life. Three out of five (59%) report consumption within the last 30 days. At least 1 in 3 (37%) say they have drunk excessively in the past month—meaning five or more alcoholic drinks one after another. During the same period, 1 in 8 (13%) has been drunk. Boys tend to show slightly higher rates of excessive sequential drinking at 39%, compared to 35% for girls.

Regarding long-term trends, the following paradox emerges:

While since 2015 there has been a continuous decrease in the percentage of teenagers who say they have consumed alcohol (from 94% to 86%), indicators of excessive consumption and drunkenness increased in 2024, from 32% in 2019 to 37% in 2024.

Moreover, while current consumption shows a downward trend—dropping from 62% in 2019 to 59% in 2024, the lowest in 25 years—drunkenness increased from 10% to 13%. Simply put, although overall exposure to alcohol use is decreasing over time, dangerous excessive consumption in a single occasion is increasing. These are the main findings of the “National Survey on Substance Use, Other Addictive Behaviors, and Psychosocial Health of Adolescent Students (ESPAD 2024),” carried out by the University Research Institute of Mental Health (EPIPSY) in collaboration with the European ESPAD Program and recently published.

It is noted that the international ESPAD survey, conducted in our country on a sample of 6,810 students aged 15 and 16 from 488 schools nationwide, sheds light on the situation of alcohol consumption among teenagers. It is conducted every four years and is the largest transnational effort to record substance use, alcohol consumption, smoking, and other addictive or high-risk behaviors among adolescents (mainly aged 15-16) in Europe.

What is happening in Europe

At a broader European and international level, the World Health Organization (WHO) notes that alcohol remains the most common type of substance among adolescents and that over 50% of 15-year-olds have tried alcohol.

WHO also reports that almost 40% of 15-year-olds in the European regions it monitors report drinking alcohol in the last month, and it highlights the long-term health risks—both immediate (injuries, poisonings, behavioral accidents) and long-term (addiction, diseases).

The Adolescent Health Unit

Alcohol-related incidents presenting at the Adolescent Health Unit (AHU) of the 2nd Pediatric Clinic of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens—“P. & A. Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital—have shown an increasing trend in recent years.

In the Unit, which serves adolescents aged 10–18 and provides services covering the full range of needs for this age group, “children who were hospitalized due to intoxication and were then referred to us have come here, yet alcohol use and drunkenness are also raised as issues by children who have come with different concerns,” says Ms. Artemis K. Tsitsika, professor and UNESCO GHE representative, associate professor of Pediatrics-Adolescent Medicine at the Medical School of NKUA and scientific director of the AHU.

“I feel pressure and loneliness. It helps me relax, be more social, forget. It’s a solution for me.” — D.A., 15 years old
“It offers me comfort, relief, confidence.” — A.S., 14 years old
“I have confidence every other day.” — M.T., 14 years old

These are some of the testimonies of teenagers who turn to the AHU, while a special category consists of children with chronic illnesses who show a high rate of high-risk behaviors.

“Try to understand my position,” “Encourage me, I need positive energy,” “Give me choices,” “Convince me about the plan to address my problems, explain it to me,” “Don’t treat me with pity, respect me,” they typically say.

Experts place the beginning of the “crisis” regarding alcohol in the post-pandemic period. “All expressions of high-risk behaviors have shown an increasing trend after the pandemic. Perhaps because Generations Z and A experienced adolescence and preadolescence under this restriction. First crushes, relationships, experimentation couldn’t take place,” explains Ms. Tsitsika.

“Thus, they now express themselves intensely and have a strong drive to live on the edge. It is known developmentally that their brains are still very emotional. Impulsivity dominates at this age, since the center of critical thinking and logic is still developing. Neurobiologically, we see that teenagers have a tendency toward excess. They want to experience strong emotions and often go to extremes. Peer influence is also considered significant. According to research, for example, when a teenager makes a decision while with peers, he may choose a risky option, whereas in the same situation alone or with parents he is far more likely to choose safety, among other things. The pressure to be accepted and fit into the group is often strong, while influencers and online challenges also seem to play an important role,” she explains. Sixteen-year-old K.Z. confirms this: “I don’t see the future, there is only today! I want to live—my friends do it and I want to be part of the group.”

Regarding the teens who have reached AHU and raised the issue of alcohol use, most are in mid-adolescence. “These are children who experiment a lot, start going out often, or begin visiting larger clubs. They may have had a bad experience with low-quality alcohol that made them physically ill, or they may have felt symptoms from alcohol abuse, or engaged in specific acts while drunk that they later regretted.”

In such cases, Adolescent Medicine can offer solutions, with specialist doctors dedicating time to talking with young people about alcohol and its use. “Any child may end up harming themselves without fully understanding why. But they can correct it—provided the right support exists,” says A.A., 18, who sought help at the AHU.

“With teenagers you need to build arguments to convince them, for example, about moderation, about always keeping an eye on their drink while out so no one can put something in it, choosing bottled drinks in clubs, not getting into a car with a friend or acquaintance who has been drinking, caring for their friends when they are drunk—in short, being able to be autonomous and empowered to make their own decisions,” Ms. Tsitsika says, noting that “the main causes of death at this age are not diseases, but high-risk behaviors and are mainly due to accidents!”

“A reality that concerns all families”

Teenage alcohol consumption is a phenomenon that, according to psychologist–child psychologist Alexandra Kappatou, leaves no family unaffected. “As soon as children enter adolescence, a period begins that is an extreme nightmare for parents,” she says.

According to her, the reasons minors turn to alcohol are many: “Teenagers need to find their footing. They want independence, to feel grown-up, to feel further from parental control. Thus, alcohol—like cigarettes or other substances—becomes a symbol of adulthood and an act of rebellion against parental rules.”

Some teenagers are more prone to alcohol use and abuse. “Children with low self-esteem, anxiety, or depressive traits belong to a high-risk group,” says Kappatou. “Alcohol helps them relax temporarily but may lead to systematic use.” This includes impulsive teens—those “who need reward, lack self-control, and engage in risky behaviors.” She adds that “teenagers feel invincible; they believe nothing can happen to them.” She links abuse to pre-existing disorders, such as ADHD, emotional instability, and antisocial behavior.

The psychologist emphasizes that public discussion should not be limited to the issue of adulterated alcohol. “It’s not just the adulterated drinks. It’s the mentality cultivated among teenagers—to drink in order to ‘get a buzz’.”

She notes that “the first stage is experimentation,” but children often don’t know their limits. “They may drink more than one drink, and this can escalate to abuse, which involves both the number of drinks and the frequency of consumption.” She adds that “many kids drink a large amount quickly to get drunk fast. They can down three or four drinks in an hour, which can lead to severe intoxication or even poisoning.”

“Potentially, any child from any family could abuse alcohol at least once, because they can’t understand the consequences,” Kappatou explains, adding: “They may think that to get drunk you need to drink an entire bottle of vodka or tequila—because these are what they prefer. But they don’t know they can get the same effect with two or three shots. So it’s not directly about the family or boundaries, although overprotection or lack of proper information can lead to poor choices.”

According to her, when teenage alcohol consumption becomes systematic, other parameters must be examined. Parental modeling is particularly emphasized. “Alcohol use has been normalized, even within families, as a means of relaxation or coping with stress. Parents are role models for their children. When parents drink systematically, studies show that children are four times more likely to abuse alcohol themselves.”

Relationships with parents

She also considers the quality of the parent–child relationship crucial. “Good communication and a trusting environment act protectively. The child must feel they can talk without fearing judgment.” Boundaries, she says, “are essential, but must be paired with respect and quality time.”

She highlights the importance of prevention and early education. “Many parents think a single conversation is enough, which is not true. We need to understand that discussions must begin in preadolescence, around age 9 or 10.” Parents, she says, must inform children about both the short-term consequences (injuries, accidents, exploitation, blackouts) and long-term ones, such as developmental damage to the brain. “The brain develops until age 25. When it is repeatedly intoxicated by alcohol abuse every week, the damage is cumulative. We must dispel the myth that alcohol abuse is harmless because some believe, ‘oh come on, it’s not a drug…’”

The psychologist stresses that parents should know their child’s friends and habits, without excessive control. “We teach our child to say ‘no’ to a second drink, to know what they are drinking, and to feel that the parent is always there to listen and help, creating a protective framework.”

According to Kappatou, the key is awareness and open communication. “The aware parent knows that their child is never completely safe. But they also know that trust and a good relationship reduce the risks.”